Sugarland will be appearing on Monday night’s episode of American Idol to mentor the contestants and perform with some of them.  For Jennifer and Kristian, the whole concept and experience of American Idol is a fascinating one.  Jennifer thinks it has sort of turned music careers on their heads.  She says, “It used to be that to be a musician there were different sort of dues that one had to pay before one could get to a place of having such exposure. And those shows are interesting because they shove the exposure first before the dues and so you get to see an interesting part of that artist’s trajectory.”

Regardless of whether the dues come first or the exposure comes first, Jennifer says, “At the end of the day it ends up like anything else, like a very few of them actually ever make it.  The part that is successful for the television piece is the drama of it, of somebody winning and somebody losing.  But whether or not one actually goes on to make a career out of it, the percentages of that are basically just like they are for anyone else.”

For Kristian, American Idol is interesting because of the way it has changed the way the general public listens to and judges music.  He says, “Now that they have the language that has started by American Idol [it’s not] ‘Are you good or not?’ but ‘Is that the right song for you?’”

There was a moment when Sugarland was filming their episode of American Idol where Pat Monahan of Train commented that he didn’t know they were on the show and then realized it sounded like he was saying he didn’t know they were contestants, which made Kristian giggle.  And he says, “It was funny for a second and it just rushed over me really quickly just as the joke faded, could I ever be a contestant on something like this? And then I thought. I don’t think I could and if I did what would I learn? You know and I just started asking questions and I don’t have good answers but it was a cool question to ask.”

You can see Sugarland tonight (4/9) on American Idol at 8p/7pm CT on ABC.

Sugarland – Idol has changed industry  :58

Jennifer Nettles – “I mean that platform as a whole is fascinating because it has launched a whole new part of the industry and it has changed the industry. You know it used to be that to be a musician there were different sort of dues that one had to pay before one could get to a place of having such exposure. And those shows are interesting because they shove the exposure first before the dues and so you get to see an interesting part of that artist’s trajectory.  But at the end of the day it ends up like anything else, like a very few of them actually ever make it.  The part that is successful for the television piece is the drama of it, of somebody winning and somebody losing.  But whether or not one actually goes on to make a career out of it, the percentages of that are basically just like they are for anyone else.”

Kristian Bush – “Just as impossible?”

Jennifer – “Just as impossible!”

Sugarland – winning at singing  :18

Kristian Bush – “It’s hard to win music.  It’s like yoga. You know, like you’re not gonna win anything.  You either do it or you don’t do it and you like it or you don’t like it.”

Jennifer Nettles – “Yeah, and you best yourself or you don’t because everybody is offering such unique things.  I mean sure, if you wanted to try to put people side by side, but at the end of the day it’s apples and oranges. You know, you can’t really compare certain kinds of talent.”

Sugarland – Idol pick right song  :37

Kristian Bush – “I’ve noticed a unique shift because I work with a lot of new artists now that they have the language that has started by American Idol.  Not, ‘Are you good or not?’ but ‘Is that the right song for you?’  So now those are two separate pieces that America now has language to have an opinion about, right, that has never really been there before. It isn’t like, ‘Man, that Steven Tyler sure is good but that ‘Dream On,’ that’s just not his song.’ You know, like, ‘What?!’  So it’s beautiful and its effect is completely covered the musical and entertainment landscape.”

Sugarland – American Idol moment  :34

Kristian Bush – “I giggled because we were standing on the side getting ready to go on and Pat Monahan came by and he’s like, ‘I didn’t know you were on the show.’  We’re like, ‘Yeah.’  He goes, ‘No, I mean like not on the show, but on the show.’ For a minute he caught himself like we were contestants.  And it was funny for a second and it just rushed over me really quickly just as the joke faded, could I ever be a contestant on something like this? And then I thought. I don’t think I could and if I did what would I learn? You know and I just started asking questions and I don’t have good answers but it was a cool question to ask.”