Sugarland

Don’t judge Sugarland based solely on its kinda-stupid band name: While this pop-country duo is slick enough to please the torturously unadventurous Nashville establishment, there’s enough grit and soul in Jennifer Nettles’ vocals to cut through the heavily lacquered production gloss that clogs up many of the band’s contemporaries. Only the most ardent new country hater could have resisted Sugarland’s smash 2007 Grammy-winning single “Stay,” where Nettles movingly depicted a lonely woman trapped by her heart’s bad choices. (What could be more classic country than that?) Sugarland is touring behind 2010’s The Incredible Machine and its hit single about love that borders on obsession, “Stuck Like Glue.”

Updated 06/13/2012