1.     Hi Sugar and Steel, can you guys tell me a little bit about yourselves before you became musicians?

Hi! Well, to backtrack a bit, we met in college. We had both grown up playing guitar, singing, writing and playing in church. So my (Sidnye here!) friend wanted me to go to an open mic night with her, so I reluctantly went (I had a lot of homework!). I get there, and I see this guy across the room. I was already wondering who he was and how he was so good-looking! Haha! He walked up on stage, started playing “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman (is it a coincidence that it’s one of my favorite songs?), and we totally made eye contact! To make a long story short, he came down to meet me after the set and we went on our first date five days later. That’s our little love story and the rest is history. It wasn’t until mid-2015 (after we had gotten married) that we decided to become Sugar & Steel.

2.     How did you guys form your duo and come up with your group name? 

We were both solo artists before we became S&S. I wrote some pop music and Spencer did country, but we decided it would be so much more fun to bring it together now that we were married! It just made sense and we love playing and performing together now.

(Spencer here) I actually came up with the name “Sugar & Steel.” It started as a song idea I had years ago (I call Sidnye “Sugar” as a nickname), and when we were thinking about duo names it popped back into my head. We ran it by some friends and mentors, and everyone seemed to love it. It’s a fun name!

3.     Who are some of your musical icons?

I love 70s music. My favorites are The Eagles, Merle Haggard, Jim Croce, James Taylor, and so many more. We both LOVE Dave Matthews Band, too. (Sidnye again!) Some of my musical icons are DMB, Sara Bareilles, Faith and Tim, Carol King, Carrie Underwood, and so many more. I’m all over the map!

4.     If you guys were not musicians what do you think your careers would be?

Hmmm! We love music. This is a hard one. Spencer loves to teach, and he’s mentioned how fun it would be to be a professor. I love business (that’s what my degree is in), so I’d love to be on the business side of the industry, too. I’d love to own my own company one day when we’re older and off the road.

5.     If you guys sing a duet with a singer or group whom would it be and why?

We’ve talked many times about how fun it would be to do CMT Crossroads with the Dave Matthews Band (can you tell we’re big fans?). His band is insane and the songs are SO fun. It’d be a dream!

6.     What has been an accomplishment that you guys are most proud of so far in your career?

We’ve had such an incredible 2016 and are so blessed. We’ve released new music, have had the incredible opportunity to team up with MoonPie (ummm, can you say DELISH?!), are currently starting to work with Breedlove Guitars and gotten to play some amazing sold out shows! One of our favorite moments was Fan Fair X at CMA Fest this past year. We got to meet so many incredible fans at the Dollar General booth and were so overwhelmed by the support! Were are so thankful for everyone that supports us. 2017 is going to be such a great year and we can’t wait to see what unfolds.

7.     Is there anything new coming up with your music for 2017?

(Spencer again!) We’ve started this year writing and working on a lot of new music. We cannot wait to release our first big single this year. Follow our socials to hear sneak peaks of new songs. We always want to know what our followers think. We’re excited to play some big shows with our band, too. We’ll have 2017 dates up on our website here soon! (www.sugarandsteelmusic.com).

8.     If you had to give advice to an up and coming singer or group what would you tell them.

If we could give advice to an up-and-coming artist, we would tell them to practice hard and never give up. It sounds cliche, but it’s important to keep learning and growing as a musician. It’s also important to stick to what you love even when times get tough, because they will at some point. Stay true to who you are!

9.     What do you guys like to do in your free time?

(Sidnye here!) In our free time, we love to read! We call it “shoulder-to-shoulder time” where we’ll take a couple hours, sit by each other, have tea and read! It’s a fun and calm way to wind down after shows or busy meetings. I also personally love to organize (call me weird, but it’s relaxing!) and I also love to study nutrition and watch Friends and Gilmore Girls. Spencer loves playing disc golf, studying for fun and watching Star Wars. We’re essentially a couple of nerds. But at least we have each other, ha!

10. What are some of your favorite songs that you recorded?

Oh, wow! We have a lot of songs that we love for different reasons, but right now I think our favorite that we’ve released is a song called “Forever On My Mind.” You can check it out here! www.soundcloud.com/sugarandsteel/forever-on-my-mind-sugar-steel

11. What are some of your favorite quotes?

One of our favorite quotes right now is one by Aristotle. “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” We want to keep growing as people and as musicians.

12. What do you guys want people to take from your music?

We want people to take away love. It may sound cheesy, but we want our message to be that love does still exist, even when things are tough. We want people to see real, true love in our music and in our lives. We want our songs to speak to people who have that or long for it. We want our music to tell stories and bring hope to people listening.