TNT will be ushering in the holidays this year with “Christmas in Washington,” their annual presentation that will air on Sunday December 20 at 8 pm. Sugarland, Usher, Rob Thomas, Neil Diamond and Mary J. Blige are among the musicians that are scheduled to perform. Hosting the show will be George Lopez.

Michael Wright, the executive vice president of TNT, TCM and TBS said, we take a lot of pride in being able to present “Christmas in Washington” every year. We love bringing musical artists together from different genres to put on fantastic holiday concerts. We are especially thrilled this year to welcome so many top name performers to the lineup as well as George Lopez as our amazing host. They will together make this holiday celebration one to remember.

They will be taping the show on December 13 in Washington D.C. at National Building Museum. In attendance will be President Barack Obama along with First Lady Michelle Obama. This year’s “Christmas in Washington” will be TNT’s 11th airing of the show, a benefit for the National Children’s Medical Center.

Sugarland, Country Music Association’s two consecutive reigning Vocal Duo of the Year, will release their follow up DVD/CD combo set “Live on The Inside” on August 4. On August 3, Sugarland will be sending a cinematic postcard to fans from their tour with their first network television special. The shine and shimmer from their high energy live performances will be captured as well as the love and intimacy they have with their songs, something their fans know very well. On August 3 ABC will air “Sugarland: Live on the Inside” from 8-9 pm ET.

Filmed in Lexington, Kentucky at Rupp Arena by the director Shaun Silver, the innovative and artistic live show of the duo is brought to life by 20 cameras. It is an unforgettable and spectacular night that features some of Sugarland’s biggest hits like “Something More,” “All I Want To Do,” “Stay,” and “Settlin’”, in addition to televised performance footage that’s never been seen before.

Sugarland’s Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles made an explosive entrance in 2004 into the music scene with their album “Twice The Speed Of Life,” featuring “Something More” and “Baby Girl.” Ever since then they haven’t looked back. The duo has sold almost 7 million albums. They’ve won 3 Grammy awards: “Stay” earned them Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals; Nettles won Best Country Song for “Stay;” and Nettles with Bon Jovi on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” won Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Sugarland has also received awards from the Country Music Association, CMT Music Awards, Academy of Country Music and American Music Awards.

Jennifer Nettles said, television performances and music specials become iconic. We’ve all seen Ed Sullivan replays with the Beatles or the TV special of Elvis dressed in a jump suit while giving his scarf away. Even performances from my childhood such as “Live Aid,” have made a big impact. So we are very excited for our show to be on ABC. We hope people will remember and enjoy the moment.

Kristian Bush said, for years we’ve overheard our fans saying that they brought friends to see our show for their first experience of Sugarland. They say it with a lot of excitement and pride like they just can’t wait to be able to share what they’ve discovered. This special is something they will be able to give to their friends. The most exciting thing about this is to imagine just how far we can reach out.

Sugarland was able to skyrocket into super stardom and drew in fans and critics from all genres with their “Enjoy the Ride” (“Stay,” “Settlin’,” “Want To”) as well as “Love On The Inside” (“Already Gone,” “All I Want To do, “Love,” “It Happens”) albums. Sugarland has co-written all of the songs from all three of their albums. On the last two they have been co-producers. Earlier this year Sugarland performed in six different European countries. They are currently headlining a tour of the U.S. that will run until the fall. Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles has performed for President Barack Obama. The duo also recently appeared on “Oprah.”

Kristian Bush, Jennifer Nettles and Jason Owen are the executive producers of “Sugarland: Live on the Inside.” The special show is a production from Tacklebox Films and was directed and produced by Shaun Silver. It will be aired in HDTV and have 5.1 channel surround sound. Spanish subtitles will be provided via secondary captioning. Closer to air date there will be a determination on a parental guide.

Sugarland, following their first tour of Europe, will be digging into a long North American spring-summer tour.

The stateside “Love on the Inside” outing for the Grammy Award-winning pair will kick off with a performance on May 1 at the New Orleans Jazz Festival before going on a stint of 19 dates with the “Escape Together” Keith Urban tour as one of the trek’s rotating support acts. Weaved in among those dates are performances with the “Sun City Carnival” Kenny Chesney tour in addition to their headlining gigs. Jake Owen, Eric Hutchinson, Matt Nathanson and Billy Currington will split opening duties for the Sugarland headlining shows.

The European leg for Sugarland will be a mixture of US military installations and theaters. The trek kicks off on March 6 in Italy as part of an 11 city outing. Additional information on Sugarland’s overseas dates is listed on their website.

The duo are touring in support of “Love on the Inside,” their platinum third album. Last August the set peaked at the No. 1 position on Billboard’s 200 chart.

American life right about now is feeling like a very long Cymbalta commercial. There is so much bad news piling up at such a fast rate that it’s becoming boring and mind numbing. There are signs in stores telling people that they deserve little luxuries still, in an attempt to jolt the shopper from their doldrums. Just trying to go for a relaxing drive can bankrupt you these days and is bad for the earth. Then there’s the persistent rumor about how the cell phones that we need for talking to our therapists will give us brain cancer.

No cure is better for the blues than humanizing, unifying, substantial and uplifting music. What I’m here to say is America needs Sugarland fellow mopers.

The Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles songwriter-singer duo based out of Nashville have been making hit songs for some time now. However with “Love on the Inside,” their third album, they’ve reached new heights. This music is adult contemporary that’s still fun enough for kids and the true blue country fans without having a trace of bigotry or flag waving. The deluxe fan edition of the CD runs 71 minutes and delivers 17 songs that are warm to such traditions as bluegrass, talking blues and Muscle Shoals soul. At its heart, however, the album is really crossover pop from an unsnobby eclecticism.

Bush and Nettles, who had their start as folk rockers in Atlanta in a similar scene to the Indigo Girls, go after Nashville songwriting cliches like longtime serial daters go after marriage: with a willingness to work, sense of perspective and great humor. They aren’t immune to cornball humor. “Pshhhh… it happens,” Nettles sings as the punch line to a song about denting the truck of her ex in a borrowed Cadillac on her way to Wal-Mart. However it’s sharp cheese and the truisms are inspiration and transcend beyond themselves and ring true.

The music of Sugarland is straight out of the Shania and Garth broad minded country school. It’s a blend of the big reach of arena rock with James Taylor laid back poetics. Nettles, who sang duets along with the rocker Jon Bon Jovi, has a talent like Jon for transforming cliches into conversation. The golden alto of Nettles has an aching undertone to it that serves her really well on sad songs. On the sillier tunes it adds depth.

Bush add background vocals that are gruff and charming as well as guitar and mandolin work that helps to keep the sound of Sugarland organic even when they are reaching up for those in the cheap seats.

The duo, along with first rate side players such as Matt Chamberlain, their ace drummer, don’t ever sound too processed. Their sounds is very well tones and streamlined.

Insider joke romps like “Steve Earle” or “Genevieve, the hillbilly cred-earner, provide comfort to the yuppies, however Bush and Nettles serve their fans best through their renewal of the beloved pop traditions such as “Already Gone,” the light all-American uplifting tune or “Very Last Country Song,” the domestic weeper.

Throughout the album “Love on the Inside,” pop is treated by Sugarland like a big picture rather than a multitude of niches. Their vision is a spiritual ideal presenting connectedness. America really needed that. Thanks Sugarland.

Sugarland, the country duo, have added several additional dates to their summer touring schedule which is backing “Love on the Inside,” their upcoming album.

The duo from Atlanta will be releasing their new album on July 22, during the middle of their current trek. Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, singer/songwriters, will continue the tour in St. Leonard, Minnesota on June 6.

Their schedule includes an appearance on September 13 in Asheville, NC. It’s a makeup date for a show in April that had to be canceled on account of an unspecified illness.

The third studio album from the duo, “Love on the Inside” features “All I Want to Do.” The single debuted on the Hot Country Song chart of Billboard at No. 27. That’s the highest charting debut for Sugarland to date.

Nettles stated in a recent press release, during live songs we have been playing around with some of our new songs. Fans have responded well to them. We couldn’t wait for the whole album to get to them. When it comes to this album I’m more excited than anything else I’ve ever recorded. It’s very special for us. There’s lots of emotion in it, lots of tears, laughter, heart and love.

The previous album for Sugarland “Enjoy the Ride,” their platinum selling 2006 release, featured two No. 1 singles: “Settlin’” and “Want To.” The album was co-produced by Bush and Nettles along with Bryon Gallimore, veteran producer (Faith Hill, Tim McGraw), who was also a producer on the upcoming “Love on the Inside.”

At the Academy of Country Music Awards last month Sugarland won Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year honors for their hit single “Stay” from the album “Enjoy the Ride.” The song was written by Nettles. It marks the very first time for a female artist with solo writing credit to win Song of the Year from the ACM.

Sugarland, country music duo comprised of Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, have started to polish their summer touring schedule.

The Atlanta based duo are continuing to support “Enjoy the Ride,” their platinum selling album from 2006. On April 3 they will kick off the next phase of their current tour with an engagement of two nights in Atlanta. As summer approaches the pair’s itinerary will be ramping up. In the months of June and July they have 18 shows scheduled.

Bush and Nettles co-wrote a majority of the songs from “Enjoy the Ride.” The album spawned two No. 1 singles: “Settlin’” and “Want To,” as well as “Those Are the Days,” the most recent single from the set. Bush and Nettles did co-production on the album alongside Byron Gallimore, a veteran of Nashville who has also produced for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

In the online bio for the band Nettles said, while we were in the studio recording I felt completely confident allowing Kristian to guide the flow. It was really nice to just back and relax and watch Kristian do his thing. Artistically he really stepped it up. I felt I could explore my vocal development and contribute in other ways.

Last fall Bush told Billboard.com that the pair had written maybe six to seven songs for “Enjoy the Ride.” He said that last year’s stint out on the road opening for Kenny Chesney had inspired them.

Bush said, when we played those big venues with Kenny, we discovered that in order to really communicate with over 20,000 people every night that you need to simplify your message a lot without pandering to them. You need to write things that are very visceral and then deliver them in an intelligent way that won’t insult anyone. As summer approaches the pair’s itinerary will be ramping up. In the months of June and July they have 18 shows scheduled.

Bush and Nettles co-wrote a majority of the songs from “Enjoy the Ride.” The album spawned two No. 1 singles: “Settlin’” and “Want To,” as well as “Those Are the Days,” the most recent single from the set. Bush and Nettles did co-production on the album alongside Byron Gallimore, a veteran of Nashville who has also produced for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

In the online bio for the band Nettles said, while we were in the studio recording I felt completely confident allowing Kristian to guide the flow. It was really nice to just back and relax and watch Kristian do his thing. Artistically he really stepped it up. I felt I could explore my vocal development and contribute in other ways.

Last fall Bush told Billboard.com that the pair had written maybe six to seven songs for “Enjoy the Ride.” He said that last year’s stint out on the road opening for Kenny Chesney had inspired them.

Bush said, when we played those big venues with Kenny, we discovered that in order to really communicate with over 20,000 people every night that you need to simplify your message a lot without pandering to them. You need to write things that are very visceral and then deliver them in an intelligent way that won’t insult anyone.

Sugarland, the country music duo, is currently out on the road along with Kenny Chesney. They will continue touring into the fall, with a new trek in the works as the pair continues backing “Enjoy the Ride,” their current studio album.

When Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles set out for their headlining CMT on Tour they will have spent a majority of the year already together on the tour bus. Jake Owens, singer/songwriter, and Little Big Town, country quartet, will be joining them. The tour kicks off in Charlotte, SC on September 27 with 32 cities scheduled.

CMT on Tour previous incarnations have included Rascall Flatts, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley and Trace Adkins, putting the pair from Atlanta in good company. Despite the fact that Kristen Hall, a founding member, left the group a year ago Sugarland has continued as a duo and hasn’t missed a beat. The group in 2006 joined The Road and the Radio Kenny Chesney tour and also was an opening act for Brooks & Dunn.

“Enjoy the Ride” was co-produced and co-written by Bush and Nettles, along with Byron Gallimore, prominent Nashville producer who was worked with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. The sophomore set for the band was released last November and has spawned two No. 1 hit singles, “Want To” and then “Settlin’.”

Bush, during a June ASCAP ceremony in which Sugarland received gold plaques for the song “Settlin’” said, that was the very first song that we wrote for this album. It is also the album’s first song. So fans experience the song the same way we as writers did. That’s unique. The day we wrote it we went very fast.