TobyMac

TobyMac is more than just your run-of-the-mill triple threat. On one hand he ranks among the most successful artists in Christian music history in terms of radio success, sales power and critical acclaim. On the other he is universally recognized as a creative force, an artistic maverick and a prophetic voice for racial reconciliation, social justice and a fierce devotion to faith and family. On the third hand, he's the most humble and approachable merchant of cool on the scene today. Yeah; that's three hands. Some things defy common logic.

Obviously, when it comes time for a new TobyMac record to drop there are a lot of people paying attention. His rampant eclecticism and consistent excellence have set the bar very high, and on his third solo outing, Portable Sounds, he does not disappoint. An increased commitment to melody and soulful singing abounds, while his now trademarked rock/funk/hip-hop side hits deeper grooves and catchier hooks than ever before. On February 20th, the man Christianity Today called "one of the fifty most influential evangelical leaders in America" sets a new standard with the release of Portable Sounds.

His solo career took off from the first notes, with two GOLD albums, six Number One singles, two Grammy nominations and widespread critical acclaim. But to hear TobyMac talk about the passion and drive he has for this, his third solo outing, it sounds like all that was just the wind-up, and Portable Sounds is the pitch. The artist, producer, songwriter, industry leader and father of five was not the slightest bit interested in going through any motions. "Passion for my art drives me so long as I feel the Most High breathing new songs through me. I committed on this project that when writing and recording I will never rely on what has worked in the past and never fear what hasn't. The canvas is blank and the colors are endless."

As a result, a new lyrical flavor developed on a few of Portable's tracks. "I wanted to write a few songs that were simply prayers," he adds. "Over the years I have noticed some consistency in what I appeal to God for, like Help me remember what this is all about God I don't want to be that jaded man. I don't want to be that hardened artist. I want to remain soft in your hands, so that you can shape me into a vessel that you can breathe through.' I've been in multiple bands and on the road for a while, playing the same venues, visiting the same radio stations, working with the same label. My fight is to remain fresh, unjaded, where I'm not looking through hollow eyes, but I'm looking at things like they're new again. I expected amazing things while recording this record. I'm not talking about sales or first week numbers or critics. I'm talking about people's lives being touched by this music God is breathing through me. The wonder of it all remains and at any moment I want to be transported into uncharted recording waters not relying on my own understanding. That is why I continue to be passionate. I'm forever counting on what He'll do."

David Cook

Millions of people around the country fell in love with rock belter David Cook while watching him make other people's songs his own week after week on the seventh season of American Idol. Cook won the competition handily thanks to viewers connecting with his rich, unfettered voice and passionately intense performances, not to mention his down-to-earth Midwestern charm. Now, with the release of his self-titled major-label debut, this gifted 25-year-old is eager to show those fans what he can do when he's in the driver's seat.

"I went on Idol with a five-card hand and showed three of my cards," Cook says. "Now it's time to put down the other two. There's a lot I haven't shown the world, just as far as who I am and what I'm about. I have several layers as an artist and those layers are out there on this record. I don't see myself ever writing an autobiography; I'm just going to let the music speak for itself."

And it does - loud and clear. David Cook is a statement-making album, filled with bold, keenly felt songs that showcase Cook's powerful vocal chops and considerable songwriting talent, as well as the versatility that made him a star on Idol. The first single "Light On," with its Southern rock vibe, is light years away from the gut-wrenching ballad "Permanent," which couldn't be more different than the swaggering shredder "Bar-Ba-Sol."

"I wanted to make an eclectic album that went places," Cook says. "This is my first major-label release and that gave me some room to be a bit of a chameleon and try different things. So there's a diversity of influences on this record. When we were going through the process, I wasn't sure how we were going to tie everything together." That job fell to producer Rob Cavallo, a veteran studio wiz who has helmed hit albums for Green Day, My Chemical Romance, and Kid Rock, among many others. "Rob did a great job of tuning in to who I am as a person," Cook says. "He really made the songs fit me, as opposed to tailoring them to fit someone else's perception of me."

Cook also gives props to his songwriting collaborators, an illustrious list that includes former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell, Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik, Nixons singer/guitarist Zac Maloy, and Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida, one of Cook's longtime idols. Cook co-wrote three songs with Maida, including "Heroes," which he describes as an homage to his supportive family, and "Permanent," a song addressed to his older brother Adam who is battling brain cancer.

"We recorded 'Permanent' in two takes and everyone in the room was crying," Cook recalls. "I actually had to leave at one point because it was so emotional. As a musician, any time you can create something where the end result is exactly what's in your head, well there's a heaviness to that moment and it overwhelmed me. I've been writing songs for ten years and that was the first time I'd felt it. I think there's an honesty throughout the record that culminates in that song."

"Permanent" comes near the end of an album that is full of highlights, from the chiming opener "Declaration" (which Cook likens to "me standing on top of a building and declaring my intentions for this album") to the arena-friendly sing-along closer "A Daily AntheM," and everything in between, including the propulsive "Come Back To Me" and the poignant "Lie," both of which illustrate the album's recurring theme. "It's the idea of love amidst separation," Cook explains. "'Come Back To Me' is about loving someone you can't be near, whereas 'Lie' is about being in a dysfunctional relationship that you don't want to end because you still see the good in it."

Then there's "Life on the Moon" whose lyric "The life that I knew, it's through.I'm alone in this crowded room.It's like life on the moon" feels particularly fitting given how much Cook's circumstances have changed since he auditioned for American Idol on a whim back in August 2007. "What I like about that song is that it represents the last year of my life without perverting the last year of my life," he says. "It's written so that it could be about the whole Idol journey, but it doesn't have to be."

Cook may have gotten his first taste of fame thanks to Simon, Paula, and Randy, but his musical ambitions began long before he appeared in front of their judging table. Born in Houston, Cook was raised in Blue Springs, Missouri. He began singing in second grade and performed in his school's musical theater productions, but Cook found that rock and roll was more his style when he picked up a guitar at age 13. He formed his first band, Axium, at 15, though his attention was split between music and sports. "I thought I wanted to be a pro baseball player, but my fastball wasn't fast enough and I couldn't hit to save my life," he says. "Performing was the only thing I ever felt I was great at."

During his senior year of college at Central Missouri State, Cook recorded a solo CD called Analog Heart, which sold well regionally. In 2006, after obtaining a degree in graphic arts, Cook had to decide whether he wanted to be a musician or a graphic designer. "I gave myself every opportunity not to do music," he says, "but it was always there. I couldn't ignore it." He moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was in the early stages of recording his second album when his younger brother Andrew asked Cook to accompany him to Omaha and lend moral support while he tried out for American Idol. Andrew didn't make the cut, but he encouraged a very reluctant David to try out. "He threatened to beat my ass if I didn't, so it's entirely his fault that all this happened to me," Cook says with a smile.

One week after being declared the winner with a record-breaking 56 percent of the nearly 100 million votes cast, Cook rewrote chart history when 11 of his songs debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 chart - the highest number of new entries in a single week by an artist since the Beatles in 1964. Topping the list was "The Time of My Life," which debuted at No. 3, making it the highest new entry on the Hot 100 of 2008. In July, Cook hit the road with his fellow Idol contestants for the American Idols Live! Tour, which visited more than 40 cities across the U.S. - an experience he cites as extremely valuable. "Being able to make a 16,000-seat arena feel intimate is one of the trickiest things to pull off," he says. "If you can get the people in the nosebleed seats to feel as though they're getting the same show as the people sitting front and center, then you're doing something amazing. That's always going to be my goal."

It shouldn't be too tough given that Cook will be performing the songs on his debut album. Gutsy and epic, but grounded in the personal, the songs are tailor-made for those magical moments when music, whether it be uplifting or heart-breaking, can transport you to another place, which is exactly what Cook intended. "I want my album to be an exhausting experience, in that you listen to it and have to take a breath to collect yourself, and immediately need to listen to it all over again," he says. "I want people to hear it and feel like they just ran a 5K marathon."

The Charlie Daniels Band

Charlie Daniels is partly Western and partly Southern. His signature "bullrider" hat and belt buckle, his lifestyle on the Twin Pines Ranch (a boyhood dream come true), his love of horses, cowboy lore and the heroes of championship rodeo, Western movies, and Louis L'Amour novels, identify him as a Westerner. The son of a lumberjack and a Southerner by birth, his music - rock, country, bluegrass, blues, gospel - is quintessentially Southern. In fact, even his bent for all things Western is Southern, because his attire, his lifestyle and his interests are historically emblematic of Southern working class solidarity with the "lone cowboy" individualism of the American West.

It hasn't been so much a style of music, but more the values consistently reflected in several styles that has connected Charlie Daniels with millions of fans. For decades, he has steadfastly refused to label his music as anything other than "CDB music," music that is now sung around the fire at 4-H Club and scout camps, helped elect an American President, and been popularized on a variety of radio formats.

Like so many great American success stories, The Charlie Daniels saga begins in rural obscurity. Born in 1936 in Wilmington, North Carolina, he was raised on a musical diet that included Pentecostal gospel, local bluegrass bands, and the rhythm & blues and country music emanating respectively from Nashville's 50,000-watt megabroadcasters WLAC and WSM.

He graduated from high school in 1955 and soon enlisted in the rock 'n' roll revolution ignited by Mississippian Elvis Aaron Presley. Already skilled on guitar, fiddle and mandolin, Daniels formed a rock 'n' roll band and hit the road.

While enroute to California in 1959 the group paused in Texas to record "Jaguar," an instrumental produced by the Bob Johnston, which was picked up for national distribution by Epic. It was also the beginning for a long association with Johnston. The two wrote "It Hurts Me," which became the B side of a 1964 Presley hit. In 1969, at the urging of Johnston, Daniels moved to middle Tennessee to find work as a session guitarist in Nashville.

Among his more notable sessions were the Bob Dylan albums of 1969-70 Nashville Skyline, New Morning, and Self Portrait. Daniels produced the Youngbloods albums of 1969-70 Elephant Mountain and Ride the Wind, toured Europe with Leonard Cohen and performed on records with artists as different as Al Kooper and Marty Robbins.

Daniels broke through as a record maker, himself, with 1973's Honey In the Rock and its hit hippie song "Uneasy Rider." His rebel anthems "Long Haired Country Boy" and "The South's Gonna Do It" propelled his 1975 collection Fire On the Mountain to Double Platinum status.

Following stints with Capitol and Kama Sutra, Epic Records signed him to its rock roster in New York in 1976. The contract, reportedly worth $3 million, was the largest ever given to a Nashville act up to that time. In the summer of 1979 Daniels rewarded the company's faith by delivering "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," which became a Platinum single, topped both country and pop charts, won a Grammy Award, became an international phenomenon, earned three Country Music Association trophies, became a cornerstone of the Urban Cowboy movie soundtrack and propelled Daniel's Million Mile Reflections album to Triple Platinum sales levels.

The album's title was a reference to a milestone in The Charlie Daniels Band's legendary coast to coast tours. Including two drummers, twin guitars, and a flamenco dancer, the CDB often toured more than 250 days a year and by this time had logged more than a million miles on the road. On the Million Mile Reflections Tour, transported in a convoy of busses and gleaming black tractor-trailer rigs - a show that stopped traffic all over the country - the band now included a full horn section, back-up singers, a troupe of clog dancers and sometimes a gospel choir. By 1981, the Charlie Daniels Band had twice been voted the Academy of Country Music's Touring Band of the Year.

Daniels' annual Volunteer Jam concerts, world-famous musical extravaganzas that served as a prototype for many of today's annual day-long music marathons, always featured a variety of current stars and heritage artists and are considered by historians as his most impressive contribution to Southern music. Among the artists "Jam Daddy" has hosted at 16 of these mega musical samplers are Roy Acuff, Don Henley, Tanya Tucker, Amy Grant, Leon Russell, Billy Ray Cyrus, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, James Brown, Duane Eddy, Pat Boone, The Outlaws, Dwight Yoakam, Steppenwolf, Bill Monroe, Exile, The Judds, Orleans, Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Link Wray, Ted Nugent, Billy Joel, the Marshall Tucker Band, Solomon Burke, Little Richard, B. B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eugene Fodor, Woody Herman, and Bobby Jones and the New Life Singers.

"I used to say, 'I'm not an outlaw; I'm an outcast,'" says the Grammy Award winning star. "When it gets right down to the nitty gritty, I've just tried to be who I am. I've never followed trends or fads. I couldn't even if I tried. I can't be them; I can't be anybody but me."

When you hear a classic Charlie Daniels Band performance like "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," you hear music that knows no clear genre. Is it a folk tale? A southern boogie? A country fiddle tune? An electric rock anthem? The answer is, "yes" to all of that and more. And the same goes for "In America," "Uneasy Rider," "The South's Gonna Do It," "Long Haired Country Boy," "Still in Saigon," "The Legend of Wooley Swamp," and the rest of a catalog that spans 50 years of record making and represents more than 20 million in sales.

His resume includes recording sessions with artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Flatt & Scruggs, Pete Seeger, Mark O'Connor, Leonard Cohen and Ringo Starr. His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley and Tammy Wynette. This touring legend has been documented by ABC Newsmagazine 20/20.

In April 1998, top stars and two former Presidents paid tribute to Daniels when he was named the recipient of the Pioneer Award at the Academy of Country Music's annual nationally televised ceremonies.

"In his time he's played everything from rock to jazz, folk to western swing, and honkytonk to award-winning gospel", former President Jimmy Carter said. "In Charlie's own words, 'Let there be harmony, let there be fun and 12 notes of music to make us all one.'."

"Charlie's love of music is only surpassed by his love of people, especially the American people," former President Gerald Ford said. "He's traveled this land from coast to coast singing about the things that concern the American people. The Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award is presented to a supremely talented compassionate and proud American, and a fair to middlin' golfer, too!"

On Saturday night, January 19th, 2008, Charlie's life long dream became a reality. He was inducted as a full-fledged member into the Grand Ole Opry. "It is an honor that I can't begin to articulate, there is no way I can express what it means to me", says Daniels. "And to make it special, I was joined on stage by Russell Palmer, the man who taught me my first guitar chords all those years ago." "I pursued my dream in music and by the goodness of God have been able to have a wonderful career, which has spanned fifty years".

"I have been blessed with Gold, Platinum and Multiplatinum albums, I have appeared many times on network television, even in moving pictures. I have won multiple awards from The Country Music Association, The Academy of Country Music, The Gospel Music Association and even a Grammy. I have even played on the Grand Ole Opry many times. But I was always on the outside looking in. I was always a guest, never a member."

"Ain't God good"!!!!!!!!!!

Nat & Alex Wolff

Nat Wolff is the lead singer and songwriter of the Naked Brothers Band. The fourteen year old is modest and soulful with a strong moral center. Nicknamed "the Girl Magnet" when the sweet, sensitive Nat's not writing the band's next hit he's fending off the female fans who mob him wherever he goes. But despite his fame he has managed to stay level-headed and down to earth.

Alex Wolff, ten, is the band's drummer and 'bad boy'. His brilliance as a drummer and his big romantic heart makes him a highly respected member of the band. His wild take on life keeps the rest the band and the audience in stitches. He is a supporter of do-rags, fake piercings and stick on tattoos. Alex is a fan of anything that involves rocking out, rebel style.

Michael W. Smith

Michael Whitaker Smith was born October 7, 1957 to Paul and Barbara Smith in Kenova, West Virginia. A sister named Kim would follow. Michael was a typical boy - active in baseball, his family's church activities, and playing piano. But in not-so-typical fashion, he wrote his first song at age five. At the age of ten, he made a decision to give his life to Christ. He dreamed of playing professional baseball.

Michael attended college at Marshall University in West Virginia but after one semester dropped out to move to Nashville and pursue a career in music. (side note trivia: In 1992 Michael received an honorary Doctorate of Music degree from Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia.)

The years 1979-1981 are best written by Michael himself in his book It's Time To Be Bold. From chapter 1, we read: While playing keyboards for the group Higher Ground, I signed my first songwriting contract with Paragon/Benson Publishing Company. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I was knocking down $200 a week to do something that I loved. Writing songs for a living meant that I didn't have to wait tables anymore, or work at Coca-Cola, or plant shrubs with a landscaping company.

I thought my life had peaked and God didn't have to do anything else for me. I wasn't looking for a record deal, a higher salary, or even a girlfriend - and especially not a wife. Writing music, I was as content as I'd ever been, and I labored at it sixteen hours a day. Then one afternoon while I was working in my office, Deborah Kay Davis walked by. I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. When she passed by, it was all over for me. I was blown away. Totally head over heels in love. I frantically picked up the phone and called my mother in West Virginia. "Mom, I can't believe it. You're not going to believe this, Mom. I just saw the girl I'm going to marry." "What's her name?"

"I don't know, Mom. I haven't met her yet. But I gotta go. I'll find out and call you back." My poor mother! She must have thought I'd lost my mind. But I'd never been so clearheaded in my life. I left my office and went searching for this girl in the warehouse. Sherlock Holmes couldn't have done a better job of tracking her down, and eventually I found myself standing outside the ladies' restroom, waiting for her to emerge. She walked out. I introduced myself. We were engaged three and a half weeks later - and married four months after that!

In 1982, Michael was asked to play keyboards in a band that was backing up young artist Amy Grant. He also continued to write songs for himself. The story goes that Amy's managers, Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell could not find a Christian record label that would sign Michael or a young New Yorker named Kathy Troccoli. Believing so much in these two young talents, they started Reunion Records.

Michael made his very first record in 1983 and it was called "Michael W. Smith Project." Michael wrote all the music and wife Debbie wrote the lyrics. The now famous song "Friends" debuted on this album. Michael continued to tour with Amy, now as her opening act.

In the midst of 18 albums and ten books as well as the awards (Dove awards and Grammy awards among them), Michael and Debbie were blessed with five children: Ryan, Whitney, Tyler, Emily and Anna.

In 1994, Michael founded a teen club called Rocketown in an effort to provide a place for teens to gather in a safe, loving environment. A warehouse in the Cool Springs area of Brentwood, TN was converted into a dance floor, rooms with pool tables and a coffeehouse. After three years, the club closed. The leadership continued to build a ministry devoted to kids, and a new site in downtown Nashville that reopened in 2003.

In 1996, Michael founded Rocketown Records with Reunion executive Don Donahue and launched their first artist, Chris Rice. Michael and Don shared a dream to be part of a label where great songs were the focus, where artists, not acts, were developed. They wanted a label that felt like a family. And what a family it is!

In 1999, a prayer group of Michael and Debbie's that had been meeting at their farm, had blossomed into what they felt had become a church body. Gathering up some leadership, Michael and Debbie helped start New River Fellowship with close leadership by Pastor and mentor Don Finto, former senior pastor of Nashville's Belmont Church where Michael and Debbie had attended for many years.

Throughout his career, Michael has had the opportunity to sing for Presidents and national leaders, and counts among his friends the Reverend Billy Graham and his son, Franklin Graham. He is active in Billy Graham Crusades as well as The Samaritan's Purse, the ministry headed by Franklin Graham.

But for all of Michael's accolades, for his involvement in his teen outreach Rocketown, leadership in his local church body, the business of being an artist, an author and a record label executive, Michael sums up his life as this, "to be remembered as a God-fearing man who loved his wife and kids well.

Steven Curtis Chapman

Steven Curtis Chapman's insights and ideas are wiser and more wide-eyed than ever before on This Moment, his compelling sixteenth studio album and first new project in more than three years. Wisdom culled from two decades of ante-upping artistry (five Grammies, a record-breaking fifty-one Dove Awards) anchors the set in a delightfully confident pop musicality. Meanwhile, the new wonders he's finding at home and now on the other side of the world add passion and a worshipful air to his thoughtful lyrics.

But that's not to say this record came easily. In fact, Chapman truly wrestled to find its core.

"Theme has always been so important for me," says the man behind such modern clarion call favorites as For the Sake of the Call and The Great Adventure. "I've got to be hearing clearly from God about what it is that he's giving me to share from this platform. It doesn't have to be earth shattering for everyone else, but it has to be for me."

After an unexpectedly long season of listening, what Steven finally heard was simply profound.

"The words of Revelation 1:19-'write therefore the things that are seen'-kept coming back to me," he recalls. "It was as if God was saying, 'Just write what you know.'"

What Chapman knows well today, through the growth of his family and his growing heart for international outreach, is the vital importance of embracing the "miracle of the moment." That's the title of the duly anthemic first single and opening track from This Moment, and it's a truth that definitely needs fresh restating in such a fast-forward world.

We are who and where and what we are for now. And this is the only moment we can do anything about. So breathe it in and breathe it out. Listen to your heartbeat. There's a wonder in the here and now. It's right there in front of you. And I don't want you to miss the miracle of the moment.

Stepping further into the album, it is pleasing to discover how masterfully Chapman, a nine-time Songwriter of the Year winner, seamlessly applies his chosen theme across various sonic settings and three distinct areas: family, global mindedness, and worship.

On the lilting ballad "Cinderella," Steven gets caught up in the beautiful moment of a father dancing with his daughter from childhood into adulthood, unknowingly spinning what could be his biggest cross-format radio hit to date in the process. So personal and so universal, it was the first song written for This Moment and the one among so many greats that is most certain to last.

For "One Heartbeat," he gives his wife and moms everywhere a sweet reminder of their day-in/day-out magnificence (Oh you may not see it now, but I believe that time will tell how you are changing the world one little heartbeat at a time). "You Are Being Loved" is an intentionally present tense, melody-rich stadium rocker that Chapman says is already speaking in special ways to his sons who now play in his live band and also make cameo appearances on This Moment.

Remarkably, it is Chapman's family that has also prompted his own awakening to the desperate current needs of others around the world. How Steven's oldest biological daughter convinced her parents to adopt a little girl from China-and how that experience led them to adopt two more children and create a foundation to financially assist thousands of couples in bringing home orphans from many countries, including the U.S., into forever families-is a continuing story of transcendent impact. It certainly influences the message of This Moment on cuts like "Yours" and sure-shot pop smash "Something Crazy."

The former may be the album's grandest, clearest moment- a soaring U2-flavored revelation of how God owns everything and is ever present in every place from America and Europe to war torn Africa and communist China where Chapman and his family have done mission work together on several recent occasions.

"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing-our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Steven says; the Chapmans spent month long stretches in 2006 and 2007 working at Chinese orphanages. "We've really wondered whether or not we should just go to China and stay there. But I don't think so. I believe God is saying, 'I want you to go, get your heart broken, your eyes opened, and then take this story back to the church in America and around the world.'"

This Moment pointedly contributes to answering that call. What's more, the call to international outreach has in turn opened the floodgates on the new album's third distinct element: an outright modern worship music style. At its peak, "Yours" is a stirring praise chorus. "With One Voice," written in London with worship leader Matt Redman, could be sung in churches globally today.

With one voice we will sing. Every tribe and every tongue brings a harmony. With one voice we will bring Heaven's beautiful melody down to this earth as we sing to our King with one voice.

"I've resisted doing worship music on a record because there are artists who clearly have a special gift for it in ways that I probably don't. I should just stay out of Chris Tomlin's way, you know?" laughs Chapman, referring to his past tour mate and the world's best known worship songwriter. "But I love singing worship songs on stage along with the audience, and I've been amazed at how people in other countries may not speak English, but they'll know a song like "Here I Am to Worship." Worship music is a language in itself. I'm seeing firsthand the connection it can make, so to write in that style is becoming more natural and exciting for me."

Co-produced by Steven Curtis Chapman and Matt Bronleewe (Leeland, Rebecca St. James) and tracked in Los Angeles with a rock solid studio band whose combined credits include Sting, Paul McCartney, and Sheryl Crow, This Moment not surprisingly showcases a stellar outpouring of crystalline musicianship throughout its fourteen songs. For all the tracks already mentioned there are just as many more that fans will be thrilled to discover, highlighting a range of styles from '70s piano pop to country-influenced adult contemporary. All the while, Chapman's voice is more effective than ever, an emotionally charged instrument that moves well back and forth from falsetto to full steam-whatever the song calls for to get the all-important message across.

And it's all about what God is doing in every heart, in every corner of the world, in this moment.

Montgomery Gentry

Montgomery Gentry's journey into the front ranks of American music has been one of the most gratifying sagas of the past decade. Their road to gold and platinum albums, CMA and ACM awards, a Grammy nomination and highly successful tours has been paved both with musical integrity and with an abiding respect for the people and the genre they represent.

"We've never sold out to anybody," says Eddie Montgomery, whose soul-stirring baritone and 19th-century outlaw look have become iconic among country's rowdier fans. "What you see with us is what you get."

"We've always been consistent about choosing songs that deal with the working class, songs people can identify with," adds Troy Gentry, whose piercing tenor and classic good looks provide the perfect counterpoint. "We've stayed true to that."

Seldom have entertainers been identified so closely with their fans, and seldom has the respect and affection run so deep in both directions. They share blue-collar outlooks; sunup-to-sundown work ethics; rootedness in God, country and family; and the ability to celebrate life and endure hardship. It is a relationship few other artists in the often volatile world of show business can boast.

Now in their 10th year on the national stage, Montgomery Gentry can look back on one of country's most impressive legacies. They have released more than 20 charted singles, with anthems like "My Town" and "Hell Yeah" becoming indelible parts of the honky-tonk landscape. They have hit the top of the singles charts three times, with "If You Ever Stop Loving Me," "Something To Be Proud Of" and 2007's multi-week chart-topper "Lucky Man." And now, with the release of Back When I Knew It All, they have taken the next big step forward.

The CD shows them at the top of their game, something not lost on their loyal fans, who propelled the album's title cut and first single to the top of the charts more quickly than any single in the duo's history. The song serves as an introduction to a CD's worth of riches. "Roll With Me" shows Troy to be one of modern country's most stirring vocalists, the way "God Knows Who I Am" and "One In Every Crowd" showcase Eddie's vocal talents, his ability to move from the raucous to the sublime, and his world-class songwriting skills. "I Pick My Parties" keeps the rowdiness flowing as it teams the boys with sometime touring partner Toby Keith, and "One Trip" and "It Ain't About Easy" display Troy and Eddie's ability to impart serious philosophy in the guise of an entertaining country tune.

The album, which both regard as the quintessential Montgomery Gentry CD, got a jump-start when the duo followed their hearts to one of the world's most storied recording studios.

"Eddie and I and [producer] Blake [Chancey] were talking about some of the history of the music we grew up on, the artists we covered in clubs and the places where some of our favorite records were cut," says Troy. "The name that rose above the rest was Ardent Studios down in Memphis. Steve Earle did Copperhead Road there, ZZ Top did Tres Hombres--there's all kinds of good stuff that's come out of there. Knowing some of the people we looked up to had recorded there gave us a real sense of comfort."

Troy, Eddie and the studio musicians went en masse to Memphis. They visited Graceland and Beale Street together, ate meals with each other and, away from the distractions of Nashville, put together Back When I Knew It All in a studio with more than 70 gold and platinum albums recorded by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Dylan and Sam & Dave.

"The day before we started recording," says Troy, "we were going over the songs to decide on tempo and instrumentation. We were in a big circle with acoustic guitars and our drummer, Greg Morrow, just beating on a drum case or bongos, and I really dug getting in there doing that together as a team. It was probably one of the coolest parts of the process, watching the song get built right there in front of you by the musicians."

Working with Blake Chancey was a chance to team up again with the man whose work had helped define them.

"I tell you," says Eddie, "Blake's a hell of a song guy. He's just always gotten us. He came and saw us in the old days, he signed us, and he knows how we ought to be. He knows how to get the energy out of us, what kind of songs work for us, and how to capture our live performance in the studio."

The journey that Chancey has seen since the early days had its roots in central Kentucky. Eddie grew up in his family's band, where he and his brother John Michael spent their formative years in honky-tonks, falling in love with the music of Hank Jr., Charlie Daniels, Willie, Waylon, Haggard, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Influenced by his mother's love of music, Troy favored George Jones, Haggard, Randy Travis and Hank Jr. and by high school, was in his first talent contest.

The Montgomery brothers and Troy joined forces in a band called Young Country until John Michael landed a record deal. His brother joined his band and Troy went solo, winning the national Jim Beam Talent Contest in 1994. When Eddie returned to Kentucky, he and Troy found themselves on stage together at various charity concerts and they decided to join forces again.

"It just seemed like the more we were playing together around town, the bigger our following got," says Troy. Nashville heard the buzz, and Columbia Records signed them.

1999's Tattoos and Scars announced them as a new force in country music, deeply rooted in the blue collar honky-tonk ethos that had sometimes been overlooked in the crossover success of the '90s. By their third album, 2002's My Town, they had become leaders of a movement that would come to breathe new fire into country music and help bring to the forefront artists like Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich while drawing from established artists like Hank Jr. and rockers from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Kid Rock.

The hits came with regularity. Eddie and Troy were named the CMA's Duo of the Year in 2000, and received that year's American Music Award for Favorite New Artist--Country, the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Vocal Group or Duo, and the 2000 and 2001 Radio & Records Readers' Poll award for Top Country Duo. The duo performed for well over a million fans, both as headliners and as part of Kenny Chesney's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" tours in 2002 and 2003, and the Brooks & Dunn "Neon Circus & Wild West Show" in 2001.

Their place as honky-tonk ambassadors has long since been established. They were part of the Rolling Stone 40th anniversary issue, they are integral parts of Farm Aid and Country in the Rockies, and they joined forces with Maya Angelou after the release of "Some People Change."

Their humanitarian efforts are another example of that place where life, art and community come together in a meaningful way.

"Our charitable work hit really close to home last year with the passing of my mom from cancer," says Troy of their work with the T. J. Martell Foundation, which funds cancer and AIDS research and on whose board both serve. Troy is also deeply involved in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Eddie works with Camp Horsin' Around, a camp for chronically and terminally ill children, which provides recreation and medical attention.

Their desire to help make the lives of others better is reflected in their desire to live their own lives fully.

"Life is very short," says Eddie, "and you'd better live every second of it, because you never know when your name's going to be called. That's the way I've always lived my life. My parents taught me to live that way. We were raised very poor but we always had a lot of fun, especially with music. And music is the most healing thing in the world. Everybody speaks different languages, but when you put a record on, people from everywhere can enjoy it, whether they understand the words or not."

Through it all, they remain one with their fans, people who live fully, love richly, and work and play for all they're worth. Their rootedness can be seen in the fact that they are still playing with the band they had in their honky-tonk days. It's part of what keeps them honest, and that honesty shines through every bit of their latest CD. Back When I Knew It All continues their tradition of connectedness as it restates their position as the honky-tonk poets of their generation.

"We keep to our roots," says Eddie. "We'll always talk about the good, the bad, the ugly and the party on the weekend. We'll always include the Man Upstairs and our American heroes."

"And when we sing a song," adds Troy, "it'll always tell a story. That's just who we are."

Eric Benet

Eric Benet is on top of the world these days. The R&B soul singer/songwriter/producer is sounding strong, romantic and full of joy on his aptly titled third solo effort, Love & Life.

They say home is where the heart is, and Eric returned to his Milwaukee, Wisconsin roots to record his Friday/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records CD Love & Life. Collaborating with his longtime production partner Demonte Posey and writer/producer/cousin George Nash, Jr., Eric completely opened his heart and soul with this decidedly organic production, exercising complete creative control over for the first time in his career. Co-writing and producing eleven of the twelve tracks with his partners, "musically and creatively, it's just as I envisioned it. I wanted to make a record that was a good feeling R&B record, and some of the best R&B for me growing up had a dash of gospel, a couple dashes of jazz. You could feel the social consciousness and you could feel where the artist was in their life. Whatever challenges, victories, blessings that I'm presently experiencing and the fruit of all that, are the songs that I write." Having fun through the entire process, Eric's sustained motivation from experiencing love and living life can be heard skillfully weaved throughout every album track.

We fell in love with Eric Benet on his 1999 debut "True to Myself" featuring the Grammy nominated "Spend My Life With You" along with hits including "femininity", "Spritual Thang" and "Let's Stay Together. We weathered the storm with him on his 2004 album Hurricane. Now, Love & Life reflects the Eric Benet that feels confident and celebratory about his approach toward happy living. "There's an energy and feeling that you get from the whole record. The journey is mine but there's no one who can't relate."

The groovy, familiar first single, "You're the Only One" materialized from a good old fashioned jam session. As the piano laden backdrop meets the synthesized harmony of this soulful melody, Eric speaks of time being the determining factor of a love meant to be. Not necessarily propelled by overt innuendo- authenticity, emotion and passion have always been the driving forces in Eric's creative process and unconditional love, whether familial or romantic, lays at its foundation.

Much of Eric's musical and personal motivation stems from his most important inspiration, his 16-year-old daughter India. "There are so many things that I've done where I was thinking let me do what's best for her, and had she had not been there, I may have done taken the wrong path on many occasions. As a single parent, there was no other way than to keep it together for India.". "One More Tomorrow," a moving ode to India's birth, places Love & Life in practical application. Written after witnessing her life come into existence, the proud papa decided to finally record the tribute. "It hit me like nothing ever hit me before where this feeling of if I didn't know why I was born, I know now. This song says if I found out today that tomorrow was my last day, my daughter would be the person I want to spend that day with."

The retro dance jam "Iminluvwichoo" reveals a light-hearted energy featuring Hungarian vocalist Linda Kiraly. The groove of the drums, coupled with the bass guitar, provide an 80's feel that capsulates the kinetic connection of having fun in love. "Don't Let Go" is a love tribute decidedly for those couples who make it past the honeymoon period in their relationship. Influenced by early 90's R&B in its sonic sensibilities, according to Eric, "there could be a life, a love and another level," if the relationship survives. On the flip side, "The Hunger" aggressively speaks to the sexual, energetic part of a relationship. The melodic hand-claps emphasize the sensuality that Eric describes as "that physical attraction where you just can't get enough of their essence, their body. I cannot be satiated, I just want more. That part where you can't go home yet, the straight, raw hunger."

Diving even further into the seductive realm, "Spanish Fly" is steeped with Latin rhythms and horns as the luring lyrics invite its young female listener to relax, relate and release. According to Eric, "this is just some 'ol Latin pimp talk. Basically I'm just coming from a pimp perspective of, why don't you let me give this a try. Let me see if I can invite you back into the realm of carnal enjoyment."

Eric carefully staggers his sensual fascination and introspective admiration with women throughout Love & Life. "Chocolate Legs" is a telling homage to the power that a woman provides for her man by simply wrapping herself around him. Produced by Keith Crouch and Jubu, Eric speaks of the airy, slow jam as fun to sing describing "surviving day to day is so difficult, so for me when I'm going thru situations. One of the things that reminds me that God has my back is that real love connection with whoever is in my life. And if my woman is loving me unconditionally and giving her body, soul and spirit to me, it gives me this feeling like I can go and handle things another day."

Perhaps the most personal record on Love & Life is a mid-tempo, electronic number entitled "Still I Believe." As Eric carefully narrates being the villain and everything in between when it comes to love, "I've been the angel / Been the beast / I've been confused and had clarity," and with all of the extremities that transpire in relationships, hope and love still remain. "The odds are like one in a million that you're going to find the right person at the right time in your life. In spite of the odds, I still believe that it's possible."

Similarly "Love Patience Time" speaks of a familiar perseverance through the struggles of life. "Whatever fate deals you, stay focused, stay present and stay grateful. You're going to receive all the blessings that you need to get to the place in life where you are happy longer and more often."

It is abundantly clear through Love & Life that Eric Benet feels good, and it is magnifies from the inside out. As his journey to now continues to reflect the abundance he experiences, Eric wants his music to represent sheer honesty. "I want people to be able to discover some of the truths that I have and to feel the passion for life written between the lines and to just to put it pure and simply-to be moved by my music."

Shag-A-Fair

You are invited to enter one couple from your shag club to represent you at the SC State Fair's "SHAG-A-FAIR."

The date is Sunday, October 25th in the Pepsi Grandstand! Check in will be between 2:00PM and 3:45PM with the contest beginning at 4:00PM. Contestants will be limited to the first 30 shag clubs to register. Each couple will compete against five other couples in a preliminary round of two shags. Judges will then select one couple from each group. The five couples will then be judged after two more shags, and the winners will be awarded based on audience response.

The prizes are as follows:

• 1st place: $1,000
• 2nd place: $750
• 3rd place: $500
• 4th place: $250
• 5th place: $150

One half of the prize money will be donated to the five shag clubs with the remainder split between the participants.

Woody Windham of "Woody With The Goodys" fame will emcee and also be the d-jay for the competition. After the contest, "The Fantastic Shakers" will perform for an "all shag" party in the grandstand. Additional information will follow around the first of August. An entry form will be included at that time.

PLEASE NOTE: The competition will be limited to the first thirty shag clubs to register before the deadline. Mark your calendar to check out all the exciting details in August!

If you have questions, you may contact Nancy Smith at nancys@scstatefair.org, or 803-799-3387 ext. 16.