Jennifer Nettles

When half of a musical duo goes for a solo career and flops, it’s tragic.

Fortunately, that hasn’t happened to Jennifer Nettles. 

Although the other half of Sugarland, Kristian Bush, was notably absent during her performance at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Friday, Nettles held the stage just fine on her own. 

Nettles called the 10th stop on her Playing With Fire tour a celebration of music past, present and future, which was fitting, as the music-hall floor was filled with a mix of older and younger fans.

The night was filled with Nettles’ music, Sugarland’s hits and covers from all genres.

She opened strong with “Baby Girl,” a Sugarland single from 2004. Though it was jarring to realize this song is now more than a decade old, Nettles sounded the same as she did when it first hit the charts.

Following the fire theme, she also did a twangy version of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” which was unexpected but solid.

Throughout the night, she took time to interact with audience members and talk about her upcoming album, the tour’s namesake, coming  this spring. 

Nettles has been making music professionally since 1996, but she still sounded a bit nervous when she spoke, tripping over her words as they tumbled out quickly. 

Her singing, however, sounded as effortless as if a studio-produced album were playing through the speakers. Her voice hasn’t been affected by the years of performing; if anything, it has gotten richer.

The energy was good but not over-the-top for the majority of the night, but at some point in the window between when the band slammed into Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and Sugarland’s “Something More,” the crowd lost it. 

Twenty somethings and the middle-aged alike belted out the lyrics and danced with one another, age and barriers forgotten. 

Lauper’s 1983 smash hit is representative of Nettles. While people might not know her by name, her music is recognizable across generations.

Nettles is country without being too redneck and rock without being too hardcore. Without Bush, she represents a continuation of strong female voices outside the typical pop realm. 

“That Girl,” her first solo single from 2013, pays tribute to Dolly Parton by referencing the older singer’s “Jolene.” It’s not as well-known as the Sugarland discography, but avid Nettles fans (of which there were plenty) grooved along with enthusiasm.

Her music transcends generations in a way that bro-country, a la Florida Georgia Line, can’t. Songs like “Stay” show what it means to be a woman in a way that any woman born in any decade can feel. 

At one point in the evening, Nettles pontificated on the state of country music today.

It might be all about “trucks and cornfields and your dog dying,” but “it talks about things no other genre can do,” Nettles said. “Country music talks about realness and brokenness.”