Gary Allan Herzberg is an American country music artist. Signed to Decca Records in 1996, Allan made his country music debut with the release of his single "Her Man", the lead-off to his gold-certified debut album Used Heart for Sale, which was released in 1996 on Decca.

Barbara Mandrell was born in 1948 in Houston, Texas. Long before she became famous as a country music sweetheart, young Barbara grew up in a family strongly influenced by music. Her parents encouraged her to sing and study instruments from a young age, and so even before she entered school, Barbara was playing the accordion. Guitar came next, and within just a few years she had nearly perfected playing the steel guitar.

Barbara’s talents caught the eye of producers Joe Maphis and Chet Atkins when she was barely a teenager, and they quickly put her on stage as part of their Vegas show. Throughout her young years, Barbara performed alongside some of country music’s biggest legends, including Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, although it wasn’t long before Barbara decided to form her own band alongside her siblings. The Mandrell Family Band lasted until the late 1960’s, at which time Barbara signed to Columbia Records as a solo artist.

Barbara’s debut single, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” was a smash hit upon its release in that year, and it launched a career for Mandrell that would last well into the new millennium. For the next three decades, Barbara Mandrell would release a series of hit albums and country classics, such as: “The Midnight Oil,” “This Time I Almost Made It,” “Standing Room Only,” “Married, But Not to Each Other,” “Woman to Woman,” “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed,” “(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don’t Want to be Right,” “Fooled by a Feeling,” “Years,” “The Best of Strangers,” “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool,” “Till You’re Gone,” “One of a Kind Pair of Fools,” “Only a Lonely Heart Knows,” “Fast Lanes and Countr Roads,” “No One Mends a Broken Heart Like You,” and “I Wish That I Could Fall in Love Today.”

In the 1980’s, Barbara Mandrell also had her own television show, Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, which ran for a number of years, earning Barbara two Golden Globe nominations. She also starred in the film Burning Rage in 1984, and appeared on a number of television shows, including: Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Baywatch; Rockford Files; Empty Nest; and Walker, Texas Ranger. She was also the first woman to win the “Entertainer of the Year” from the Country Music Association twice, and aside from Taylor Swift, she’s been the only female performer to do so. Mandrell has also been recognized with multiple awards and nominations from a variety of industry academies, including the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association Awards, the American Music Awards, and the Grammy Awards.

Barbara Mandrell continues to perform on occasion. She was most recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.

The Bacon Brothers, comprised of Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon, came together to create the musical duo in the mid 1990’s. Older brother Michael was born in 1949, and while Kevin Bacon went on to become one of America’s most well-known actors, it was Michael Bacon who established the Bacon Brothers as a musical outlet for the two, and brought Kevin on board.

Since their inception, the Bacon Brothers have released the albums: Forosoco (1997), Getting There (1999), Can’t Complain (2001), White Knuckles (2005), and New Years Day (2008.) The brothers perform and tour regularly, often selecting various charities as the beneficiaries for their concerts. Their 2009 tour included performances to benefit March on Stage and the Love Hope Strength Foundation, and in 2011 the Bacon Brothers donated proceeds from two shows to the California Dream Week, an organization that educates youth about sustainable and eco-friendly designs.

In addition to performing with his brother, Michael Bacon has established a stellar career as a film and television composer, lending his talents to a variety of projects, many of them Academy Award winning documentaries, shorts, and features: Boy Interrupted, Loverboy, King Gimp, D-Day Remembered, A Time for Justice, Losing Chase, A Place in the Land, The Last God Time, Shadow of Hate, The Johnstown Flood, and Sharks of Treasure Island. His talents can also be heard on innumerous programs for public television. Together as the Bacon Brothers, the duo has contributed songs to the films the Woodsman (2004, “Chop Wood, Carry Water”) and Red Betsy (2003, “When You Decide You’ve Stayed Too Long”).

Most recently, the Bacon Brothers appeared on Live from Daryl’s House to perform a number of songs off their albums, and released Philadelphia Road – Best of the Bacon Brothers (2011.)

B.J. Thomas was born Billy Joe Thomas in 1942 in Houston, Texas. As a young man, he sang in the church choir and then in his teenage years he joined The Triumphs, a group that released the album I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry in 1966. The album featured the hit singles “Mama” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” and sold over a million copies. Shortly thereafter, B.J. Thomas released his solo album and struck out on his own.

Just a few years later, Thomas released the song “Hooked on a Feeling,” which would go on to become one of his iconic hits. The single “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” came next, earning B.J. Thomas an Academy Award after it was featured in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. By the early 1970’s, Thomas was on a rocket ride to stardom, releasing “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Everybody’s Out of Town,” and “Rock and Roll Lullaby.” For the remainder of the decade, B.J. enjoyed hit after hit, including “No Love at All” (1971), “Mighty Clouds of Joy” (1971), “That’s What Friends Are For” (1972), “Happier than the Morning Sun” (1973), “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” (1975), “Don’t Worry Baby” (1977), “Still the Lovin’ is Fun” (1978), “God Bless the Children” (1979), “What a Difference You’ve Made” (1979), and “From the Start” (1979.)

Although his popularity began to dissipate in the 1980’s, B.J. Thomas provided the theme song to the hit television show Growing Pains, and found himself with another hit, “As Long as We Got Each Other,” a duet with Jennifer Warnes. Other songs during this decade include: “Walkin’ On a Cloud” (1980), “Some Love Songs Never Die” (1981), “Whatever Happened to Old-Fashioned Love” (1983), “Two Car Garage” (1983), “ America Is” (1986), and “Don’t Leave Love (Out There All Alone)” (1989.)

Most recently, D.J. Thomas was seen as the halftime performer at the Hyundai Sun Bowl in 2011. In addition to his hit singles, D.J. Thomas has published his autobiography, Home Where I Belong.

Asleep at the Wheel came together in West Virginia in 1970, when musicians and founders Lucky Oceans and Ray Benson met while performing as opening acts at a concert in Washington, D.C. Within three years, they’d formed Asleep at the Wheel and released Comin’ Right At Ya, their debut album.

After the release of Comin’ Right at Ya, Asleep at the Wheel relocated to Texas, and since that time the band has enjoyed nearly forty years of highly successful albums and records. Over the next four decades, Asleep at the Wheel released: Texas Gold (1975), Wheelin’ & Dealin’ (1976), The Wheel (1977), Collision Course (1978), 10 (1987), Western Standard Time (1988), Keepin’ Me Up Nights (1990), Ride with Bob (1999), and Willie and the Wheel, (2009, alongside Willie Nelson), to name a few. Featured singles include “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” (1974), “The Letter that Johnny Walker Read” (1975, their highest charting single), “Bump, Bounce Boogie” (1975), “Route 66” (1976), “Miles and Miles of Texas” (1976), “Texas Me and You” (1978), “House of Blue Lights” (1987), “Walk on By” (1988), “That’s the Way Love Is” (1990), and “Lay Down Sally” (1996.)

In total, Asleep at the Wheel has been recognized with nine Grammy wins since their early beginnings. Although Lucky Oceans left the band in the early 1980’s, Asleep at the Wheel continues to record and perform under Ray Benson and the current lineup of: Elizabeth McQueen, Eddie Rivers, David Earl Miller, Jason Roberts, Dan Walton, and David Sanger.

Ashley Monroe was born in 1986 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Young Ashley began performing at a young age, and before she was a teenager she’d already won a number of contents and competitions. Shortly after the unfortunate passing of her father when she was thirteen, Ashley and her mother moved to Nashville and Ashley began to pursue a full-time career in music. Her first breakthroughs were as a songwriter, until she signed her first record deal and began work on her debut album.

Monroe’s first record label decided to release a series of singles prior to the album, however, and based on their lukewarm performance, she was released from her contract. But Ashley had a complete album fully ready, and during this time she continued to write and co-write a number of notable singles for other artists, including “Flat on the Floor” (Katrina Elam, 2007); “ Heart Like Mine” (Miranda Lambert, 2011); and ‘The Truth” ( Jason Aldean, 2009.) Monroe self-released the album Satisfied via digital media in 2009, followed by a self-titled EP which eventually led to another record deal with Warner Bros. Nashville. The result of that new deal was Like a Rose, which after it’s release in 2013 received not only critical acclaim, but commercial success as well.

In addition to her own albums, EPs, and singles, Ashley Monroe has participated in collaborations with numerous high-profile artists, including Trent Dabbs, The Raconteurs, and Train. She has also provided backing vocals for artists such as Will Hoge, Cory Morrow, Andrea Glass, and Miranda Lambert. Ashley Monroe is also a member of the female trio Pistol Annies, in which she performs alongside friends Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert. Their song “Run Daddy Run” was included in the soundtrack for the blockbuster hit The Hunger Games in 2012.

American country music singer Ashley McBryde was born in 1983 in Arkansas. Ashley spent her formative years growing up in Mammoth Spring, where she learned to play her father’s guitar and began writing her own music as a teenager. While in college, McBryde self-released her first album, just before moving to Nashville to pursue a career as a performer full-time.

McBryde began to garner attention after winning the Country Showdown two years in a row, in 2009 and 2010. A Southern US tour followed, but it was the EP Jalopies & Expensive Guitars, released in 2016, which brought her talents to the intention of record labels and other artists, such as Eric Church, who invited Ashley to perform alongside him at one of his concerts.

Shortly after the performance, Ashley McBryde’s signed with Warner Music Nashville and entered the studio to prepare for her debut album. Before its release, the single

“A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” became her first top forty hit, rising to the number thirty spot on the US Country charts. The album, Girl Going Nowhere, followed to critical acclaim and commercial success, spawning the additional singles “Radioland” and “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.” It rose to the number seven spot on the US Country charts, the number four spot on the UK Country charts, and made it’s way into the top fifty on the US mainstream charts. McBryde also won her the ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year award and a CMT Music Award for “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” setting the stage for a career that has suddenly catapulted Ashley to stardom.

Ashley McBryde recently wrapped production on her next studio album, slated for a 2020 release. The first single off the album, “One Night Standards,” arrived in September of 2019. McBryde also recently received her first Grammy nomination, for Best Country Album.

The country music artist Angaleena Presley was born in 1976 in Kentucky. Raised in the rural area of Beauty, Angaleena grew up in a working class household – her father was a coal miner and her mother was a teacher in the local school district. But music was a constant presence in the Presley household when Angaleena was growing up, and her parents exposed her to the music of Merle Haggard and other country music artists throughout her formative years.

After learning to play the guitar when she was a teenager, Angaleena figured out quickly that her aspirations were to become a professional musician. She moved to Nashville after finishing college and landed her first gig as a publisher, which brought her in contact with some of country’s quickly rising stars, including Miranda Lambert. Presley struck a friendship with Lambert and Ashley Monroe, and the trio established Pistol Annies in 2011.

Pistol Annies’ debut, Hell on Heels, arrived later that same year and Angaleena Presley began touring with the group immediately. The group’s sophomore endeavor, Annie Up, followed in 2013, rising to gold status and spawning the singles "Hush Hush," "Unhappily Married," "Don’t Talk About Him, Tina," and "Damn Thing."

Angaleena Presley continues to write, perform, and record as a member of Pistol Annies. The trio has plans for additional tours and album releases in the near future.

Alison Krauss was born in 1971 in Decatur, Illinois. Alison’s exposure to music began quite early; after studying classical violin when she was only five years old, she switched to country and bluegrass within a few years and by the time she was ten, she’d established her first band. As a fiddler, Krauss won a number of awards when she was still a teenager, and she was only sixteen when her debut album, Too Late to Cry, was released in 1987.

At the same time, Alison Krauss was performing with the group Union Station, and her contract with Rounder Records called for her divided attention to both solo work and work with the band. Union Station’s debut, Two Highways, was released in 1989, and then again in 1990, Alison Krauss released I’ve Got that Old Feeling, her sophomore solo endeavor. The album brought Krauss to the charts and earned her a Grammy for the song “Steel Rails,” bringing her into the mainstream spotlight for the first time.

For the remainder of the 1990’s, Alison Krauss continued to enjoy success with her albums, including: Every Time You Say Goodbye (1992), I Know Who Holds Tomorrow (1994), Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection (1995), So Long So Wrong (1997), Forget About It (1999), New Favorite (2001), Live (2002), Lonely Runs Both Ways (2004), A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection (2007), and Raising Sand (2007), which was recorded in collaboration with Robert Plant. The album earned Krauss and Plant five Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for the single “Please Read the Letter.” In 2011, Alison Krauss teamed up with Union Station to release the collaborative album Paper Airplane (2011.)

Krauss’s voice is even more recognizable as part of innumerous film soundtracks, including: Twister; Eight Crazy Nights; The Prince of Egypt; Mona Lisa Smile; Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood; and the two films for which she is most famous for her contributions, Cold Mountain and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the latter of which features her heart-stopping, Grammy Award-winning renditions of “Down to the River to Pray” and “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.” Alison Krauss also received an Academy Award nomination for the songs “You Will Be My Ain True Love” and “The Scarlet Tide,” featured in the film Cold Mountain.

So far in her career, Alison Krauss has garnered twenty-seven Grammys collectively, making her among the most awarded living recipients. Krauss’s latest album, Windy City, was released in 2017. The album features country and bluegrass classics, and marks Krauss’s first solo album in nearly two decades.

Alan Jackson was born in 1958 in Newnan, Georgia. The young Jackson was drawn to gospel music as a child, singing in the church choir, and by the time he was in high school, Alan had formed his first band. A move to Nashville in the 1980’s helped Jackson make the right contacts to get a career as a singer rolling, and in 1989 he signed to Arista Nashville for his first contract.

Alan Jackson’s debut, “Blue Blooded Woman,” was released shortly thereafter, and although the album didn’t quite make it to the top of the charts, his debut, Here in the Real World, fared well and gave him his first top ten hit with “I’d Love You All Over Again.” Since that time, Alan Jackson has given audiences the albums: Don’t Rock the Jukebox (1991), A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ‘Bout Love) (1992), Who I Am (1994), Everything I Love (1996), High Mileage (1998), Under the Influence (1999), When Somebody Loves You (2000), Drive (2002), What I Do (2004), Like Red on a Rose (2006), Good Time (2008), and Freight Train (2010.) Although Jackson enjoys the occasional crossover hit, his music rarely finds a home in the mainstream, aside from the staggering success he enjoyed with “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” released shortly after the September 11th attacks and featured at the 2001 CMA Awards in a live performance. Audiences were so moved by the performance that Alan Jackson enjoyed an enormous crossover hit on a song that was never initially intended to be released as a single.

Since that time, Alan Jackson has released the additional albums Thirty Miles West (2012), Precious Memories Volume II (2013), and Angels and Alcohol (2015.) His albums and singles have earned him innumerous awards and nominations, and has even set the record for the highest number of nominations in one specific year at the CMA Awards. His accolades include: American Music Awards; Academy of Country Music Awards (for albums, singles, and overall recognition as Top Male Vocalist); Country Music Association Awards (for music videos, singles, albums, and Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year); and Grammys for Best Country Song.

Alan Jackson continues to perform and record. In late 2017, he released his latest single, “The Older I Get,” which is the first song from his next studio album, scheduled for release in 2018. Jackson was recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017.