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At
Daemon, Hall released what she once called her favorite
record, Fact & Fiction. The record garnered critical
favor and features guest performances by John Ashton (Psychedelic
Furs), Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls), Cindy Wilson and Sara Lee
(both of the B-52’s). The well-received record, full of
both lovelorn ballads and upbeat romantic anthems, resulted
in Hall’s first major label record deal with Windham Hill’s
High Street Records in 1992.
Windham
Hill re-released Fact & Fiction the following year,
and followed with Hall’s first big studio album, Be
Careful What You Wish For (1994). It was yet another critically-praised
effort, filled with stellar guest performers (Saliers, Matthew
Sweet, Jules Shear, and Michelle Malone). Be Careful What
You Wish For also contained “Let it Rain,”
which went on to become an international hit when recorded by
Amanda Marshall on her eponymous 1996 debut. This success secured
Hall yet another publishing deal and she relocated from Atlanta
to Los Angeles.
As
a result of the West Coast relocation, Hall
told Concertshots.com in 2003, “I realized how caught
up I was in what worked for me in Atlanta and how felt trapped
in it. I went out to L.A. and I wrote R & B and heavy metal
and goth and it was so good for me. All of that stuff is in
me.” Recognizing the diversity of her own songwriting
talents laid the groundwork for the eventual formation of Sugarland.
She returned to Atlanta, noting “I came back being a real
songwriter. I learned how to co-write with other people and
I wanted to do that here.”
Upon
her return to Atlanta, Hall felt confined by the confessional
folk song model that had earned her accolades from critics and
fans. She said in the Concertshots interview, “I traveled
around as ‘Kristen Hall’ singing these dingy songs
about having my heart broken or being pissed off at my parents
or whatever it was, and finally it got to where I was like,
‘Oh my God, I can’t do this anymore.’ I don’t
know how people like Tori Amos can get up every day. God bless
her out there singing about the worst moments in her life day
after day.”
Dissatisfied
with the style that had once served her so well and
eager to work more collaboratively, Hall began seeking out other
songwriters in the area. All roads seemed to lead to Jennifer
Nettles, a local singer known for her powerful voice and charismatic
stage presence. But as collaborators, Hall and Nettles initially
just didn’t click. Later, when Nettles joined Hall and
Kristian Bush (of the folk rock band Billy Pilgrim—nicknamed
“the Indigo Boys”) as the lead vocalist for Sugarland,
the musical magic began.
In
2001, they made their first stab at playing a song together
(“Baby Girl,” which eventually appeared on Twice
the Speed of Life and became a Billboard Top 5 hit), the
trio’s chemistry was obvious. On the band’s official
website, sugarlandmusic.com, singer Nettles remembers, “We
connected so well and the sound was so good, it was such a fun
sound. There was a moment when we just said, ‘Wow.’”
Within a few months Sugarland was playing sold-out shows and
had signed a contract with Mercury Records. Success came quickly
to the band, and it was something they had aimed for from the
start.
“From
the very beginning my friends were laughing at me,” Hall
told Concertshots,. “When they would ask what I was doing,
I’d say, ‘Ah, man, I’m putting together this
country band and we want to be the biggest country act of all
time.’” Like many artist who struggle in relative
obscurity for years before finding mainstream success, Hall
has since been asked by peers if she isn’t selling her
soul to the devil. “All I can say is, ‘No, I’m
trying to get my songs on the fucking radio. Is that such a
crime?’”
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