Jon Randall
As soon as Jon Randall Stewart graduated from high school in Dallas, he moved to Music City to follow his songwriting dream. He formed a short-lived bluegrass band and took a job delivering birthday balloons in a gorilla suit. In 1988, as a strolling musician at Opryland, he was discovered by Holly Dunn.

Later that year, Randall auditioned for a spot in Emmylou Harris’s band The Nash Ramblers, and was hired as the only unknown in a band full of established super pickers.
He also landed a songwriting contract with Sony Tree and a recording contract – and because Larry Stewart, Lisa Stewart, Gary Stewart and Marty Stuart were already making records, his name was abbreviated to Jon Randall.

His skills as a tenor harmony singer and guitarist have led to membership in the bands of Sam Bush and Lyle Lovett, and he’s worked closely with Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, Lee Ann Womack, Bill Anderson, T. Graham Brown, John Cowan, Earl Scruggs and Kid Rock.

But recently, he’s spent his considerable writing and performing talents on his own music. His latest album, Epic’s Walking Among the Living, is a stunning showcase of 14 original songs. He’s also seen more than a dozen artists record his tunes. “Whiskey Lullaby," co-written with Bill Anderson, was sung to fame by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss and won 2005 CMA Song of the Year honors.

www.jonrandallmusic.com

A true daughter of the South, Jessi Alexander was born in Jackson, Tennessee, the year Wanted: The Outlaws became country’s first platinum record. Her father, a painter and musician who frequently worked on Beale Street, named her after the album’s Jessi Colter.

By her early teens, she was deep into Hank Williams and Harlan Howard, but also the West Coast sounds of Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat and Karla Bonoff. However, her earliest musical epiphany was pure country when, at 10, she heard a Miss Tennessee pageant contestant belt out a Patsy Cline classic and soon afterward took up the guitar.

Intending to major in social work, she headed to Middle Tennessee State University; still, throughout college, she sang in bands and ventured more and more often to neighboring Nashville. Finally giving up school (even her teachers encouraged her to leave), Jessi hit the road singing backup for a few new artists before landing a gig as a Warner-Chappell staff writer.

And then she hit pay dirt in an improbable way. Unbeknownst to Jessi, a friend submitted a tape of hers to the 2001 NARAS Grammy Showcase. Jessi showed up for the performance -- unaware how truly high-pressure the opportunity was -- and won. Her fledgling career then took a giant leap forward when she was signed in 2003 to Columbia Records.

Her debut album, Honeysuckle Sweet, was described as “exceptional" by Billboard and a “showcase [for her] promising songwriting and heartfelt, unforced singing" by Rolling Stone.

www.jessialexander.com

Matraca Berg made the biggest decision of her life while she was still a kid. The 2004 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee was a high-school student in Music City when she decided she was going to devote her life to writing songs and singing.

Indeed, she notched her first #1 record at age 18. That, in turn, qualified her to become one of the youngest Hall of Fame nominees in history.

That first hit was “Faking Love," sung by T.G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks. In the years since, Berg’s songs have practically become the soundtrack of contemporary Nashville. More than 60 recordings of her songs -- by Randy Travis, Faith Hill, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis, Keith Urban, Dusty Springfield, Clint Black, Loretta Lynn -- have made her one of the most recorded composers in Music City. Her co-written “Strawberry Wine," performed by Deana Carter, was named Country Music Association Song of the Year in 1997. Among her other notable titles are Reba McEntire’s “The Last One to Know," Patty Loveless’ “I’m That Kind of Girl," Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s," Martina McBride’s “Wild Angels," the Dixie Chicks’ “If I Fall You’re Going Down With Me."

In addition, Matraca issued three CDs in 1990-97, plus a 1999 compilation, that have brought her wide acclaim as a performer. She and fellow Nashville songwriter Marshall Chapman provided the songs for the 2000 theatrical production Good Ol’ Girls, which continues to be staged by regional repertory companies.

www.matracaberg.com

Jeff Hanna
As a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jeff Hanna has been crossing the boundaries between folk, country and rock music since 1965, not only with the group’s chart hits but also with their classic triple-LP Will the Circle Be Unbroken, bringing together legendary country artists such as Mother Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson. Among their chart-topping songs are “Mr.
Bojangles," “I Saw the Light," and “Fishin’ in the Dark." They have received seven CMA Award nominations, and won the 1989 CMA Album of the Year prize for Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Volume 2, among other honors. In 2005, the band earned a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental. Hanna received a Grammy earlier this year for co-writing the Rascal Flatts #1 “Bless the Broken Road." He is married to award-winning singer-songwriter Matraca Berg.

www.nittygritty.com