in
Germany in 2008 While attending Emory University, Bush was the lead singer and guitarist in the rock band Storyteller, with fellow Emory students Chris "Tex" Nolter (bass, guitar) and Jon Slatkin (drums). Storyteller covered the Replacement's "I Can't Wait”, Rod Stewart's "Maggie May”, The English Beat's "Mirror in the Bathroom", and Jane's Addiction's "Jane Says”, among other songs, and they performed at numerous bars, campus events and parties in Atlanta. To date, Bush has won six
BMI Awards for his songwriting abilities, and in 2011 he founded the music publishing company and songwriting collective Songs of the Architect. Recent producing and songwriting collaborations include
Ellis Paul,
Laura Bell Bundy,
Matt Nathanson,
the dB’s, Martin Johnson of
Boys Like Girls,
Pretty Little Liars star
Lucy Hale, and up-and-comers including
Kristina Train,
Larkin Poe,
Canaan Smith,
Lauren Alaina,
Jaida Dreyer and
Alana Springsteen.
1990–2001: Billy Pilgrim Shortly after completing college, Bush introduced himself to Atlanta songwriter
Andrew Hyra and his sister Annie, who were performing at a club in Knoxville; the two had recently moved there after completing college. In 1990, Bush played guitar and sang backup vocals on
Big Back Porch Songs, an album by the Hyras.
Big Back Porch Songs was never released but Bush was given a copy. Bush released an album shortly afterwards,
Politics and Pocketchange, which the Hyras were featured on. They continued performing shows in southeastern college towns, and Bush reached out to various talent agents with their demos; Jen Stark, an intern at
Atlantic Records, received a copy, which resulted in commotion about them amongst the company. An indie label, Sister Ruby, expressed interest in the duo, and the two made another album for the label; it emphasized songs that weren't used for ''St. Christophers's Crossing'', which were quieter songs that couldn't be played in loud clubs. The album was called
Words Like Numbers. Bush cited a large improvement between the two albums, because "with ''St. Christopher's'' we didn't think, we just did it. This time we had several weeks to think about what we were recording." Although the album itself received little attention, "Get Me Out Of Here" and "Insomniac", two songs on the album were, receiving heavy airplay on AAA radio. In 1995 they opened on a worldwide tour for
Melissa Etheridge, but copies for
Billy Pilgrim weren't made in time to be promoted throughout it. Sales for
Bloom were underwhelming, and with increasing focus on
Hootie and the Blowfish, Atlantic Records dropped the duo in 1996.
2001–2012: Sugarland is the other half of Bush's duo band
Sugarland.
(left) in 2007 At the same time Bush was performing occasionally at Eddie's Attic, so was singer-songwriter
Jennifer Nettles; she had begun performing there at their open mic competitions and was eventually given a recurring performing gig. Nettles had recently concluded her time in other bands and met Atlanta singer-songwriter
Kristen Hall at a bar and discussed their country music endeavors together. Bush later discussed starting a band with Hall in 2002 and held auditions for the lead singer; Nettles was fifth to audition, and Bush said she "blew it out of the water". The name was suggested by Hall; its derived from the town of
Sugar Land, Texas, and was picked since it reflected the "sweet" tone of the band. At least one of the three artists wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs on their first album,
Twice the Speed of Life. All three worked on the lead single "
Baby Girl". Bush described the experience as his "second first record", understanding the experience and knowing the pressure associated with the first attempt. The trio treated the album like a side project to their other musical endeavors, but understood the potential of it over time. Sugarland broke through in 2004 with the release of their debut single "
Baby Girl", the first single from their multi-platinum debut album
Twice the Speed of Life. The trio became a duo in 2006, when they also released their second album,
Enjoy the Ride. This album produced their first two No. 1 singles (in the U.S.), "
Want To" and "
Settlin'", and won the duo a Grammy for "
Stay". In 2008 they released their third album, titled
Love on the Inside. This album produced three more No. 1 singles with "
All I Want to Do", "
Already Gone"and "
It Happens". Their fourth album,
The Incredible Machine was released on October 19, 2010, in both a standard and deluxe edition. Upon
The Incredible Machine being certified platinum, Sugarland has sold in excess of 14 million records. Nettles and Bush also write all of the band's songs. In October 2012, they were inducted into the
Georgia Music Hall of Fame. They have surpassed sales of over 22 million albums worldwide, achieved five No. 1 singles and won numerous awards, including trophies from the
Grammys,
American Music Awards,
Academy of Country Music Awards,
CMT Music Awards and
CMA Awards.
2011–2013: Stage collapse and Sugarland hiatus On August 13, 2011, during their
Incredible Machine Tour at the
Indiana State Fair, the
stage collapsed due to high winds, killing seven people and injuring 58 others. At the moment of collapse, Indiana State Fair director Cindy Hoye and
state police captain Brad Weaver were approaching the stage to announce the concert's cancellation. Bush, under the stage in a dressing room, felt the quake and witnessed flying debris break down the stage door and fill the hallway; he had thought a bomb went off. In the immediate aftermath of the collapse he, Nettles, and other crew downstairs were not allowed to leave; crew members attempted to leave but were kept from doing so. Bush was unaware of what happened and was kept in the dark for a long time. He was eventually evacuated to his bus but was forced to remain on the scene. He recalled "all sorts of silence" as Nettles and the downstairs crew watched footage of the accident on the news. Bush wrote the following on their Sugarland website: "Our fans just came to see a show, and it ended in something terrible. My heart is totally broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives. It’s broken for all the people who got hurt, for the people who were scared. I thank God for every person who lifted a truss, who pushed against that metal to get it off someone; for every person who used a chair as a stretcher. I thank God for every fan and emergency responder, for everyone who ran to the trouble instead of away from it. The courage of those men and women will forever be with me." In years following, especially the immediate days following the event, Bush was discouraged from talking about the accident due to pending lawsuits. Sugarland cancelled one upcoming concert and performed two more, concluding the
Incredible Machine Tour in October 2011. Bush returned home and continued working out the details of his pending divorce, finalizing it in November 2011. In light of the stage collapse and what talking about it publicly would mean for his children, he refrained from openly discussing the divorce as well. Within the same month Nettles got married and informed Bush that she was pregnant, and that she wanted to do a solo album, since she wanted more time to experience new things and focus on her family. The two agreed to put the band on hiatus indefinitely. Fulfilling their pre-established plans, Bush's final performance as Sugarland before the hiatus was at
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on September 2, 2012. Without the band Bush's schedule was completely empty, which he found "anxiety-driving". Unsure of what to do going forward, Bush purchased a house in Nashville and began reaching out and working with established songwriters in the area, accepting any work that was offered to him. Unable and struggling to freely discuss his circumstances, he began expressing himself through songwriting. Bush mainly wrote music only when he needed to for Sugarland, but now found himself writing songs constantly. The following October, Bush was invited to perform at the inaugural
C2C: Country to Country festival at the
O2 Arena in
London, England. The trip inspired him to release a song as a single to play there, resulting in his solo debut with the song "Love or Money", performed with a full band. The entire audience sang the chorus back to him. The song released in the United States on October 10, 2013.
My Singing Monsters would later feature a cover of "Love or Money" (called "Shugabush Island"), with Bush doing a
gibberish rendition of the lyrics. Bush also hosted "Music Mondays" on his website, where he released his works and discussed the story behind it. He found himself writing and recording music much more frequently, purposefully not thinking about where or when the song would be released. On average he was making about 160 songs a year. In 2014, Bush signed for Gallimore's
Streamsound Records as a solo artist. Gallimore noticed that Bush was hiding a lot when it came to his current situation, and recognized that it was a "very, very painful" time for him. Two songs on the album, "Southern Gravity" and "
Trailer Hitch", was written with Tim Owens; Owens said that given the kind of person that Bush is, and his talent of writing positive music, he was not surprised he could write happy songs that "sound marginally like Sugarland" despite him being in a dark place. The solo album consisted of feel-good music and lyrics; Bush himself admitted that he was unsure how that came to be given the circumstances. In an interview with
The Tennessean, Bush said "I think I write wishes. If you can see it, you can probably get there. My story starts now." "Trailer Hitch" peaked at number 21 on the U.S.
Billboard Country Airplay chart and at number 25 on the U.S.
Billboard US Country chart. His second single from the album, "Light Me Up" in 2015, also appeared on charts. Bush was fascinated meeting people who were both fans of Sugarland and "Trailer Hitch", but having rarely heard him sing in the former, were surprised to find that he sang the song. 16 on
Billboards
Top Country Albums, and 5 on
Billboards
Heatseekers Albums. Bush referred to
Southern Gravity as his "third first album". He found the album inspiring, and would listen to it to remind himself that "no matter how hard it gets, you can make things out of the pieces that are smashed." In September 2015 Bush was the subject of the television documentary ''Walk Tall: The Journey of Sugarland's Kristian Bush'', directed and produced by Stokes Nelson. It documents Bush's life and highlights his persistence through turbulent times. It featured
Kix Brooks,
Canaan Smith, and
Maddie & Tae, and performances from Bush. Also among the performers at the festival was Hrya and his band, the Smokin' Novas. When Bush learned about Hyra's attendance at his final show he performed "I Won’t Tell" from their album
Bloom; Hyra joined him onstage and sang harmony, to the standing ovation from the audience. Bush had been given the green light for a second solo album, and Hyra was a carpenter and performed casually, so no plans for a reformation were made at the time. Bush kept the possibility of doing so open. The week after, Hyra performed harmony for a demo recording for Bush. In February 2016, Bush signed a new publishing, producing, and label deal with
Broken Bow Records, to record under their imprint Wheelhouse Records. "Forever Now (Say Yes)", written and performed by Bush, became the new theme song for the TLC reality series
Say Yes to the Dress when their 14th season premiered on March 4, 2016. Bush also makes a guest appearance on the show later in the season.
2017–2020: Other solo ventures, Sugarland and Billy Pilgrim reformation, and Dark Water After
Southern Gravity, Bush worked with
Lindsay Ell to produce her debut EP,
Worth the Wait (EP), mentoring her on her music endeavors. The music felt deeply personal to him, with lyrics that he felt reflected his career and music reflecting that of the 1930's, which Bush drew inspiration from in his music. Bush planned not to release new music until later in 2017, but early exposure from
Bobby Bones, a fan of his music, caused him to release "Sing Along". Bush explained that the song was about a past relationship that ended some time after his divorce, with lyrics that would remind them about the good times they had. Bush hoped that they have listened to the song. At the
51st Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2017, Sugarland officially reunited following a five year hiatus and announced that they were working on new music together. Their first full-band shows were at the
C2C: Country to Country festival in March 2018. Their sixth studio album,
Bigger was released on June 8, 2019. On May 31, 2019, Bush released a new EP,
Summertime Six Pack. Bush has also co-written with actress and singer
Rita Wilson on three of her albums;
Rita Wilson,
Bigger Picture, and
Halfway to Home. He toured with her in 2019. The music consisted of unreleased works dating back to as early as 2006, which he was inspired to release after creating a
YouTube channel to release old recordings of performances from Billy Pilgrim.
52 | ATL x BNA released on March 25, 2022, and consisted of music that blended country music from
Nashville, Tennessee and
R&B from
Atlanta, Georgia.
52 | In The Key Of Summer released on June 24, 2022, featuring music that focused on the summer season.
52 | New Blue was released on September 30, 2022, and consisted of songs that reflected Bush's folk rock music of the 1990s and Billy Pilgrim. The final album of the collection,
52 | This Year, released on March 10, 2023, and consisted of music that focused on true love and a reflection of Bush's career in the music industry. In May 2024 the duo played 3 sold-out shows at Eddie's Attic outside Atlanta. ==Radio==