Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang.
Billy Ray Cyrus is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and became the first single ever to achieve triple platinum status in Australia. It was also the best-selling single in the same country in 1992. Due to the song's music video, the line dance rose in popularity.
Harold Ray Ragsdale, known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty hits such as "Gitarzan" and "The Streak". Stevens has received gold albums for his music sales. He has worked as a producer, music arranger, and television host. Stevens is also an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Roger Dean Miller Sr. was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country and pop hits "King of the Road", "Dang Me", and "England Swings", all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound era.
David Darnell Brown, best known by his stage name Young Buck, is an American rapper. He heads his own record label, Cashville, and was a member of the former hip hop group G-Unit.
Diamond Rio is an American country music band. The band was founded in 1982 as an attraction for the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, and was originally known as the Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys. It was founded by Matt Davenport, Danny Gregg, and Ty Herndon, the last of whom became a solo artist in the mid-1990s. After undergoing several membership changes in its initial years, the band has consisted of the same six members since 1989: Marty Roe, Gene Johnson, Jimmy Olander, Brian Prout (drums), Dan Truman (keyboards), and Dana Williams.
James William Anderson III, known professionally as Bill Anderson, is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television host. His soft-spoken singing voice was given the nickname "Whispering Bill" by music critics and writers. As a songwriter, his compositions have been covered by various music artists since the late 1950s, including Ray Price and George Strait.
Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy Arnold, and others. Cochran was also a recording artist between 1962 and 1980, scoring seven times on the Billboard country music charts, with his greatest solo success being the No. 20 "Sally Was a Good Old Girl." In 2014, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Patrick James Carney is an American musician and producer best known as the drummer of the Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio.
The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock and Southern rock band consisting of Doug Phelps, Greg Martin, and brothers Richard Young and Fred Young. They were founded in 1968 as Itchy Brother, which consisted of the Young brothers and Martin, along with Anthony Kenney on bass guitar and vocals. Itchy Brother performed together until 1982, with James Harrison replacing Martin from 1973 to 1976. The Youngs and Martin began performing as The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986, adding brothers Ricky Lee Phelps and Doug Phelps to the membership.
Jamey Johnson is an American country music singer and songwriter.
Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released eight studio albums: Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, Supernova, Ouroboros, Part of the Light, and Monovision. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after hearing an album by Stephen Stills. Critics have compared LaMontagne's music to that of Otis Redding, Ryan Adams, Beck, Pink Floyd, The Band, Van Morrison, Nick Drake and Tim Buckley.
John Raymond David Griff was a Canadian country music singer and songwriter, born in Vancouver and raised in Toronto. His songwriting credits reached over 2500 songs, many of which were recorded by Nashville's top recording artists.
John R. Cash was an American country music singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark all-black stage wardrobe which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black".
Casey Michael Beathard is an American country music songwriter. The son of former NFL general manager Bobby Beathard, and father to current Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback C. J. Beathard, and country music artist Tucker Beathard, he has co-written singles for several country music recording artists, including top-ten singles for Gary Allan, Billy Ray Cyrus, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, and Eric Church. In 2004 and 2008, he received Broadcast Music, Inc.'s Songwriter of the Year award for his contributions.
Hugh Loring Prestwood is an American Hall of Fame songwriter, whose work is primarily in country music. He was discovered by Judy Collins, who gave him his first hit "Hard Time for Lovers", which was recorded in 1978. Prestwood has written number one songs for Randy Travis" Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart", which won BMI's Robert J. Burton award for Country Song of the Year. Prestwood’s song, “The Song Remembers When”, recorded by Trisha Yearwood, was picked as the Nashville Songwriters Association’s Song of the Year and also won a Prime Time Emmy for “Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics.
Don Cusic is an American author, songwriter and record producer who is best known as a historian of U.S. popular music. He is the author of 28 books, most of them related to country music; they include biographies of performers like Eddy Arnold, Roger Miller, Merle Haggard and Gene Autry. He is a special correspondent for Billboard magazine, a book reviewer for MusicRow magazine, and editor for trade magazines Record World and Cashbox . Cusic was a consultant for Ken Burns' documentary miniseries Country Music. He is a Curb Professor of Music Industry History at Belmont University in Nashville, where his former students include Brad Paisley and Chris Young. He is a frequent contributor of liner notes for prominent recording artists and has contributed various encyclopedia entries, magazine articles, and book chapters.
Brett Charles Young is an American country pop singer, songwriter and guitarist from Orange County, California. He was a college baseball pitcher but took up songwriting after an elbow injury. His self-titled debut EP, produced by Dann Huff, was released by Republic Nashville on February 12, 2016. The lead single, "Sleep Without You", was released on April 11, and he had a major success with his following single, "In Case You Didn't Know". He released his second major label album Ticket to L.A. in 2018, and the third, Weekends Look a Little Different These Days, in 2021.
Jon Nite is a Grammy-nominated, CMA and ACM award winning singer/songwriter who has written 16 No.1 hits. Nite's songs have been recorded by artists such as Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Gabby Barrett, Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile, Phillip Phillips, Chase Rice, Jake Owen, Michael Ray, Brett Young, Darius Rucker, Dustin Lynch, and more. Teaming with Sony Music Publishing, Jon has found a radio home with hits like “What Ever She’s Got” by David Nail, “Smoke” by A Thousand Horses, “We Were Us” by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert, “Beachin'” by Jake Owen, “Strip It Down” by Luke Bryan, “Break On Me” by Keith Urban, "Noise" by Kenny Chesney, “Think A Little Less” by Michael Ray, “If I Told You” by Darius Rucker and "Boy " by Lee Brice. Cole Swindell's single "Break Up in the End" which topped the Country Aircheck chart, earning a 2019 Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Song.
Patrick "Pat" Jay Buchanan is an American guitarist, known for his work with the band Cameo and as a Nashville-based session musician.
