Sugarland Steel?

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 15 Oct 2006 12:07 pm

Sugarland is playing in Anchorage Mon.night...do they have a steel guitar player?

Gaylon Mathews · Post by **Gaylon Mathews** » 15 Oct 2006 12:50 pm

nope

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Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 15 Oct 2006 3:50 pm

Gaylon,Thanks for the info...That figures I finaly get to go to a concert and just my luck no steel guitar!

Michael Breid · Post by **Michael Breid** » 15 Oct 2006 6:53 pm

Probably a steel guitar would make them sound tooooooo country, and Lord, knows we can't have that!!!

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 15 Oct 2006 7:46 pm

Yeah, and maybe a steel player that used one of those exotic tuning systems would make their singing sound in tune....

EJL[This message was edited by Eric West on 15 October 2006 at 08:47 PM.]

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 15 Oct 2006 10:25 pm

Hey guys thanks for all of your help,The reason that I asked was because I heard one of their songs at my gig last night and there was some steel on it.A friend of mine runs the sound system and is sneaking me in.

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 16 Oct 2006 4:45 am

Well Stu, let us know if you feel you were overcharged..

EJL

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 16 Oct 2006 7:44 am

Do they deserve a steel?

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 16 Oct 2006 8:02 am

Mark Van Allen used to be Sugarland's steel player before their first record came out, but now they don't have steel in the band. Brett, Emmons S-10, Morrell lapsteel, GFI Ultra D-10-aka "Redgold Beauty"

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 16 Oct 2006 9:31 am

I saw and heard a video of them and and asked my wife if the words in the song were actually what I thought I heard and she said they were. There is no place in country or any kind of music for such crude words. Just my opinion of course. I am certainly not a fan of Sugarland for that reason.
Jerry

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 16 Oct 2006 9:36 am

i don't enjoy male or female voices that sound contrived......one song she sings in a video irritates me.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 16 Oct 2006 10:10 am

Eric:You're Killin' me! I will give you an honest report after the show...Maybe I'll get my no money back.I saw them on T.V. a while ago with Jon BonJovi and the girl from Sugarland was discussing the way that they pounced their words differently,maybe a few months in the South Bronx would help?

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 16 Oct 2006 10:40 am

Sugarland use to have a heavy set girl playing an acoustic guitar but she's not on their latest video. What happened to her?..........JH in Va.

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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 16 Oct 2006 1:37 pm

I think "creative differences" would probably cover the disappearance of the female guitar player.
If I was the "guy" in Sugarland, I would be writing as many songs as I could.
My prediction is Jennifer Nettles is a solo act before spring.
There is no doubt the girl has serious vocal chops and can flat out sing, but there is nothing else in the band that can't be replaced by a couple of good pickers.
The only thing I don't like about Sugarland is that the producers obviously have her over-do the southern accent. Not that that's a bad thang...

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 16 Oct 2006 2:21 pm

Jerry, her girdle broke and that let her out!

T. C. Furlong · Post by **T. C. Furlong** » 16 Oct 2006 4:42 pm

I had the pleasure of working with Sugarland in my audio engineer/designer gig. I mixed them for a TV show and they were really good. No steel player for the show but they did have session ace Rob Hajacos on fiddle.

Interesting side note about the guy in the group. His name is Christian Bush and we have all consumed his family's famous products. The story I heard is that he took his share of some family money and invested in his group Sugarland. And that's the real beans on the band.
TC

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 16 Oct 2006 5:34 pm

Yeah I've probably consumed more than my share...

EJL[This message was edited by Eric West on 16 October 2006 at 06:48 PM.]

David Cobb · Post by **David Cobb** » 16 Oct 2006 5:51 pm

Last night I believe I heard the same song that Jerry refers to in what appeared to be a live concert video, courtesy of GAC.
It had some very tasty steel and I too am curious who the player was.

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 16 Oct 2006 7:41 pm

Probably Dan Dugmore.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
My CD's: 'I've Got Friends in COLD Places' - 'Pedal Steel Guitar'
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S/D-12 6x6, 1984 Sho-Bud S/D-12 7x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 17 Oct 2006 12:12 am

I love the rumor mill...
For those interested, a couple of background notes on Sugarland:

The original group was a five piece with a singer named Vanessa Olivarez, who is now with an Atlanta country band called "South 70" (I'm playing with them).
None of the other original members (Kristian Bush, Kristin Hall, Simone Simonton, and Brett Hartley) had any previous country music experience whatsoever. I still find that highly entertaining and informative.
Vanessa was replaced with Jennifer Nettles, who had an extensive rock background with "Soul Miner's Daughter" and "the Jennifer Nettles Band". Nope, no country...
I played on their first self-produced album, "Premium Quality Tunes", which has most of the songs from their first major label relase, and at least one song from their new CD. (It's going for a hundred bucks on ebay).
They formed a touring band, adding myself and bassist Clay Cook, best known as John Mayer's original songwriting partner. After a string of solid dates, we did one showcase at 12th and Porter in Nashville with 6 or 7 labels furiously bidding. Garth Fundis had already signed on as producer, after hearing the PQT CD. They eventually signed with MCA.
They cut their first album as a trio, recutting the original tunes with Nashville sidemen, while simultaneously and nastilly cutting the original drummer and guitarist out of the deal. MCA had been very excited about promoting the band as a unit, and it was quite sad and surprising to see two of them get cut right out of their dream.
The steel player on the label cuts is Dan Dugmore, who did his usual outstanding job. Folks who were on the sessions have told me about Fundis trying to get less twang out of Jennifer. Fascinating, as there's so little twang in her previous recordings.
Around the same time they made me bandleader, and then let Clay go...after a few more arena shows, they went out as a trio with Vince Gill and Martina McBride, and I never heard another peep. Eventually I called their manager, who told me there "wasn't enough label tour support to afford a steel player". Clay went back to fronting his own projects, and filling in with the Marshall Tucker band. He is an amazing writer and performer.
The discarded original members settled a high-dollar lawsuit to regain deserved songwriting royalties and moved on to other projects.
Kristin (the gal on rhythm guitar) left the band in an apparent dispute over songwriting percentage. (Cue irony) She was a major contributor to the first record, and frankly quite a handful.
Last I heard, the remaining sidemen/ road crew from the "Atlanta days" got canned for asking for a salary increase when their road dates were tripled this year.

Indeed, things are rarely what they seem.

I've spent many years around people who live and breathe country music, and would crawl through broken glass for an inside shot in Nashville, and it's amazing to watch a group of "indie rockers" decide to "go country", and ... pull it off.

It was great music for a steel player, and I think it's a shame they're not using one.
But I suppose they know what they're doing.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 17 Oct 2006 12:27 am

Well I went to the concert and was blown away,Not what I was expecting.I wouldn't call it a country band?To me they sounded like Tom Petty's band with great backround vocals and country overtones .The girl singer "Jennifer"din't miss a lick,and her pitch was dead on.The keyboard player played some great B-3 stuff..Booker T style.Jennifer's southern accent was very strong...but she also talks that way,and as a former New Yawker I have no room to talk about thick accents.What I saw tonight was a group of players who seem to love what they do for a living.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 17 Oct 2006 3:04 am

MVA. Is Scott Patton still with the band??

Steve Howard · Post by **Steve Howard** » 17 Oct 2006 3:27 am

Mark,

that is great stuff. So Clay Cook originally worked with John Mayer? Was he ever credited with any of the music? John is one of my all time favorites so I would be curious to know.

As far as the rubbish about "questionable lyrics". Come on guys. You really think they would put a song on conservetive country radio stations if they really thought the line "you'll remember what your knees are for" was talking about something sexually explicit? The whole context of that verse was about praying and keeping your faith when you are down. Your knees are for praying.

I saw them live as well. To pay an incredibly talented vocalist like Jennifer, a great songwriter, and a goofy guy equal shares, you have to slack off with the band I guess. I wish they carried a steel player too. Dan did some tasteful stuff on their first album

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 17 Oct 2006 7:03 am

Come on Steve, the lyrics I was referring to had nothing to do with knees or praying. They were crude enough that I choose not to put them in print. Check out the song about "Going to Mississippi And Up To No Good" and if I am hearing it wrong I would love to know. I can't think of many female singers who would sing that in public.
Jerry

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 17 Oct 2006 9:22 am

thnx mark...once again, my intuitive gut instincts ring true.