Taylor Swift has been singing all her life motivated by her grandmother who was a professional opera singer She began performing locally around her town and county at the age of ten and at age 11 sang the national anthem before a Philadelphia 76ers g…

Carrie Underwood was the winner of the fourth AMERICAN IDOL reality-TV competition. Underwood sparked a mild controversy for being the first IDOL contestant to fully embrace country music--as opposed to the more preferred Top 40 pop styles of previou…

Cousins Jay DeMarcus and Gary LeVox grew up playing together in Columbus, OH. After DeMarcus moved to Nashville, LeVox eventually followed, and with Joe Don Rooney they formed Rascal Flatts, the singing, songwriting, and instrumental abilities of all…

Fergie fits in between a diminishing trance scene and the radical advent of UK garage with an uncomplicated take on hard house ethics Beginning his DJ career at the age of 14 and taken through the clubland ranks with the help of Tony De Vit Fergie ma…

Though country singer Rodney Atkins didnt get his first guitar until one Christmas in high school he took to the instrument instantly and was soon playing anywhere he could around his Cumberland Gap TN home While at college at Tennessee Tech in Cooke…

Sugarland began as a trio of singersongwriters from the Atlanta GA area each of whom had some level of renown as a solo performer Lead singer Jennifer Nettles had previously fronted Soul Miners Daughter and her gospel background and deep soul approac…

A slow starter career-wise, Tim McGraw, the illegitimate son of baseball legend Tug McGraw, eventually became one of the biggest country stars of the new millennium. After several failed singles, his politically-incorrect novelty number, "Indian Outl…

Though Taylor Hicks quirky soulfulness made him 2006s American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhees classic good looks and voice and affinity for traditional pop made her a strong contender throughout the season In fact she was one of the first semifinal…

Country singer and guitarist Jason Aldean was born in Macon GA in 1977 His parents separated when he was three years old and he spent his childhood with his mother in Macon through the school year while spending the summers with his father in Homeste…

West Virginia country singer/songwriter Brad Paisley gained renown almost immediately with his 1999 debut album, WHO NEEDS PICTURES. He was distinguished from many of his peers by his expert guitar technique (his second and third albums included West…

Hailing from Luttrell, TN, country heart-throb Kenny Chesney first made his mark in 1994 with his debut album, but it wasn't until a couple of years later that he started scoring major hits and making himself a household name. His straightforward, em…

Best known as Gabrielle Montez from the hit Disney Channel movie and soundtrack album High School Musical actresssinger Vanessa Anne Hudgens has also appeared on Drake Josh and The Sweet Life of Zack and Cody Born in Salinas CA and raised in San Die…

The Wreckers are the country-pop side project for Michelle Branch, along with singing and songwriting partner Jessica Harp. They produce catchy, harmony-laden shuffles, rockers, and ballads that appeal to both traditional country fans and loyal Branc…

Though Keith Urban is a major US country star, he actually hails from Australia, where he began his career. After coming to America with his band the Ranch, Urban began making international inroads. As skilled at guitar playing as he was at singing, …

Part of the second wave of neo-traditionalists, former oil rig worker Trace Adkins found a decent amount of success in the early during the late 1990s. Then troubles with the law and dwindling record sales forced Adkins from the spotlight. The occasi…

Britney Spears proved that the same goldmine that Madonna and Cyndi Lauper mined in the 1980s was again ripe for the picking, and she was immediately followed up the charts by another female teenybop sensation, Christina Aguilera. Closely aligned wit…

Country singer Jason Michael Carroll is a rootsy artist with a rockers edge Carroll was raised in a strict religious family in North Carolina and had little contact with secular country music This did not deter Carroll and after high school while wor…