Kristian Bush

A versatile artist skilled as a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, Kristian Bush comprises half of the folk-rock duo Billy Pilgrim and belongs to the Grammy Award-winning country pair Sugarland. His debut solo album Southern Gravity appeared in 2015, while 2022 brought the release of 52 ATL x BNA as the initial chapter in a four-volume series spanning 52 songs.

Raised in Sevierville, the modest Smoky Mountain town located just outside Knoxville that also produced Dolly Parton, Kristian Merrill Bush first performed on violin as a child alongside his younger brother Brandon, serving as an opener for Parton. He later took up guitar and, after studying at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, launched the folk-rock duo Billy Pilgrim with Andrew Hyra. The two issued five albums, among them a pair on Atlantic Records, before parting ways in 2001. Bush established Sugarland the next year alongside singer Jennifer Nettles, which led to a sustained run of successful albums and number one singles. April 2015 saw the arrival of his first solo album, Southern Gravity on Streamsound Records, anchored by the hit single "Trailer Hitch." After a five-year hiatus, Sugarland reunited in 2017 for a series of live shows. Two years later the group delivered its sixth studio album, Bigger. Also in 2019 Bush issued the solo EP Summertime Six Pack. In 2022 he introduced the first portion of a far-reaching four-part project titled 52 ATL x BNA, an album that honored classic Nashville storytelling and Atlanta R&B.