Louisiana born singer-songwriter Adkins is a former college football player and oil rig roughneck. After slogging away at the fringes of the music industry for a number of years, he got a record deal and his 1996 debut record took him straight into the country charts. Adkins connected with his listeners with the combination of his smoky baritone vocals and his smart, slightly dark, Honky-Tonk sensibility. The single “Thinking Thing,” also off of his debut, reached Number 1 in 1997.
( Eric Shea)

Trace Adkins’ singles

Trace Adkins is an American country music singer-songwriter. Adkins made his debut in 1996 with the single “There’s a Girl in Texas”, which reached Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks charts. It was followed by the release of debut album, Dreamin’ Out Loud, which also included his first Number One single in 1997’s “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing”. Dreamin’ Out Loud was also certified platinum by the RIAA for selling more than one million copies in the United States. Between 1996 and the present, Adkins has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard country music charts. Moreover, he has recorded seven studio albums and two Greatest Hits compilations, with all but one of his albums certified gold or higher by the RIAA.

The otherworldly and yet accessible voice of Emmylou Harris has helped bring country music to wider audiences. After the untimely death of her protege Gram Parsons, Harris kept the Cosmic American Music spirit and sound alive in her own solo recordings. She was blessed with a warm and nurturing singing voice that seems like it was destined to bring beautiful high-lonesome harmonies to life. Whether she’s singing soulfully by herself or harmonizing with other folks, her elastic and dynamic vocals unfold and soar to astral heights, adding new dimensions and organic depth to whatever song she graces. Her incandescent inflections have accompanied the likes of Neil Young, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Beck, Sheryl Crow, The Band, Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, and Glen Campbell to name a very few–but her rich phrasing and harmonious articulation has never been as powerful nor as heartbreakingly emotional as when she sang in close harmony with the late, great Parsons.
- Eric Shea

The other half of New Country’s First Family (she’s married to Tim McGraw), Faith Hill has been a star in her own right since the million-selling smash “Wild One” in 1993. She is a direct descendant of the Reba McEntire school of blending traditional styles with pop-oriented hooks and backing. With big-budget production and an angelic voice, she sings crossover-prone New Country with the poise and assurance of a star with staying power.
- Eric Shea

Alabama are Country Rock veterans beloved by gun enthusiasts and pick-up owners across these United States. With arena-rock aesthetics and pure country songs, Alabama tapped into a mother lode of a fan-base. Their booming New Country anthems and tear-jerker ballads have crossed over into the pop world more than once, illustrating a nationwide taste for countrified boogie and bearded lead singers. After more than two decades, these guys are still producing chart-topping songs rooted as deeply in rock tradition as they are in the irony and sentimentalism of country music.
- Eric Shea