Kristian Bush Talks "Troubadour" and More at Florida Studio Theatre

Kristian Bush 

One of the many things I love about living in Sarasota is having the chance to get behind the scenes of theater productions around town. Case in point: Hearing from Kristian Bush, composer and lyricist of "Troubadour," a play with music now on at Florida Studio Theatre. What a treat. 

Bush is the kind of guy who's open to opportunities that unexpectedly come his way. And having been in the room with him a couple of times, I can see how that happens. He's funny and friendly and genuine --  the kind of guy you want to be around. And it doesn't hurt that he's super talented. 

His involvement with "Troubadour" began with an email. "You don't know me, but a friend of mine sat next to you on a plane and shared your contact info with me. I'm working on a play about country music in the 1950s and would like to talk to you about writing a song for it." And with that missive, the collaboration of playwright Janece Shaffer and Bush was launched. 

It was great fun to hear Bush talk about someone totally unfamiliar with theater getting sucked into the process. What was to be one song (which he wrote the same day he met Shaffer for breakfast) became five or six. He was invited to a reading of the play in one of its early iterations and sang his songs. It went well. As he was preparing to excuse himself, Shaffer asked, "How do you feel about writing 16 songs?" "But I don't know anything about musicals," Bush replied. He was told to "just keep doing what you're doing." That he could do, so he agreed on one condition. His brother Brandon would have to be involved as well. And so the Bush brothers were on board. 

Brandon and Kristian Bush

Bush said one of the reasons the project worked was because his collaboration with Shaffer was so similar to how he works with other musicians. She never faltered when he asked for a character's backstory to help him find the right words for a song. Now that's a good playwright. 

Bush was particularly endearing when he talked about writing an "innuendo song" for the show. He said he's always wanted to write lyrics as dirty as those you might find in a song by Prince but that he's too bashful. When was the last time you heard that word???  It turns out that writing for "Troubadour" gave him an opportunity. In the era of the play, singers could only get away with lyrics about sex by using food analogies. Still, Bush said, he wouldn't have sung the song if his mother had been in the audience. It includes the lyrics, "[If you] Wanna taste my ice cream, I get to taste your lollipop." I swear he was blushing as he sang. 

While "Troubadour" was the focus of the evening, Bush also shared some stories and songs from his other bands. His musical partnership with Jennifer Nettles -- performing under the name Sugarland -- is the best known. Nettles had decided to step away from the duo at the time Bush was writing songs for the play. He channeled the resulting emotions into "Troubadour," a song about the lead character wondering if he was going to be forgotten. When Shaffer et al heard it, they renamed the show, which was originally going to be called "Is He Crazy?" (Side note: Sugarland is getting back together.) 

As Bush was talking and singing, I was scribbling down lyrics so I could look up the songs later. I was particularly keen to check out a song written about the moment before you kill the one you love the most. Bush was laughing when he said lots of couples get married to that one. I get it. "Stuck on Glue" has phrases like "Absolutely nobody knows me better" and "There you go making me feel like a kid." But if you watch the music video, you'll see that the couple has broken up and the woman has become a stalker. It's hilarious. You can see it by clicking here. I hope those marriages fare better. 

As you can probably tell, I'm still smiling thinking about how much fun it was to get up close and personal with Kristian Bush. Thanks to FST for creating these opportunities. I'm looking forward to seeing "Troubadour" even more now that I know some of the backstories. The show runs through May 19. For more information, click here.