Sugarland's Kristian Bush on Family, Baked Beans, and Becoming a Singing Video Game Monster

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Talking Up Music Education Podcast

Talking Up Music Education is a podcast from The NAMM Foundation about music education. Episode 36 includes an interview with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Kristian Bush.  

Bush talks about his career diversity, from writing and recording the theme song to "Say Yes to the Dress," to writing music for a video game monster called "Shugabush" designed in his image, to his record-breaking country music duo, Sugarland.

“Attitude changes everything because it's 90 something percent rejection,” said Bush. “You're going to get ‘no’ over and over and over again. Really, your success has to do with how resilient you are when you're told no.”

Sound Bites From the Podcast: 

“It's really strange to look back at all that, but it [all the songs I've written or recorded] didn't start really increasing in volume until the last four years. It was pretty average–12 to 20 songs a year­–and then it just went through the roof in the last four or five years.” - Kristian Bush

“My first guitar teacher told me to go and sit in front of the television and try to play the songs that I heard.” - Kristian Bush

“Hard work is going to out pace talent every day. I know that sounds funny to say, but if you really think about it…there's somebody else, maybe not as talented, but close, that just wants to work harder than you.” - Kristian Bush

Talking Up Music Education is a podcast produced by The NAMM Foundation about music education. Host Mary Luehrsen chats with teachers, parents, students and community leaders who share stories about what they are doing to create music learning opportunities. Please download, share and subscribe to keep up with the stories that make a difference in music education advocacy.

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