{"key":"5025","name":"Lady A","bio":"Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, is a country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar), and Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin). Scott is the daughter of country music singer Linda Davis, and Kelley is the brother of pop singer Josh Kelley. The group made its debut in 2007 as guest vocalists on Jim Brickman's single \"Never Alone,\" before signing to Capitol Nashville. Lady Antebellum has released six albums for Capitol: Lady Antebellum, Need You Now, Own the Night, Golden, 747, Heart Break and Ocean, plus one Christmas album (On This Winter's Night). The first three albums are certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The albums have produced sixteen singles on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, of which nine have reached #1. The longest-lasting #1 single is \"Need You Now,\" which spent five weeks at that position in 2009; both that song and 2011's \"Just a Kiss\" reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Lady A was awarded Top New Duo or Group by the Academy of Country Music and New Artist of the Year by the Country Music Association in 2008. Lady A continued to rake in the awards, winning their first Grammy Award in 2009 with \"I Run to You.\" In 2010, Lady A won three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Best Country Album, and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Their 2011 album, Own the Night, also has the distinction of winning the Grammy Award for Best Country Album. The band abbreviated their name to \"Lady A\" in June 2020 amid the George Floyd protests in an attempt to blunt the name's associations with slavery and the Antebellum South, causing a dispute with Black gospel singer Anita White, who had already been using that same name for more than 20 years.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/www.aaemusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lady-Antebellum.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"2254","name":"Brad Paisley","bio":"Brad Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter from Glen Dale, West Virginia.Brad Paisley has stated that his love of country music stems from his maternal grandfather, who gave Paisley his first guitar at age 8 and taught him how to play. At age 12, Paisley wrote his first song, and by 13 he was the opening act for country singers.Paisley graduated from John Marshall High School in Glen Dale and enrolled at Belmont University (from 1993 to 1995). While in college, he met Frank Rogers, a fellow student who went on to serve as his producer. Paisley also met Kelley Lovelace, who became his songwriting partner.After graduating from Belmont, Paisley signed a songwriting contract with EMI Music Publishing. His debut as a singer was with the label Arista Nashville, with the song, \"Who Needs Pictures\" (released February 22, 1999). In May of that same year, he made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Seven months later he had his first #1 hit with, \"\"He Didn't Have To Be.\"In 2000, Paisley made an appearance on the nationally televised special, \"Route 66: Main Street America\" featured on TLC (TV channel) and later that same year he won the Country Music Association's (CMA) Horizon Award and the Academy of Country Music's best new male vocalist trophy. He received his first Grammy Award nomination a year later. On February 17, 2001, after forty appearances on the show, he was inducted into the Opry Hall of Fame.In 2002, he won the CMA Music Video of the Year for \"\"I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song).\" Several celebrities made notable guest appearances in the video, inluding Little Jimmy Dickens, Kimberly Williams (Paisley), Dan Patrick, and Jerry Springer.Paisley released his third album, Mud on the Tires (2003), following Who Needs Pictures and Part II. The album features the hit song \"Celebrity,\" the video of which parodies reality shows such as Fear Factor and American Idol and included such celebrities as Jason Alexander, Little Jimmy Dickens, Trista Rehn, and William Shatner. The album's title track, \"Mud on the Tires,\" reached Billboard #1 in 2004.In 2005, after touring with Reba McEntire and Terri Clark on the critically acclaimed \"Two Hats and a Redhead Tour,\" he released Time Well Wasted, containing 15 tracks, including \"Alcohol\", a duet (\"When I Get Where I'm Going\") with Dolly Parton, another (\"Out in the Parking Lot\") with Alan Jackson, and a bonus track, \"Cornography\".Brad Paisley was the 2008 CMA and ACM Male Vocalist of the Year winner. Starting with the release of his 1999 album Who Needs Pictures, Paisley has recorded seven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashville label, with all of his albums certified gold or higher by the RIAA. In addition, he has charted 25 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 15 of which have reached #1 with a record 10 consecutive singles reaching the top spot on the charts. On November 10, 2010, Paisley won the coveted Entertainer of the Year award at the 44th annual CMA Awards.In 2009 he released American Saturday Night which has his first single Then.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/2254_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"750,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"5018","name":"Keith Urban","bio":"Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is a New Zealand-born country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Originally the front man for The Ranch, a three-piece group that released one album in 1997 to critical acclaim, Urban disbanded the group to pursue a solo career. In 2004 his album \"Be Here\" was nominated for best country album at the Grammy Awards and at the Academy of Country Music Awards.Urban was born in Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand (on 26 October, 1967). Before he turned two years old his family moved to Australia. By age seven, Urban was already thinking about emigrating to America and making his mark in Nashville. Urban began to learn the guitar at age six and began winning talent contests at age eight. By twelve he was booking his band in local clubs, and at fifteen he quit school to hit the road. In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and recorded his first solo album, which charted four No. 1 country hits in Australia. In 1992, he moved to Nashville to pursue the largest country music market in the world. Originally the front man for The Ranch, a three-piece group that released one album in 1997 to critical acclaim, Urban disbanded the group to pursue a solo career.In the late 90's Urban battled an addiction to cocaine. After reaching a personal rock bottom in 1998, he became determined to give up the habit and checked into Cumberland Heights, a treatment center in Nashville. After cleaning up, Urban released his self-titled American debut in 2000, achieving three top 5 hits and securing the title of Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 2001 Academy of Country Music Awards. Urban, openly regarded as a modern day guitar virtuoso, has performed as a session musician on albums such as Garth Brooks' Double Live and the Dixie Chicks' Fly.In an attempt to gain more exposure, Keith then appeared semi-nude in an interview for Playgirl magazine's April 2001 issue. The publicity attempt worked as Keith was on the cover of the magazine's readers' most requested issue.Keith Urban released Golden Road in 2002, and the success of the single \"Somebody Like You\" sent his career into high gear. The single spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the charts, remaining at No. 1 longer than any other country artist in 2002. Three other singles were released, two went to No. 1 and the third was No. 3. The album went platinum in every country where it has been released and is triple platinum in the United States. In 2004 Be Here was released and nominated for best country album at the Grammy Awards and at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Out of the five singles released from Be Here, three went No. 1, and two fell just shy of that mark to land at No. 2. In 2006 the album went triple platinum in the U.S. Urban has also released Days Go By, a greatest hits collection, in Europe. With a career total of 13 singles released, seven singles went to No. 1, two went to No.2, two went to No.3, one went to No. 4, and one went to No.18.Touring as a supporting act for renowned country acts Brooks & Dunn and Kenny Chesney honed Urban's skills and stage-craft. Country video channel CMT signed on as the title sponsor of Keith Urban's first headlining arena tour titled Keith Urban Be Here '04. Urban continued his meteoric rise to fame in 2005 with the very successful Alive in '05 tour. He performed in the Live 8 Philadelphia concert on July 2, 2005 and had been chosen by The Gap to appear alongside seven other musical stars in their \"Favorites\" campaign. In 2005 he was named CMA's Entertainer of the Year. He released a DVD in late September entitled Livin' Right Now, recorded in California on December 2004. Urban performed \"Better Life\" on the CMA Awards and \"You'll Think of Me\" on the American Music Awards. He also performed at the Grammys playing \"You'll Think of Me\" and \"The Lucky One\" with Faith Hill. At the 2006 ACM Awards Urban gave two performances when he performed \"Tonight I Wanna Cry\" and played guitar for Brooks & Dunn's song \"Believe.\"Personal lifeOn arriving in Nashville, Tennessee in 1992, Urban quickly fell for veterinary technician Laura Sigler. The pair shared an on-off relationship from 1992, and lived together between 1998 and 2002. Urban paid tribute to Sigler in the sleeve notes to his self-titled first hit album, and dedicated love song \"You're The Only One\" to Sigler, writing \"For Laura\" at the bottom of the lyrics. After proposing to Sigler in 2001, the pair broke up in 2002.In 2002, after his painful breakup with Sigler, Urban met supermodel Niki Taylor, who played his love interest in his music video for \"Somebody Like You.\" Taylor had told her hair\/makeup person, Debra Wingo, that she might be interested in being in a country music video. Wingo also does hair\/makeup for Urban, and she mentioned that he was getting ready to do a video. Urban and Taylor dated on and off for three years until their split was officially announced July 2005.Urban met actress Nicole Kidman at an event in Hollywood in January of 2005. In May of 2006, Urban and Kidman announced their engagement, and their plans to wed in Australia. They got married in Australia on 25 June 2006 at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly, Sydney.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/5018_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"5021","name":"Kenny Chesney","bio":"Kenneth Arnold (Kenny) Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 20 of which climbed to the top of the charts.Over the life of his career, Chesney has been honored with numerous awards from the Academy of Country Music (ACM), Country Music Association (CMA), American Music Awards (AMA), Country Music Television (CMT), Billboard Music Awards (BMA), People's Choice Awards (PCA), and the French Country Music Awards (FCMA).Chesney recently produced and co-directed a film for ESPN, \"The Color Orange: The Condredge Holloway Story\". Chesney has received six Academy of Country Music awards (including four consecutive Entertainer of the Year Awards from 2005 to 2008), as well as six Country Music Association awards. He is one of the most popular touring acts in country music, regularly selling out the venues at which he performs. His 2007 Flip-Flop Summer Tour was the highest-grossing country road trip of the year.The Country Music Association honored Chesney with the Entertainer of the Year award in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Other notable awards include the Academy of Country Music's 1997 New Male Vocalist of the Year, 2002 Top Male Vocalist of the Year, and the Triple Crown Award in 2005. He was awarded his fourth consecutive Entertainer of the Year award from the Academy of Country Music on May 18, 2008.Chesney was born on March 26, 1968, in Knoxville, Tennessee at St. Mary's Medical Center and raised in Luttrell, Tennessee, better known as the home of Chet Atkins. In 1989 Chesney recorded a self-released demo album at Classic Recording Studio in Bristol, Virginia. He sold 1,000 copies while performing at the local clubs in Johnson City and used the money from album sales to help buy a new guitar. Chesney graduated from East Tennessee State University in December 1990, with a degree in advertising. After graduation he headed to Nashville and performed at several local clubs. He became the resident performer at The Turf, a honky tonk bar in the city's historic district.In 1992, the head of publisher\/writer relations at BMI, Clay Bradley, recommended Chesney to his friend at Opryland Music Group, Troy Tomlinson, by saying: \"I met this kid today from East Tennessee. He\u2019s a good singer, a good songwriter, and more than anything, I think you\u2019re going to really like him as a person.\u201d For the audition for Tomlinson, Chesney performed five songs. Tomlinson's reaction was enthusiastic, later telling HitQuarters: \"First of all I was attracted to the songs, because I thought that he painted great pictures in his lyrics, particularly for someone who had not been around the typical Music Row co-writes. I thought that he sang very well too. But more than anything there was a kind of this \u2018I-will-do-it\u2019 look in his eyes - I was really drawn in by the fact that he was so set on being successful in this business.\"Chesney left the audition with a songwriter\u2019s contract. An appearance at a songwriter\u2019s showcase the following year led to a contract with Capricorn Records which had recently started a country division. He released his debut album In My Wildest Dreams in April 1994. The album's lead-off singles, The Tin Man and Whatever It Takes, both reached the lower regions of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The album sold approximately 10,000 copies before Capricorn Records closed its country music division later that year.After Capricorn's closure, Chesney signed with BNA Records, which released his album All I Need to Know in 1995. The album produced three hit singles. Fall in Love and All I Need to Know both reached the Top Ten, while Grandpa Told Me So peaked at #23. The Tin Man was also included on this album, although it was not released as a single at the time.Chesney's second major-label album was Me and You, which was released in 1996. Although its lead-off single peaked just outside the Top 40 on the country charts, the album's title track (which was reprised from All I Need to Know) and the single When I Close My Eyes (which was previously recorded by Larry Stewart on his 1993 debut album Down the Road) both peaked at #2 on the Billboard country charts. Me and You was also Chesney's first gold-certified album. A cover of Mac McAnally's 1990 single Back Where I Come From was also included on this album. Although Chesney's version was never released as a single, it has become a regular song played during his concerts. In recognition of his successful year, Chesney was honored with the 1997 Academy of Country Music's New Male Vocalist of the Year award.I Will Stand, Chesney's third album for BNA, was released in 1997. She's Got It All was the album's lead-off single, becoming Chesney's first #1 single, spending three weeks at the top of the Billboard country charts. The album's second single, A Chance, peaked just shy of the Top Ten. In 1998, That's Why I'm Here went to #2 on Billboard and reached the top of the charts on Radio & Records, giving Chesney his third #1 single overall.Everywhere We Go, released in 1999, was Chesney's fourth album for BNA. The album produced two consecutive #1 singles in How Forever Feels and You Had Me from Hello (the latter inspired by a line in the movie Jerry Maguire). The album also produced two more hits, including She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy and What I Need to Do, which peaked at #11 and #8 on the country charts, respectively. Everywhere We Go was Chesney's first platinum-selling album.By 2000, Chesney released his Greatest Hits compilation album. It included four new tracks, as well as updated versions of Fall in Love, The Tin Man, and Back Where I Come From. The new version of The Tin Man was one of the disc's three singles, along with two of the new tracks, I Lost It and Don't Happen Twice.The album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems was released in 2002. The lead-off single, Young, peaked at #2, while the follow-up The Good Stuff spent seven weeks at #1, becoming Billboard's #1 country song of the year for 2002. The video for Young was honored by CMT with the Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year awards for 2002. In 2003, ACM honored Chesney as Top Male Vocalist of the Year, while The Good Stuff received the award for Single Record of the Year. The following year, CMT recognized the video produced for No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems as the Hottest Video of the Year.In 2003, Chesney recorded All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan. The album's title track peaked at #30 on the country charts from holiday airplay.2004 saw the release of Chesney's album When the Sun Goes Down. Its lead-off single, There Goes My Life, spent seven weeks at the top of the Billboard country charts. On April 21, 2004, the accompanying video was honored by CMT with the Male Video of the Year award. The album's title track, When the Sun Goes Down, a duet with Uncle Kracker, was also a #1 single. The video from the third single from the album, I Go Back, was honored on April 11, 2005, with the Male Video of the Year by Country Music Television.When the Sun Goes Down was honored with the 2004 CMA award for Album of the Year, while Chesney was honored as the Entertainer of the Year. He was also presented with the American Music Award's 2004 Artist of the Year award.In January 2005, Chesney released the album Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair), supporting the album with his Somewhere in the Sun Tour. In the spring of 2005, Chesney was honored with the prestigious Triple-Crown Award presented by the Academy of Country Music. This award was presented after Chesney's 2004 Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year award was combined with 1997's New Male Vocalist of the Year award and 2003's Top Male Vocalist of the Year award. The following year, on May 23, 2006, Chesney was honored with his second Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.Chesney released his second album of the year in November, The Road and the Radio, producing three #1 singles. Living in Fast Forward, Summertime, and Beer in Mexico all hit #1, while Who You'd Be Today and You Save Me broke the Top Five.Live: Live Those Songs Again is Chesney's first live album. Released on September 19, 2006 on BNA Records, the album includes live renditions of 15 songs, including 11 singles. Later in 2006, Chesney, along with Tim McGraw, contributed to a version of Tracy Lawrence's single Find Out Who Your Friends Are, which can be found on Lawrence's album For the Love. The song became Lawrence's first #1 single in 11 years, as well as the second-slowest climbing #1 single in the history of the Billboard music charts.On November 7, 2007 Chesney was named the CMA Entertainer of the Year for the third time in four years. On September 11, 2007, Chesney released the album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. The album represented a move to a more gulf and western sound with a number of \"breezy, steel-drum island songs.\" Kanye West's album Graduation, as well as 50 Cent's album Curtis, were released on the same day. Kanye West and 50 Cent were in the midst of a competitive sales war, with 50 Cent claiming he would end his solo rap career if West sold more albums than he did (remarks he later retracted as terms with of contract conflicted with the promise). Chesney decided he would give country music a place in the competition, claiming country artists were just as popular as rap artists. Chesney came in third place in the number of record sales between the three musical artists.The album's lead-off single, Never Wanted Nothing More, became Chesney's 12th song to hit the top of the Billboard country charts. On the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week ending September 15, 2007, Chesney's single Don't Blink debuted at #16, setting a new record for the highest debut on that chart since the inception of SoundScan electronic tabulation in 1990. This record was broken one week later by Garth Brooks' song More Than a Memory, which debuted at #1 on the same chart, making it the first song ever to do so. The third single off of Just Who I Am album, Shiftwork, a duet with George Strait peaked at #2 on the Billboard country chart. During the week of June 28, 2008, the fourth single, Better as a Memory, became Chesney's 14th single to hit the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.Chesney started his Poets and Pirates Tour on April 26, 2008 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. During the introduction of his set, his boot was caught between a hydraulic lift and the lip of the stage surface, crushing his foot and causing a severe hematoma from the ankle down, with most of the damage centering in his toes. It took approximately 30 seconds to pry his foot loose as he squatted down on the stage while the band continued to play an extended introduction of the song. When Chesney finally freed himself, he stood up and kept holding his hand on his knee as he began to sing. Chesney did not acknowledge the injury during the early part of his performance. However, he was visibly limping and seemed to rest near a drum riser while leaning over and holding his knee during the instrumental breaks of his hit songs. As he came offstage, a doctor from the University of South Carolina cut off Chesney\u2019s cowboy boot and immediately began treating the foot injury. X-rays taken later revealed several crushed bones in his right foot.The injury did not cause him to postpone any shows, saying \"He (the doctor) told me it's going to hurt \u2013 though nothing could hurt worse than Saturday, I don't think \u2013 and they can give me something to deaden the pain when I get out there. I also have to have a doctor standing by should something give, but I'm going to tape it up, and I'm going to get out there.\"On July 24, 2008, Chesney announced that he would be releasing a new single off an upcoming album entitled Lucky Old Sun. The song was titled Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, and for the chart week of August 16, 2008, it debuted at #22 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart (it later became a #1 hit). The album was released on October 14, 2008. It was followed by a cover of Mac McAnally's 1990 single Down the Road.Chesney's 2009 tour was titled the Sun City Carnival Tour and featured both small and large venues in order to keep his ticket prices down. The tour included a performance at Gillette Stadium again, marking the fifth year in a row that he played at the Foxboro, Massachusetts football field.On May 19, 2010, Greatest Hits II was released with two new tracks. In February, Ain't Back Yet was sent to country music radio stations. The #1 hit Out Last Night was the lead single.In July 2010, Chesney released The Boys of Fall as the lead-off single from his album Hemingway's Whiskey, which was released in September 2010. The song hit #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of October 9, 2010, marking Chesney's eighteenth number one hit. The second single from Hemingway's Whiskey, Somewhere with You, was released in November 2010. The song debuted at #35 on the country chart for the week of November 6, 2010. It then hit #1 in January 2011.On April 29, 2011, Chesney announced he will begin working on a new studio album featuring the first single, Real Friends, written by Thomas Walker.The Feel Like a Rock Star Songfacts reports that the debut single from Chesney's thirteenth studio album, Welcome to the Fishbowl, is a duet with Tim McGraw. The two pals debuted Feel Like a Rock Star during the ACM Awards on April 1, 2012.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/5021_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"750,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"84995","name":"Brett Eldredge","bio":"Some life-changing moments are only apparent in retrospect. Brett Eldredge recognized his as it was happening.The Paris, IL, native was visiting Nashville for the first time early in his sophomore year at Chicago's Elmhurst College. He was at the Station Inn, an historic bluegrass\/country venue where many of the greats of both worlds have played. His cousin Terry, a veteran of Dolly Parton's band and now a member of the Grascals, was playing with a band called the Sidemen, and a mesmerized Brett was in the crowd.\"There was something so real and truthful about the songs they were playing,\" he says. \u201cWhat happened next came as a shock.\u201d\"He asked me to come up on stage and told me to pick a song to play with the band,\" says Brett. I said, 'Amarillo By Morning,' and when I heard that fiddle intro, chills shot up my spine. I sang it for the crowd there and it was a magical experience. That was the point where I thought, 'This is it. This is something I've got to do.'\"By the start of the next school year, he had transferred to Middle Tennessee State University and begun the round of writers' nights and writing appointments that led him eventually to a record deal.\tThe talent that let him turn that dream into reality\u2014the depth of his writing and the sheer power of his smoky and expressive baritone\u2014are both apparent in his first single. \"Raymond\" is the poignant tale of a nursing home employee mistaken by a patient with Alzheimer's for her deceased son, who was killed at war. It is a song whose inspiring reaffirmation of their mutual humanity is affecting listeners deeply. The single rings true for Eldredge as his Grandmother currently struggles through the disease.\t\"There are a lot of things I'll play live where people will say, 'I like that,' or 'That's a really cool song,'\" Brett says, \"but when I do this one, I get the chance to tell people how special a thing it's been in my life, and it always touches someone. A lot of people know someone with Alzheimer's and people react in a really emotional way to it.\"\tBrett has earned a reputation as much for the strength of his writing as for his world-class voice. He and co-writer Pat McLaughlin landed a song called \"I Think I've Had Enough\" on Gary Allan's latest album, Get Off On The Pain, and one of his frequent collaborators is Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry stalwart Bill Anderson.\t\"He's one of my favorite people to write with,\" says Brett. \"I love the fact that he believes in country music so much, because it's something I really believe in. My dream, as I find my place in country music, is one day to be an Opry member.\"\tBrett heard all kinds of music growing up, and became a particular fan of the classic pop singers he heard in his grandfather's car.\t\"I heard a lot of Frank Sinatra, who is still a favorite of mine, and Ray Charles and Bobby Darin,\" he says. \"When my mother convinced me to sing 'Mack The Knife' at a talent show, I got hooked on singing in public.\"\tThat was in Paris, a town of 9,000 with \"cornfields and factories and lake right in the middle.\" Brett, his older brother and his parents\u2014a traveling grain salesman and a nurse\u2014lived on the lake and, says Brett, \"We were on the water every day, from the time I was so little they could pull me on water skis in a paddle boat until I left for college at 18.\" Sports were a big part of his life, and he played basketball, baseball and football in high school.\tHe also sang everywhere he could, often the Big Band music of Sinatra, earning spending money and learning to work a stage. His appreciation for country music became a passion when he turned 16 and he and a friend rode around listening to a Brooks & Dunn greatest hits album.\t\"There was something about it that just struck me,\" he says. \"I couldn't get enough of it. Ronnie Dunn is one of my favorite singers of all time\u2014I love the soul in his voice\u2014and one of the main reasons I got into this in the first place.\"\tBrett spent two years in Chicago, where his older brother lived, performing with a school jazz band and with a Big Band around the region.\t\"One of the coolest gigs,\" he says, \"was at the Field Museum, I was singing in front of a 12-piece band under this huge Tyrannosaurus Rex statue near some mammoths. It was quite the experience.\"\tThen came that fateful visit to Nashville and his transfer to MTSU. He studied classic country stylists like Ray Price and George Jones, and later Vince Gill, absorbing everything he could.\t\"I was driving back and forth Nashville every day from Murfreesboro, which is thirty miles away,\" he says. \"I had a guitar Terry had given me, which was originally a gift from Dolly, and I'd pretty much lock myself in my room and make myself learn songs. I would play writers' nights all around Nashville. There might be two people, there might be 40 or 50. I'd go play my songs and see what people liked and what they didn't. I'd screw up royally in front of them, but I learned.\"\tHe earned a degree, which, he says, \"made Mom and Dad happy, and then I moved on to what I really wanted to do.\tA staff writer for hit producer\/publisher Byron Gallimore heard him at a writers' night and introduced him to Byron, who signed him.\t\"I wrote for about two years, developing my craft and writing with everyone I could. In the beginning, Byron just let me kind of find myself, because that takes a while. As you write more you starting homing in on what you sound good on. Eventually, Byron said, 'You've got something here' and we went in and started cutting songs. We did a showcase, and Carole Ann Mobley from Warner Music Nashville said, 'We've gotta sign this kid'. Mobley and Craig Kallman then signed Brett to Atlantic Records, making him the first official signing for the new imprint.\tAs he worked with his band tightening his show, he was offered a particularly gratifying gig.\t\"I opened for Blake Shelton at The Ryman and it was the coolest experience. I flew back from this house gig and all of a sudden I'm thrown into playing the Mother Church of Country Music, something I always dreamed of doing. I was operating on almost no sleep, but stepping out on that stage where everybody who's anybody in country music has been meant the world to me.\"\tHe remains active in sports, playing basketball and volleyball and playing on an intramural softball team in Nashville, and rooting for the Cubs and Bears. Meanwhile, he is dedicated to improving his craft.\t\"As a songwriter,\" he says, \"my aim is to portray a little bit of me and my life along with the stories of other people and turn them into something that can really touch somebody's heart and soul. We sit down on Music Row every day and write songs and every once in a while a song like \u2018Raymond\u2019 comes from such a real place. I hope it's that real to other people and that I can make them feel the way I felt when I wrote it and when I sing it.\"\tJudging from audience reaction, that\u2019s exactly what he\u2019s doing.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/84995_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"175,000 - 300,000"}

{"key":"5016","name":"Tim McGraw","bio":"Samuel Timothy \"Tim\" McGraw (born May 1, 1967 in Delhi, Louisiana) is an American country singer and actor. With many of his albums and singles topping the country music charts, Tim has achieved total album sales in excess of 40 million units. He is married to country singer Faith Hill and is the son of former baseball player Tug McGraw. His trademark hit songs include Indian Outlaw, Don't Take the Girl, I Like It, I Love It, Something Like That, It's Your Love (featuring his wife, Faith Hill), and Live Like You Were Dying.McGraw had eleven consecutive albums to debut at Number One on the Billboard albums charts; Twenty-one singles to hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country 100 chart; three singles named the #1 country song of the year; (It's Your Love, Just To See You Smile, and Live Like You Were Dying) Won 3 Grammys, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 10 American Music Awards and 3 People's Choice Awards. Ranked as one of the top five in all genres of music, his Soul2Soul II tour with Faith Hill became the highest-grossing tour in country music history.McGraw has ventured into acting, with a supporting role in the Billy Bob Thornton film, Friday Night Lights, a role in The Kingdom, a lead role in 2006's Flicka and a supporting role in Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. He is also a minority owner of the Arena Football League's Nashville Kats.McGraw came to the attention of Curb Records in 1990. After cutting a demo single, McGraw gave a copy to his father, Tug McGraw. A man who was friends with Curb Records executives heard the demo while driving with Tug McGraw one day and recommended that Curb contact the young singer. Several weeks after he was able to play his tape for Curb executives, they signed him to a recording contract. Two years later, in 1992, he had his first minor hit Welcome to the Club off his self-titled debut album, Tim McGraw. Although the album failed to make much of a dent on the charts, McGraw did have two other minor hits from it in 1993, Memory Lane and Two Steppin Mind.All I Want, released in 1995, continued his run of success, debuting at number one on the country charts. The album sold over two million copies and reached the top 5 on the Billboard 200. I Like It, I Love It reached number one on the country charts as the leadoff single, while She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart also went to number one in 1996. Can't Be Really Gone, All I Want is a Life, and Maybe We Should Just Sleep On It were all top 5 hits.In 1996, McGraw headlined the most successful country tour of the year, The Spontaneous Combustion Tour, with Faith Hill as his supporting act. Faith Hill broke off her engagement to her former producer Scott Hendricks so that she and Tim could start dating each other; then married on October 6, 1996. The couple have since had three daughters, Gracie Katherine (born May 1997), Maggie Elizabeth (born August 1998) and Audrey Caroline (born December 2001).McGraw's next album, 1997's Everywhere, again topped the country charts and reached number two on the album charts, selling 4 million copies. The first single, It\u2019s Your Love, a duet with Faith Hill, became the first single in twenty years to spend six weeks on top of Billboard's country singles chart (the previous such song had been Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson's \"Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)\" in 1977). The single reached #7 on the pop chart (and gained platinum status); and became the most played single in the history of the Billboard country charts. Five more singles Everywhere, Where the Green Grass Grows, One of These Days, For a Little While, and Just to See You Smile reached the top of the country charts from the album, with the last of these setting a new record by spending 42 weeks on the Billboard charts. The Country Music Association awarded Everywhere its Album of the Year award for 1997.A Place in the Sun in 1999 continued McGraw's streak, debuting atop both the US pop and country album charts and selling three million albums. It featured another four chart topping singles on the country charts including Please Remember Me, Something Like That, My Best Friend, and My Next Thirty Years; Some Things Never Change reached #7 on the country chart. He also contributed a song for the Grammy-winning tribute album to Bob Wills, Ride With Bob. His song, a cover of Milk Cow Blues, was recorded as a duet with Asleep at the Wheel, whom he had met while performing together at the George Strait Country Music Festival.McGraw recorded two more duets with his wife in the late 1990s, both of which appeared on her albums. Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me off her multi-platinum 1998 album Faith, reached the top five of the US country charts, while her follow-up and 1999 album Breathe featured Let's Make Love, which would win a Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.In 2000, McGraw released his Greatest Hits album which topped the charts for nine weeks and sold almost 6 million copies, making it one of the biggest selling albums in the modern country market. In the latter half of the year, he and Hill went out on the Soul2Soul Tour, playing to sellout crowds in 64 venues including Madison Square Garden. It was one of the top tours of any genre in the US and the leading country tour during 2000.While in Buffalo, McGraw and Kenny Chesney became involved in a scuffle with police officers after Chesney, who had permission from the sheriff's daughter, attempted to ride a police horse. McGraw came to Chesney's aid after police officers nearby believed the horse was being stolen and tried to arrest him. The two were arrested and charged with assault, but were later cleared. During a concert with the George Strait Country Music Festival several weeks later, Hill, dressed as a police officer, made an unscheduled appearance at the end of McGraw's set and led him off the stage.McGraw's next album, Set This Circus Down, was released in April 2001 and spawned four number one country hits - Grown Men Don't Cry, Angry All the Time (with Faith Hill), The Cowboy in Me, and Unbroken. He also provided harmony vocals for the Jo Dee Messina song Bring On the Rain, which he also produced. The song topped the country charts.Hungry for more of his music, fans downloaded a version of his performance of the song Things Change from his appearance at the Country Music Association Awards Show. The song was played extensively on radio, becoming the first country song to appear on the charts from a fully downloaded version.In 2002, Tim McGraw bucked country music traditions by recording his album Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors with his tour band The Dancehall Doctors. Unlike rock music, where it is commonplace for touring bands to provide the music on albums recorded by the artist they support, country albums are typically recorded with session musicians. McGraw chose to use his own touring band in order to recognize their part in his success and to capture some of the feel of a real band.All of the Dancehall Doctors have worked with McGraw since at least 1996. They include: * Darran Smith - Lead Guitar, Acoustic guitar * Bob Minner - Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic guitar, Banjo, Mandolin * Denny Hemingson - Steel Guitar, Electric, Baritone, and Slide Guitars, Dobro * John Marcus - Bass guitar * Dean Brown - Fiddle, Mandolin * Jeff McMahon - Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Keyboards * Billy Mason - Drums * David Dunkley - Percussion.The album debuted at number 2 on the country albums charts, with the single Real Good Man reaching number one on the Hot Country Songs chart. She's My Kind of Rain reached number 2 in 2003 and Red Ragtop reached the top 5. The album also featured a cover version of an early Elton John 1970 classic Tiny Dancer, as well as appearances by Kim Carnes on Comfort Me - a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks - and Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles on Illegal.2004's Live Like You Were Dying continued McGraw's record of commercial success. The title track, dedicated to his father Tug McGraw who died of a brain tumor earlier in the year, was a soaring ode to living life fully and in the moment, while the second single Back When was a paean to an easy nostalgia. Live Like You Were Dying spent seven non-consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard (10 weeks on Radio & Records) and went on to become the biggest hit single of the year. It also became one the most awarded songs\/records by winning ACM Single and Song of the Year, CMA Single and Song of the Year and a Grammy.In late 2004, his unlikely duet with hip-hop artist Nelly on Over and Over, a soft ballad of lost love, became a crossover hit spending 10 weeks atop the Top 40 chart. This made Tim the first modern country artist to have two 10 week number one hits in a single year. \"Over and Over\" brought McGraw a success he had never previously experienced on contemporary hit radio, rap radio, and brought both artists success neither had previously experienced in the hot adult contemporary market. The song also spent a week at the top of the UK single charts, and was McGraw's first visit to the UK hit countdown.Throughout the 2005 NFL season McGraw sang an alternate version of I Like It, I Love It every week during the season. The alternate lyrics, which changed each week, would make reference to plays during Sunday's games and the song would be played alongside video highlights during halftime on Monday Night Football. Later in the year McGraw became a minority owner of the Arena Football League's Nashville Kats when majority owner Bud Adams (owner of the NFL's Tennessee Titans) was awarded the expansion franchise. It was dedicated to Tug McGraw..In April 2006 McGraw and Hill began their 73-concert, 55 city, Soul2Soul II Tour 2006, again to strong commercial acceptance. The tour grossed nearly $89 million and sold almost 1.1 million tickets, making it the top grossing tour in the history of country music. It was named \"Major Tour of the Year\" by the prestigious Pollstar Magazine, beating out such heavyweights as Madonna and the Rolling Stones. In a special gesture, the couple donated all of the profits from their performance in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina relief.Tim, along with Kenny Chesney, contributed to a version of Tracy Lawrence 's song Find Out Who Your Friends Are, which can be found on Lawrence's album For the Love. Although the official single version features only Lawrence's vocals, many stations have opted to play the version with McGraw and Chesney instead.McGraw released his eleventh album, Let It Go, on March 27, 2007. The album's debut single, Last Dollar (Fly Away), reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, marking Tim's first No. 1 single since Back When in late 2004. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart, marking his 4th #1 top 200 album and 9th #1 country album. His daughters can be heard singing the chorus during the last few seconds of the song on the video.During the Academy of Country Music awards show on May 21, 2007, McGraw performed a song titled If You're Reading This, which he co-wrote with The Warren Brothers. Several radio stations began to play the live recording of the song; as a result, it entered the Hot Country Songs chart at #35.McGraw also produced the debut album of country music duo Halfway to Hazard. The duo's first single, Daisy, peaked at #39 on the country charts in Summer of 2007.In the summer of 2007 McGraw and Hill toured together once again in the Soul2Soul 2007 tour.In the January 18, 2008 edition of the USA Today newspaper, McGraw was featured on the Def Leppard album Songs From The Sparkle Lounge and has co-written the first single, Nine Lives, with Def Leppard band members Joe Elliott, Phil Collen and Rick Savage. The unusual pairing goes back to 2006 when McGraw joined Def Leppard onstage for the song Pour Some Sugar On Me. The album has a release date of May 6, 2008.In May 2008 he hit the road with the Live Your Voice Tour. The mainly outdoor arena concert tour will be his first solo outing in nearly three years. Also in May 2008, he debuted a new song off of his follow-up to Let It Go at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California.In July 2008, Tim McGraw's sixth single, and the title track of his album, Let It Go, was released to country radio. Following that, a seventh single, Nothin' To Die For, entered the Country charts at 57 late December. Tim McGraw released his third greatest hits package, Greatest Hits 3 on October 7, 2008. The album features 12 tracks. No new material was recorded for the compilation. A new album of all new material was scheduled for release in October, but has since been pushed back to 2009.The Better Than I Used To Be Songfacts states that after over 20 years with Curb Records and a legal battle, Tim McGraw finally left the label after a judge freed him from his contract. Curb immediately released Better Than I Used To Be as the second single from Emotional Traffic, an album that had been shelved for several months following the dispute.The Truck Yeah Songfacts reports that McGraw signed with Big Machine Records on May 21, 2012.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/5016_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"5051","name":"Jason Aldean","bio":"For anyone looking to brand Jason Aldean as part of a significant musical movement, good luck. There\u2019s a lot about the singer that\u2019s become familiar during his five years as a country hitmaker, after all, he has spent more weeks at #1 on the radio charts than any other country artist in the last 12 months. But none of what he does comes out quite like anyone else. The blues-tinged licks at the end of his phrases\u2014there\u2019s a ring of familiarity about them, but you can\u2019t really link them to another artist. The smoky guitar riffs that have become a signature\u2014they\u2019re built on sounds that have come before, but they don\u2019t really belong to anyone else in the country genre, either. The small-town themes that pervade many of his songs\u2014that\u2019s all been done before, but not quite with the unwavering honesty that Aldean applies to the subject.Since his 2005 debut with the scorching \u201cHicktown,\u201d the singer has set himself apart from the pack as a truly unique artist. He addresses his Georgia-born brand of country music with a singular vision, and he intends to keep it that way.\u201cThe whole thing about being creative is coming up with new things,\u201d he says matter-of-factly in a converted barn on his Nashville-area farm. \u201cWhat makes you different and more creative than the other guys is taking something to an extreme and making it better without ripping anybody else off. I think that\u2019s the key. The great ones figure it out and are constantly evolving, and that\u2019s what makes \u2018em great.\u201dWith My Kinda Party, the Academy of Country Music\u2019s former Top New Male Vocalist further cements his uniqueness with a robust15-track project that builds on his personal past while covering new territory. The first single\u2014the muscular title track\u2014fit very quickly into the jacked-up portion of his concert set list, which already boasts \u201cShe\u2019s Country,\u201d \u201cCrazy Town\u201d and \u201cJohnny Cash.\u201d But there\u2019s other stylistic landscape to explore, too\u2014his first full-fledged duet, with big-voiced pop singer Kelly Clarkson; and an almost rap segment in \u201cDirt Road Anthem\u201d that suggests Aldean has listened to a little Snoop Dogg in his time.The first single from My Kinda Party is the title track, which debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at #41. The song has become Aldean's tenth Top 10 hit on that chart. The song also debuted at #54 on the Hot 100 chart. \"My Kinda Party\" was written and originally recorded by southern rock singer-songwriter Brantley Gilbert for his 2009 album Modern Day Prodigal Son.The album also includes a duet with Kelly Clarkson called \"Don't You Wanna Stay\", which debuted on the country charts from unsolicited airplay at #59 for the week of November 20, 2010. The song also debuted at #93 on the Hot 100 chart. Aldean and Clarkson performed this song at the 44th Annual CMA Awards on November 10, 2010.This album also contains the country rap-themed \"Dirt Road Anthem\", which was previously recorded separately by both of its writers, Brantley Gilbert and Colt Ford. According to The Boot, Aldean's publicist teased about this song, suggesting Aldean listened to \"a little Snoop Dogg in his time\"; regarding the song, Aldean said that he did not consider \"Dirt Road Anthem\" a rap song.That might come as a shock to non-country observers who think the genre belongs in its own self-imposed hay-bale \u2018hood, but Aldean gets around musically. He was the first country artist of any significance to incorporate Guns N\u2019 Roses medleys into his live show\u2014\u201cYou\u2019re welcome\u201d is his simple response\u2014and his listening history includes such diverse talents as Aerosmith, the Oak Ridge Boys and even Tupac Shakur.Like Aldean himself, all of those acts were founded on a distinct musical identity. They each incorporated their heroes\u2019 influences into a sound that belonged to no one else. Aldean took his cues from them quite well.\u201cI grew up listenin\u2019 to all kinds of music\u2014rock and Southern rock and country and blues and rap stuff, too,\u201d he says. \u201cMy cousin, who\u2019s five months older than me, he went through his rap phase when we had 2Pac in the car all the time. Really, I\u2019m a fan of all kinds of music.\u201dWhile critics will gravitate to the extremes on My Kinda Party, the essence of the album is simply the solidity of its material. By selling 3.5 million records in the first phase of his career, Aldean commanded the attention of Nashville\u2019s songwriters as he put together music for the album. With volumes of Music Row\u2019s best craftsmen and women writing for Aldean, he literally had the pick of the litter.As a result, My Kinda Party is stocked with inviting melodies and intriguing storylines, many of them tugging on the small-town themes that have become the backbone of his persona. \u201cFly Over States,\u201d \u201cChurch Pew\u201d and \u201cTattoos On This Town\u201d exemplify Aldean\u2019s affection for the topic, though it\u2019s often misunderstood. While country has plenty of bumper-sticker anthems that celebrate small communities, Aldean is more than a simple cheerleader for rural values. He does indeed take on the role of heartland defender in \u201cFly Over States,\u201d but other songs find him grappling with the heartbreak and limitations that accompany towns with three- and four-digit populations.\u201cI\u2019m not like a pro-backwoods, flag-wavin\u2019 kinda guy,\u201d he says. \u201cI mean, I grew up in the South, in the country, and I love that lifestyle. But I\u2019m not one of those guys that insists that\u2019s the only thing there is. Being from a small town, you can be a little misunderstood, and there are plenty of people tryin\u2019 to get out of there because you\u2019re put in a box a lot of times when you\u2019re in a small town.\u201dAldean knows that issue well. Born in Macon, Georgia, he was raised on the outskirts of town and devoted much of his youth to working and hanging out at his cousin\u2019s 200-acre farm.\u201cI spent every weekend out there at his house riding four-wheelers and horses, bailin\u2019 hay, going fishing and hunting\u2014all that stuff,\u201d Aldean reflects. \u201cWhen I would go from my house to his house, it was a lot of farmland and dirt roads and huge potholes in the road.\u201dA high-school athlete, he made use of his environment by playing clubs, building his musical skills with an eye toward Nashville. Once he hit Music City in 1998, Aldean struggled rather famously, signing several recording contracts that eventually fell apart. He played countless label showcases and eventually drained his bank account.As dramatic as it sounds, he was ready to pack it up and go back to Georgia when producer Michael Knox asked him to take one more crack at a showcase. Independent Broken Bow Records was interested, and Aldean\u2014admittedly skeptical that a then-unproven company was going to make a difference in his life\u2014took that shot.Everything clicked at that show. Aldean got a deal that kept him in Nashville, and his life has never quite been the same. But his brush with permanent obscurity still fuels his creativity.\u201cI think about it every day,\u201d he concedes. \u201cWhen you read that I was this close to leaving, it sounds like something made up. But it was the truth. I had applied for jobs in Georgia, and I was trying to get hired down there. We were broke\u2014just straight-up broke\u2014and we were gonna move in with my mom so we could get on our feet and get straightened out\u2026maybe get a club gig and try to build a local following.\u201d Instead, the Broken Bow deal allowed Aldean to stay in Nashville and build up a following on a national level. Establishing a mindset that he continues to carry, he tackled his opportunity on his own terms. He worked with his own producer, Michael Knox, and used his own band\u2014guitarist Kurt Allison, bass player Tully Kennedy and drummer Rich Redmond\u2014plus guitarist Adam Shoenfeld as his studio core.Aldean\u2019s ultra-Southern voicings give him an immediately identifiable sound. The band helps set him even further apart from other country stars.\u201cI don\u2019t want to use who everybody else uses,\u201d he insists. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t want my records to sound like everybody else\u2019s records. The only way to do that is to cut it like we do. I cut the album with my band, I use an engineer that nobody else really uses in this town to cut major-label records, and Michael is starting to produce more things now, but when we first got started, it was me and that was about it.\u201dEven now, as Knox branches out to work with other well-known country artists\u2014an opportunity that\u2019s come directly from producing Aldean\u2014Knox and Aldean have an understanding about protecting the sound they\u2019ve achieved together.\u201cI just went to him and said, \u2018Hey, look, man, this is something that we\u2019ve been working 10 years on. I\u2019m not going to just hand it over so you can make everybody else\u2019s stuff sound like mine. That\u2019s what sets us apart.\u2019 He understood that, and that was pretty much it.\u201dThere\u2019s no cockiness and no forcefulness in his stance. The name of the game is individuality, and Aldean is protecting it.He also appreciates it in other artists. That same level of uniqueness is exactly what Aldean was looking for when he approached Clarkson as a duet partner on \u201cDon\u2019t You Wanna Stay.\u201d\u201cKelly has such a distinct voice,\u201d he observes. \u201cShe\u2019s got the most soulful voice there is right now. As soon as she opened her mouth and started singing in the studio, it was like, \u2018That is what this song is supposed to sound like!\u2019\u201dThe one-of-a-kind sound Clarkson brought to \u201cDon\u2019t You Wanna Stay\u201d is representative of Aldean\u2019s own artistry throughout My Kinda Party. There\u2019s a cultural familiarity to the themes and the influences, but in practice, there\u2019s not another act who sounds quite like Jason Aldean. He\u2019s not part of some musical wave. He is his own movement.\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about,\u201d he shrugs, \u201cknowing what it is that sets you apart from everybody else.\u201dIt is important to note, two of Jason Aldean's tracks on his recent album \"My Kinda Party,\" were written by another Georgia artist, Brantley Gilbert, who still performs these tracks as singles from his albums. Although some fans believe that there is bad blood between the two singers, this is not true. They have performed \"Dirt Road Anthem\" together with Colt Ford (the artist with whom Gilbert first recorded this duet) and Gilbert has posted YouTube videos entreating his fans to appreciate the fact that Aldean gave his songs more of an audience than he could have ever hoped for otherwise at the time.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/5051_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"5349","name":"Luke Bryan","bio":"Luke Bryan grew up in the very small town of Leesburg, Ga. Back home, he helped his father with his peanut and fertilizer businesses while playing sports and enjoying the great outdoors. Yet he can remember his mother urging him to belt out George Strait songs over and over while she drove him into town to shop. By age 14, his parents bought him an Alvarez guitar. By 15, his father would take him down to a nearby club, Skinner's, where he shared guitar licks and lead vocals with other local country singers.At age 16, two local songwriters who'd enjoyed some success providing tunes for Nashville artists invited him to join their twice-a-week writing sessions at a local church. By that time, Bryan led his own band, playing at Skinner's and various community events.Encouraged by everyone who heard him play, Bryan planned to move to Nashville after high school graduation. Supported by his family, he was loading his car for the move when tragedy struck. His older brother Chris, Bryan's biggest supporter and one of his best friends, was killed in an auto accident the day Bryan was to leave town.He continued to devote himself to music, finding escape and emotional release in its songs. He poured his feelings into his songwriting, and after enrolling in Georgia Southern University, Bryan and his band would perform nearly every weekend on campus or at nearby clubs or parties. He eventually recorded an album of 10 songs, nine of which he'd written.Despite everyone's encouragement, he stubbornly refused to reconsider moving to Tennessee. After graduation, he went to work for his father's agriculture business. Bryan loved the work, but a year into it, his father forced him to quit the job and move to Nashville. He arrived in Music City on Sept. 1, 2001.Within two months, he'd signed a publishing deal with a company owned by songwriter Roger Murrah. Bryan spent time honing his material, building up a catalog of songs.His debut album, I'll Stay Me, was released by Capitol Nashville in 2007 and included \"All My Friends Say\" and \"Country Man,\" which each reached the Top 10 on Billboard's country albums chart. He followed it up with 2009's Doin' My Thing, which included the Top 10 single, \"Do I.\" The project also featured \"Rain Is a Good Thing,\" which became Bryan's first No. 1 single in 2010, and \"Someone Else Calling You Baby,\" which topped the chart in 2011.Additionally, Bryan tapped into the college market with a series of EPs released to coincide with spring break \u2013 2009's Spring Break With All My Friends, 2010's Spring Break 2 \u2026 Hangover Edition and 2011's Spring Break 3 \u2026 It's a Shore Thing.Bryan was named the Academy of Country Music's top new artist and top new solo vocalist for 2009. At the 2010 CMT Music Awards, he received the USA Weekend breakthrough video of the year award for \"Do I.\"-Matchu","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/5349_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"5041","name":"Blake Shelton","bio":"Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single \"Austin\". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, \"Austin\" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This song was the first single from his gold-certified debut album, which also produced two more Top 20 hits. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.His second and third albums, 2003's The Dreamer (his first for Warner Bros. proper) and 2004's Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, were each certified gold as well. Shelton's fourth album, Pure BS, was issued in 2007, and re-issued in 2008 with a cover of Michael Bubl\u00e9's pop hit \"Home\" as one of the bonus tracks. This cover was also that album's third single. A fifth album, Startin' Fires, was released in November 2008. He is currently a vocal coach on the NBC reality talent show The Voice with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Cee Lo Green.Overall, Shelton has charted seventeen singles on the country charts, including nine Number One hits: \"Austin\" (2001), \"The Baby\" (2003), \"Some Beach\" (2004\u20132005), \"Home\" (2008), \"She Wouldn't Be Gone\" (2009), \"Hillbilly Bone\" (2010), a duet with Trace Adkins, \"All About Tonight\" (2010), \"Who Are You When I'm Not Looking\" (2011), and \"Honey Bee\" (2011). Additionally, three more of his singles have reached Top Ten: a cover version of Conway Twitty's \"Goodbye Time\", \"Nobody but Me\", and \"I'll Just Hold On.\"","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/5041_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}