Kristian Bush’s ‘Southern Gravity’ Album Not Weighed Down by Stereotypes
“I wrote and recorded these songs to be on the radio,” he says. “It’s a commercial country record. But I’m curious to find out where other people think it should land, what adjectives or band math people use to describe it.”
It’s not a straight-forward equation: with elements of Zac Brown Band’s laid-back beachiness — and its southern instrumentals — Southern Gravity, executive produced by Byron Gallimore (Sugarland, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw) along with Bush and Tom Tapley, rests more on smart hooks, sure-fire summer anthems and the singer’s clean, dynamic rasp with hints of Steve Earle’s nasal rock than big trends. Songs like “Feeling Fine in California” and “Flip Flops” push twangy power through slow-oozed beats that conjure up Jason Mraz or even the catchy craft of Brothers Osborne’s “Rum.” Bush himself credits voices like Kip Moore’s for making it possible to sing mainstream country with a left-of-center tone. “My voice has a lot of character, and kind of doesn’t sound like a lot of people’s,” he says. “And I would say people like Kip have parted the seas for me to come in singing.”
As for Sugarland’s future, Bush considers this a “parallel project,” meaning he doesn’t see any reason why his solo songs and the duo’s can’t be on the radio at the same time. For now, Nettles is performing on Broadway’s Chicago, but the door’s still open.
After all, “I’m writing five times more than I ever have,” he says, laughing. “So I’m going to need at least two record deals to get all this music out.”
Track list for Kristian Bush‘s Southern Gravity:
1. “Make Another Memory” (Kristian Bush/Jeff Cohen/Rodney Clawson)
2. “Light Me Up” (Kristian Bush/Jesse Rice)
3. ‘Trailer Hitch” (Kristian Bush/Brandon Bush/Tim Owens)
4. “Southern Gravity” (Kristian Bush/Scooter Carusoe)
5. “Flip Flops” (Kristian Bush/Jeff Cohen/Paul Overstreet)
6. “Giving It Up” (Kristian Bush/Jeff Cohen/Tom Douglas)
7. “Feeling Fine California” (Kristian Bush/Jeff Cohen/Paul Overstreet)
8. “Waiting On an Angel” (Kristian Bush/Jeff Cohen/Bob DiPiero)
9. “Walk Tall” (Kristian Bush/Jeff Cohen/Nathaniel “Bo” Rinehart/William “Bear” Rinehart)
10. “Sending You a Sunset” (Kristian Bush/Tim Owens)
11. “Sweet Love” (Kristian Bush/Sherrie Austin/Phil Barton/Jeff Cohen)
12. “House on a Beach” (Kristian Bush/Canaan Smith)