Dierks Bentley has had eight No. 1 singles and written every one of them. He’s performed at Lollapalooza, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Bonnaroo and the CMA Music Festival, tailoring his sets to each. His instantly recognizable voice and acoustic/electric hybrid sound have propelled him to membership in the Grand Ole Opry and, in 2011, a performance for the President at the White House. All made possible by his devotion to developing all sides of his musicianship.

The note on the Bluebird Café’s Facebook page says it all: customers who visit the Nashville songwriters club – instrumental in the development of Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Kathy Mattea – are expected to keep quiet and listen to the words from some of Music City’s most influential composers.

Listening has an added benefit – it gives the listener a chance to learn.

That’s how singer-songwriter Dustin Lynch used the Bluebird. And he used it intensely. He rented an apartment behind the venue’s back parking lot and literally walked to the Bluebird several times a week to listen and learn about the mysterious art of creating songs from some of Nashville’s most important writers.

If you ask Jana Kramer to describe her life in this very moment she would say, “Dreams really do come true.” The singer/songwriter/actress has already had success with three songs that were featured on The CW’s “One Tree Hill,” where she plays the firecracker actress, Alex Dupre.

Growing up in Michigan, Jana is no stranger to the rich history of country music, crediting one of her favorite memories to baking cookies with her grandmother while listening to Patsy Cline. These little moments are one of the many reasons why Jana hopes to share her music with others.

The rugged feel of steel guitar and fiddle, the images of growing up in a world of fields and farms, of heartbreak and hard work … You can’t miss the fact that Lee Brice is country all the way.

Ask him to name the artists who influenced him, and he’ll answer with Garth Brooks and Hank Junior, sure, but also Coldplay, John Mayer, Brian McKnight, Tom Petty, 3 Doors Down, Whitney Houston, Edwin McCain, Ray Charles … a list you might assemble by grabbing randomly at bins as you wander through the Tower closing sale.

The Lost Trailers is a country music project of songwriter/producer Stokes Nielson. Nielson's first record using the name The Lost Trailers was an album entitled "The Story of the New Age Cowboy" which was discovered by Willie Nelson in the spring of 2000. Nelson was so impressed with the album that he invited The Lost Trailers to perform at his legendary 4th of July Picnic.

Using that show and others with Nelson as a launching pad, The Lost Trailers rose from a hard touring regional act to snagging 3 ACM Nominations and several Top 20 hits on country radio while opening for Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Jamey Johnson and many others.

The Lost Trailers are currently preparing a new release, which was partly recorded in Abbey Road with legendary producer Eddie Kramer.

Love and Theft is a bit different from the group that scored a Top 10 hit two years ago with "Runaway." But the changes that have affected the group—most notably, signing with RCA Records and downsizing to a duo—have actually brought Love and Theft closer to what it originally set out to be: a band that writes, records and performs honest, soulful country music.

Brantley Gilbert was born and raised in the small town of Jefferson, Georgia, just outside of Athens city limits. It is that upbringing and small town influence that Gilbert credits toward allowing him to cultivate his unique sound. Gilbert’s taste in music always swayed toward a southern country rock feel, but his true-to-life testimony of heartache, trials, triumph, and success found a home in country music.

Born in DeRidder, La., and raised "all over," Chris set off for Nashville after trying his hand at college in Texas and finding the pull to pursue music too strong to ignore. Like many young artists, he spent several years working odd jobs in Nashville and scraping up enough cash to record four original songs for a demo tape. Thanks to a couple of chance meetings and the opportunity to be heard by Scott Hendricks, Chris was signed to Virgin Records in 2000 – that first album featured the unaltered version of his demo songs. Chris quickly earned critical and commercial success and attracted a legion of fans that included industry heavyweights and country fans alike.  Cagle's first number one smash, “I Breathe In, I Breathe Out,” remains a fan favorite. 

Ask any unknown musicians who’ve sweated it out on the club scene — as brothers Tom and Mike Gossin did before moving to Nashville in 2007 and joining forces with Rachel Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball — and they’ll tell you that having a dream just isn’t enough. Achieving success takes strong motivation to commit, something these four young talents have proven willing to do as their career has exploded over the past two years. From sharpening their live show, to sending a demo to Emblem Music Group owner Matt Serletic (who signed them), to moving in together and secluding themselves for a month to put their stamp on the stellar songs that appear on their 2009 debut album, everything the members of Gloriana have done has been about their passion for creating music.

Despite the millions of albums sold, the sold out shows and the scores of awards and accolades, Montgomery Gentry remains in touch with its working class roots. Because of that fans are able to make the connection and when they hear our songs, they know we are singing with passion and we know what they are talking about.

People touch on each one of their songs and say. ‘Yeah man, that song is a little bit about me,’ or ‘I know a person that lives next door to me that’s been through what you just got done singing about.’

“We grew up on Charlie Daniels, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Merle Haggard,” Eddie says with conviction. “That’s who we are. We cut our teeth in the honky tonks and no matter what you try to do, we have to be us or it just doesn’t sound right.

Thomas Rhett mixes burning slide guitar, Southern drawl and Little Feat-ish rhythms in “Whatcha Got In That Cup”; redneck lyrics, crunchy chords and a reference to hard-core rapper DMX in “All-American Middle Class White Boy”; and a magnetic brew of Robert Johnson blues, Appalachian harmonica and Common hip-hop phrasing in “Front Porch Junkie.”

Odd as that blend might seem, Thomas Rhett’s twisted sonic concoction is part of a natural progression, one that saw him exposed to tons of music by a famous father whose own rocky experiences with the music business made Thomas Rhett wary of investing his talents in such an emotionally difficult vocation.