http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Country_Summary.html County music has two different connotations. It refers to a kind of popular music developed in the Southern United States with the influence of Celtic, folk, gospel, old-time music and blues. On the other hand and more recently, Country has been used as a general category that encloses different genres such as Nashville sound, bluegrass, western swing, Bakersfield sound, Outlaw country, gospel, Cajun, oldtime, among others. Even though some people consider it racist, too pessimist, or populist and others consider it elitist, it is still very popular and loved for many people all around the world not only in the United States. en-us http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9433.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:41:28 CST
Gary Allan Herzberg was born in Motebello, California on December 5, 1967. He was raised in La Mirada, on a California ranch. His major interests were surfing and country music. Among his influences are stars of the Bakersfield scene, especially Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. In his teens he began playing the honky-tonk circuit and accompanying his father’s performances at local bars and clubs. While still in high school Allan turned down a record deal. When he was twenty, he founded his own band and returned to the honky tonks. It took almost seven years for his demo to be heard by Decca, but in the meantime he honed his skills.

In 1996, Gary finally signed with Decca Records, releasing that same year his debut called Used Heart For Sale. In 1998 his second record, It Would Be You, was released. The single named after the album was able to enter the Top 10. In 1999, Decca closed its doors and Gary was one of the four artists picked by parent company MCA. With his new contract Allan had more time and resources at his disposal. All of this lead to the release of his third album, Smoke Rings in the Dark, co-produced by Mark Wright and Tony Brown. The album enjoyed good commercial success, being awarded platinum and including two successful singles. It even included a cover of the Del Shannon classic “Runaway”. Gary’s next album, Alright Guy (2001), brought two more hits one of them “Man to Man” which became the singer’s first number one hit. In 2003, Allan was nominated for the CMA Horizon award. That year he released his record See If I Care that featured several hit songs like “Tough Little Boys” and “Songs About Rain”. His next album came in 2005, his record called Tough All Over featured songs like “Best I Ever Had” and “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful”. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9432.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:39:19 CST
Jason Aldean was born February 29, 1997. Because his parents separated when he was three years old, he was raised in Macon, Georgia at his mother’s but spending summers at his father’s place in Homestead, Florida. His father was the one that put the music bug in him. Aldean’s father wrote out guitar chords on notebook paper to teach him how to play and took him to concerts by Kenny Rogers, the Gatlin Brothers and Alabama. Aldean started to pick up some songs he heard on the radio. Early favorites included George Strait's "The Cowboy Rides Away", Hank Williams Jr.'s "The Blues Man" and Alabama's "My Home's in Alabama". He was encouraged by both of his parents in this musical path.

When he was 14 years old, he was watching the country-music awards on TV and told his mother he was ready to perform. Aldean’s mother arranged for him to sing a couple of songs (John Anderson's “Seminole Wind” and “Sticks and Stones” by Tracy Lawrence) at the VFW Hall in Macon. After that performance, he began participating at area talent contests and local fairs. By the age of 15, he joined the "house band" at the Macon nightspot Nashville South.

After finishing high school Aldean chose to pursue a career as a full-time musician over a baseball scholarship. His father helped the band by booking it into college towns in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, then further up the eastern seaboard. Jason began writing songs with one of his band members, Justin Weaver. Aldean recorded an eight-song album in Nashville in 1996 to sell at his shows.

In 1998, after a performance at the famed Atlanta nightclub The Buckboard, he signed with Michael Knox of the Warner-Chappell publishing company. He jumped a couple of times from labels and postponed his recording sessions until he landed a record deal with the independent label Broken Bow Records in 2004. Next year, he released his debut self-titled album which, after selling over 500,000 copies, has become gold. Two singles from the album, “Hicktown” and “Why”, where able to enter the top 10 US Hot Country charts. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9189.html Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:14:26 CST
John Rich was invited to one of Big Kenny’s show at a Nashville club. After the show, John and Kenny met and made tentative arrangements to get together and write some songs. Even though one or the other missed initial appointments, they eventually got together and started writing songs. Both men had already been in the music industry. Big Kenny became a full-time musician in his 30s. He got a record deal and released an album but without much success, so he lunched a wild outfit called luvjOi. On the other hand, John was a member in the band Lonestar but decided to try his luck in a solo career. Their second song written cooperatively, “I Pray for You”, became John’s first single as a solo artist. He was able to release an album but he was dropped from his label.

In due course, John and Kenny became friends and continued to write songs together. They also participated at each others show and progressively they started to turn their casual meetings in a weekly night gig at a small Nashville establishment called the Pub of Love. They called those sessions Muzik Mafia and it included more musicians than just John and Kenny. With Muzik Mafia, Big and Rich where able to sign to Warner Bros. Nashville. In 2004, Big and Rich released their debut album Horse of a Different Color which was able to reach number one in both Billboard national charts and Billboard country music chart. The album featured the participation of Martina McBride (with whom they have already worked in the album Martina). In 2005, Big and Rich released their second album, Comin’ To Your City, which is a brave bold album that reflects the trajectory these musicians have traveled. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9186.html Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:09:05 CST
Blake Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma on June 18, 1976. As a teenager, he wrote songs, played the Honky-Tonk bars and became a regular on a local country music show. At the age of 17, he met “Heartbreak Hotel’s” songwriter Mae Boren Axton, who suggested he should move to Nashville if he wanted to become a successful country music singer. Only two weeks after being out of high school, Shelton packed and headed to Nashville to become a country singer. He received a contract with Warner Bros. Records. In 1977 he was co-writing with Bobby Braddock (who co-wrote "He Stopped Loving Her Today," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "Time Marches On", among others).

In 2001, Blake released his self-named debut album (produced by Braddock) which was able to reach the third position in the US country chart. The first single from that album, “Austin”, was able to achieve the top position in the Billboard country chart (and stayed there for five weeks tying Billy Ray Cyrus' record for a debut single). Other singles where taken from that album: “All Over Me” and “Ol’ Red” both able to enter the top 20 country charts.

In 2003, Blake Shelton released his sophomore album, The Dreamer, which featured the number one country hit “The Baby” (staying in top for three weeks). The album was able to reach the eighth position in the US charts and second position in the US country. He spent most of that year touring alongside with Toby Keith. The album was followed by Shelton’s release Blake Shelton's Barn andamp; Grill in 2004. The album reached third place in the country charts. “Some Beach”, a single taken from that album, was able to reach number one in the country charts. He also released a DVD of music videos titled Blake Shelton's Barn andamp; Grill: Video Collection. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9182.html Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:07:37 CST
Chris Cagle was born on November 10, 1968, in DeRidder, Louisiana. His family moved to the outskirts of Houston when he was four, so he was raised in Texas. By the time he was six, he began guitar lessons, but because his hands were too small to master the classical guitar he gave up after a while. During his high school years, he took piano lessons. In his senior year, Cagle began taking guitar lessons again because he received an Ovation acoustic guitar for Christmas.

After graduating from high school, Cagle attended The University of Texas at Arlington, but ended up dropping out because he was more interested in music. Chris spent most of his nights performing in several clubs in Texas and found himself skipping classes. He made up his mind in pursuing his career as a full time musician, which lead him to leave Texas and move to Nashville in 1994. He found himself working in a variety of jobs to be able to support his needs while he honed his skills as a songwriter and tried to get a record deal. He was able to meet American Hall of Fame country music songwriter Harlan Howard, who taught Chris how to write a true country song. His skills as a songwriter improved considerably and Howard was so impressed that he was the first to publish one of Cagle’s songs.

Cagle was also able to meet Dona Duarte, assistant to Scott Hendricks, president of Virgin Records Nashville. After Chris invited her to one of his recording sessions, she took the recording to Hendricks and Cagle soon landed a deal. His first single, “My Love Goes On And On”, was a smash hit. Capitol Nashville re-released Cagle’s debut album after Virgin closed its country division. The re-release of Play It Loud included the number one hit “I Breathe In, I Breathe Out”. The record was followed in 2003 by a self-titled album. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7763.html Wed, 12 Apr 2006 03:30:29 CST Reba McEntire is a country music singer who is recognized because she has won Grammy Awards and also because she is one of the best selling country music performers of all times. Her complete name is Reba Nell McEntire and she has released 29 albums and has sold more than 45 million of them around the world. Reba was born in McAlester, OK on March 28th, 1955. She is daughter of Clark Vincent McEntire and Jacqueline Smith.
She grew up about country music in the rodeos. At a very early age she created a band with her sisters (Susie and Alice) and her brother Pake and they started to play in the rodeos. The group was known as “The Singing McEntires”. This band was really successful locally especially with their song “The Ballad of John McEntire” (their grandfather). One day Red Steagall recommended Reba go to Nashville, TN to begin a career as a singer. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7759.html Wed, 12 Apr 2006 03:27:06 CST Miranda Lambert is a country music singer that was born in Lindale, TX on November 10th, 1983. She became a singer when she was a finalist in the USA Network’s talent competition of Nashville on the 2003. Lambert is the daughter of private investigators, but her father is also a guitarist and a songwriter. She said that her interest for country music started when she went to a concert of Garth Brooks. After that she began to sing in talent contests.
When Miranda was 16 years old she started to appear on the Johnny High Country Music Review in Arlington, TX. That show also helped her to start her singing career. After that she went to Nashville, TN to record her first disc which frustrated her because it was too pop and that was not what she wanted. Lambert got back to Texas and started to write songs and taking guitar lessons from her dad. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7748.html Wed, 12 Apr 2006 10:26:52 CST Kenneth Arnold Chesney (better known as Kenny Chesney) was born in Luttrell, TN on March 26th, 1968. He is a country music singer that is widely recognized in the US and also for his laid back style of his music. By 1990 he graduated from East Tennessee State University (located in Johnson City) with a B.S. in mass communication. Chesney also studied in the Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity. One of his most recognized records is “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems”.
Kenny is a tall man of a spectacular physical condition that he usually displays in his videos using shirtless scenes. He said that he really enjoys that. The major hit single of Chesney is named “Fall in Love” that reached the Country Top 10 in 1995; the single “All I Need to Know” also reached it but it was not as successful as the past. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7734.html Tue, 11 Apr 2006 05:11:08 CST Keith Lionel Urban was born in Whangarei, an island to the north of New Zealand on October 26th, 1967. He is a country music singer. He past his early ages in New Zealand and then moved to Australia and when he was only 7 years old he was already thinking of coming to Nashville, TN to start his career as country music singer. When Urban was 6 years old he started to play the guitar and by his 8 years he began to win talent contests.
By the age of 12, Urban started to play with a band in local bars and clubs. When he was 15 years old he decided to quit from the school and go to Australia. While in Australia (1990) he signed a contract with EMI and recorded his first solo disc which was released in 1991 under the name “Keith Urban”. Four singles of this record reached the first places in the Australian charts. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7701.html Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:58:48 CST Gretchen Renée Wilson is an American country singer. She was born in Pocahontas, IL. on June 26th, 1973. She has been very successful in her career; in fact she won a Grammy Award and her album debut reached the position number two on the Billboard 200 chart. Pocahontas is a little town of only 700 inhabitants. When Gretchen was born her mother was only 16 years old and her father left them. She grew up in penury and she and her mother was constantly moving in several trailer parks. Her mother got a job as waitress in a little restaurant while she was at the school.
But when Gretchen was 14 she left the school and started to work in a bar as bartender. When she was 15 she already lived alone and for her 20 years she was the singer of two bar bands. In 1996 she moved to Nashville to start her singer career. There, she was discovered by John Rich in 2000 who was formerly a member of Lonestar and he asked her that she write songs for him. Sometime later she began to sing with an informal country music group called “MuzikMafia”.