kristen hall is leaving sugarland to “concentrate on her songwriting”.
kristen hall, for new or casual readers of my blog, is my favorite musical artist ever, bar none, number one. you may never have heard of her before, but i’ve mentioned her here and here and here and here on my site. and you can go to her site to learn more about her.
it would be worth your time.
i know her from her many many solo albums, the best of which in my opinion is “be careful what you wish for”, although many hardcore fans think that “fact & fiction” is her best record, and i can’t say that they are wrong because it’s wonderful too.
and as i mentioned here, i want “peaches” played at my funeral, and it’s on “fact & fiction” so there you go.
i saw her once, at eddie’s attic in decatur, georgia, and that’s enough for me. i could have gotten sugarland tickets when they played new york last year, but i didn’t bother. they were third billing and you just knew that they would play fifteen minutes or three songs, whichever came first, or whatever, and then because i am cheap i would have felt obligated to stay to see toby keith or whoever the hell they were appearing with, and who wants to go through that?
i was very happy for kristen when she had such success in her group sugarland, because she really deserved it. she’s an amazingly talented songwriter, and should have gotten greater fame and financial rewards for it long before sugarland was formed. (i bought the sugarland cd on itunes. my first, last, and only itunes purchase, by the way. kristen, put your back catalog on itunes!)
i have a feeling that she’s not too interested in fame and fortune. and i also have a feeling that she did this sugarland thing just to cash in a bit, which she richly deserved to do, and now she has a little stash of cash to coast on and she can do whatever the hell she wants to do.
who wouldn’t like to be in that situation? i sure the hell would. but i’m too lazy to devote time and energy on the level that she has, and i don’t deserve it nearly as much as she does.
and she doesn’t owe anyone anything. if she wants to make more music, i’ll be first in line to buy it. i sure hope that she’ll make more music. there’s been a dearth of kristen hall product for long enough.
if she wants to sit on her ass and do absolutely nothing for the rest of her life, she can do that too, and i’ll be more than happy to listen to what she’s recorded up until now, ad infinitum.
and if she wants to be like j.d. salinger, and go off into the woods and write just for herself and for no one else, and we can all get her 1,776 songs tied up in ribbons after her death (that’s an emily dickinson reference, for those of you that are scratching your heads), that’s fine too.
did you know, by the way, that all of emily dickinson’s poems can be sung to the tune of “the yellow rose of texas”? or, for that matter, the theme from “gilligan’s island”?
but i digress.
go kristen. do whatever the hell you want to do. i’m behind you 100%, girl.
you’ll always have at least one fan who will never, never forget you.
My wife and I flew from NYC down to Atlanta to see our very favorite female vocalist, Kristin Hall. She had a piece on one of Putamayo compilation CD’s and I set out to find out more about this very hip chic and fetched every CD she had ever cut and then looked to see if she came to the NYC vicinity and in finding out that she didn’t, I booked an overnight flight and we saw her for the first time live that night. All I can say is she is the best! Her website never seems to get updated with her latest happenings so if anyone knows where and what she’s up to, let me in whether it be fact or fiction!
Yeah! Another Kristen Hall fan out there besides me ;-)! Just started re-listening to her albums and remembering just how good she is. It was great to read your $0.02 on Ms. Hall. Since you obviously have great taste in music, do you have any other musical recommendations?
Also, congrats on your wedding! My sweetie and I live in Massachusetts and we’re tying the knot in a few months – can’t wait!
Cheers! Amy
hi amy,
my other fave is michelle shocked, who i need to write about sometime. thanks for reminding me!
i’d recommend kiki and herb too — listen to them on youtube. they are an acquired taste, though ; )
my faves from back in the day were the cure, the smiths, skinny puppy, siouxsie, fetchin bones, the connells, jane’s addiction, sonic youth, the dead milkmen. yes i was emo before the term was coined.
presently i’m way out of touch musically. i have no idea what those younguns listen to. but that’s ok — i have enough music (i used to dj) to last a lifetime.
thanks for stopping by and for commenting, and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
: )
jamie
I too often check kristen’s web site for updated info or a
new CD on the horizon. Her music really speaks to me and
I love her writing. It would be great to see a live acoustic
show. I wish her well and appreciate her contribution to
the family.
hi robyn,
thanks for stopping by. i only saw her once live, at eddie’s attic, and trust me when i tell you that it was absolutely transcendent. if you ever get the chance it’s worth what it takes to make it happen.
i’d bet that she’ll do something in due time.
: )
jamie
I LOVE Kristen Hall! I have all her pre-sugarland cd’s from when she was working her ass off in atlanta to make a name of herself… if you like Kristen hall you’ll love wendy bucklew!
Jamie thanks for your encouragement I hope you are
right and I will get to see her someday. I will definately
check out Wendy Bucklew, thanks Dawn for the suggestion.
As much as Sugarland is still my fave C&W band, it’s just not quite the same without Kristin’s fab backup vocals and accoustic guitar playing.
Kristen,
Just a tidbit to let you know your impact. I just finished moving in to our place in Chicago. Moving from Boston. Before that Ann Arbor, MI. Before that, Atlanta, where I saw you every chance I got. Had my mp3 player (Media Monkey) randomizing across all my 5-star rated songs and you filled the apartment 3x. “I should know” was the song that made me send this email. What a beautiful mix of sounds. Thanks for all the memories.
-Mark Bradshaw
I am an old friend of Krystin. I lost touch a few years ago. If you could pass my email on to her I would appreciate it. I share your feelings on her tallents. Thanks Sammy Kusler