Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of iconoclastic artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for and won their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of most country music of the era. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Paycheck, and David Allan Coe were among the movement's most commercially successful members.
Phillip George Vassar Jr. is an American country music artist. Vassar made his debut on the country music scene in the late 1990s, co-writing singles for several country artists, including Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Collin Raye, and Alan Jackson. In 1999, he was named by American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) as Country Songwriter of the Year.
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 consisted of the same six members from 1989 to 2022: Marty Roe, Gene Johnson, Jimmy Olander, Brian Prout (drums), Dan Truman (keyboards), and Dana Williams. After Prout and Johnson both retired in 2022, they were replaced by Micah Schweinsberg and Carson McKee respectively.
Keith Anderson is an American country music singer. Before signing to a record deal, Anderson was one of several co-writers on "Beer Run ", a duet by Garth Brooks and George Jones, released in late 2001. Anderson was signed as a recording artist to Arista Nashville in 2004. His debut single "Pickin' Wildflowers" was released that year, as the lead-off track from his debut album Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll. Counting "Pickin' Wildflowers", the album produced a total of four hit singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and was certified gold by the RIAA.
Restless Heart was an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band's longest-tenured lineup consisted of Larry Stewart, John Dittrich, Paul Gregg, Dave Innis, and Greg Jennings. Record producer Tim DuBois assembled the band in 1984 to record demos and chose Verlon Thompson as the original lead singer, but Thompson was replaced by Stewart in this role before the band had recorded any material. Between 1984 and 1998, Restless Heart recorded for RCA Records Nashville. They released the albums Restless Heart, Wheels, Big Dreams in a Small Town, and Fast Movin' Train in the 1980s.
Arista Nashville was an American record label that served as a wholly owned division of Sony Music, operated under the Sony Music Nashville division. Founded in 1989, the label specialized in country music artists, including Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood. The label had operated three sister labels: Career Records, Arista Austin, and Arista Texas/Latin.
Brett James Cornelius is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records as a solo artist in 1995, James charted three singles and released a self-titled debut album that year. He returned to Arista as a recording artist in 2002, releasing two more singles.
Josh Kear is a multi-Grammy Award winning songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Craig Michael Wiseman is an American Country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Dolly Parton, Blake Shelton, and numerous other acts. He has written twenty-six No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs music charts, and has won a number of industry awards. In 2009, he was named "Songwriter of the Decade" by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and in 2015, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Scott Hendricks is an American record producer who has produced over 30 country music artists. His productions have garnered 121 Top 10s, and 78 Number One hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Capitol Records Nashville. Between 1998 and 2001 he served as President and CEO of Virgin Nashville. He now serves as Warner Music Nashville's Executive Vice President of A&R. Acts for whom Hendricks has produced include Restless Heart, John Michael Montgomery, Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins, Alan Jackson, Faith Hill, Blake Shelton, Jana Kramer, Dan + Shay, Michael Ray, William Michael Morgan, Drew Parker and Tegan Marie.
Sea Gayle Music is an independent music publishing company based in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States. It was formed in 1999 by songwriter Chris DuBois, songwriter/producer Frank Rogers, and songwriter/artist Brad Paisley. In 2010 and 2011, Sea Gayle Music was named ASCAP Country Publisher of the Year. This was the first time since 1982 that an independent music publishing company has won this award. The company is under the umbrella of Sea Gayle INC.
Ashley Gorley is an American songwriter, publisher, and producer from Danville, Kentucky, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Gorley has written more than 75 number 1 songs and has over 400 songs recorded by artists including Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Bon Jovi, Nate Smith, Thomas Rhett, Jason Derulo, Kelsea Ballerini, Morgan Wallen and Dan + Shay.
Keith Follesé is an American songwriter and co-founder of Midas Records Nashville.
Jim Beavers is an American country music songwriter. He is the brother of Brett Beavers, also a country songwriter.
Charles Christopher DuBois is an American songwriter and music publisher based out of Nashville, Tennessee. DuBois began his music career as ASCAP Nashville Director of Membership in 1993. He left ASCAP in 1999 to form Sea Gayle Music with business partners Brad Paisley and Frank Rogers. Since that time, Sea Gayle has become one of the most successful independent publishing companies in all of music. In 2010 and 2011, Sea Gayle was named ASCAP Country Publisher of the Year. It was the first time since 1982 that an independent publishing company had won that award. In 2009, Sea Gayle Music launched Sea Gayle Records as an imprint of Sony Music Nashville.
"Country Nation" is a song recorded by the American country music artist Brad Paisley. It was released on September 14, 2015, by Arista Nashville as the fourth and final single from his tenth studio album, Moonshine in the Trunk. He co-wrote the song with Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace, and co-produced it with Luke Wooten.
"Heaven South" is a song recorded by American country music artist Brad Paisley. It was released on October 30, 2017, by Arista Nashville as the third single from his eleventh studio album, Love and War. Paisley co-wrote the song with Brent Anderson and Chris DuBois, and co-produced it with Luke Wooten.
Mark David Bright is an American country music producer, songwriter, and publishing company executive based in Nashville. His peers call Bright "one of the architects of the modern contemporary country sound". Bright's most noted success in producing records has been with the country acts BlackHawk, Rascal Flatts, and Carrie Underwood, but he has produced recordings for many artists including Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Scotty McCreery, Lonestar, Peter Cetera, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, and Keith Urban
Robert Edwin Morrison is an American country songwriter based in Nashville. More than 350 of his songs have been recorded. His most successful compositions are the Grammy-winning Kenny Rogers song, "You Decorated My Life" and the Grammy-nominated "Lookin' for Love," the theme song for the 1980 John Travolta film, Urban Cowboy, recorded by Johnny Lee. Morrison was ASCAP's "Country Songwriter of the Year" in 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982 and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016.
Keepin' Me Up Nights is the 11th studio album by American western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. Recorded primarily in Nashville, Tennessee, it was produced by the band's frontman Ray Benson with Barry Beckett, Tim DuBois and Scott Hendricks, and released in July 1990 as the group's first album on Arista Records. Unlike its 1988 predecessor Western Standard Time, Keepin' Me Up Nights features almost all original material, with just one cover version included.
