Keith Urban

Keith Urban began his musical endeavors at an early age entering in local competitions and Country Musical Festivals when he was only 10. He grew up idolizing Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knophler and Lindsay Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac fame and began closely modeling his style after these influences. For the next couple of years Urban made consistent appearances on several Australian Country TV programs and went on to win the golden guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival with collaborator Jenny Wilson.

His debut album was released through EMI on 1 October 1991 and managed to reach number 98 on the Australian Album Charts. Apart from pursuing a solo career Urban was involved in writing songs for other musicians as well as backing them on tour. Urban toured alongside legendary Australian Country musician Slim Dusty as a backup guitarist. During this period he also contributed backing vocals to a live INXS album.

After Urban moved to the United States country hub, Nashville, he collaborated with Alan Jackson for the song Mercury Blues and helped pin the christmas song “Jesus Gets Jealous of Santa Claus” for Toby Keith. In 1997 Urban formed a Country three piece band called The Ranch with fellow members Peter Clarke and Jerry Flowers. Urban contributed lead vocals, guitar, ganjo, and keyboards on their one and only self-titled release. Despite the groups short lived career two singles from the album appeared on the country charts.

Around this period Urban became an ardent user of cocaine, which subsequently led him into rehab. Once Urban became drug-free his career received a significant jumpstart and with the release of his self-titled American debut he reached number 145 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and had a number 1 hit with Go-Go’s singer Charlotte Caffey. His success was amplified with his 2002 release “Golden Road”. The opening track on that album “Somebody Like You” stayed at number 1 on the charts for six weeks. His songs “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” and “ You’ll Think of Me” both topped the charts with the latter earning him a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

Urban has produced five more albums since “Golden Road” all which have done extraordinarily well with the public and has embarked on multiple world-tours with the likes of Bryan Adams, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Sugarland.

In addition to his music career Urban has acted as a judge on the Australian version of The Voice and replaced Steven Tyler as a judge for American Idol.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, US, to father Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto, Cash joined her father’s road show after graduating high school early-1970s, moving from laundry duty to becoming a backup singer and occasional soloist. She made her recording debut in 1974 on Johnny Cash’s “The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me,” featuring on the song, “Broken Freedom Song.” However, it was another four years before Rosanne decided to seriously pursue a career in music.

In 1978, Cash signed with Columbia Records, releasing her American debut, “Right or Wrong” in 1979, featuring three Top 25 hits. Her breakthrough came in 1981, “Seven Year Ache,” which brought Cash three number one singles in the country charts, with the title track also crossing over into the Top 30 of the mainstream Billboard pop charts. Cash took a stylistic turn in 1985, moving towards a country-pop sound with “Rhythm & Romance,” which gained praise from country and pop fans alike. Her next critical and commercial success came with 1987’s “King Record Shop,” featuring four number one singles, with Cash being named ‘Top Singles Artist’ by Billboard in 1988.

By the end of the decade, Cash released the retrospective album, “Hits 1979-1989,” summarising her ten years of success as a solo artist. The following decade, amidst personal upheaval following her divorce, Cash continued to release albums, taking a more introspective style of song writing. Cash moved away from the country pop of the past to a more mature, folk sound, displaying her musical diversity in albums such as 1993’s “The Wheel.”

It was another ten years before Cash would release her next full-length studio album, 2003’s “Rules of Travel.” Cash continued to record music until 2007, when she was diagnosed with Chiari malformation, with Cash taking a break from music in order to undergo treatment and recovery from her condition. She had overcome her illness by late-2008, returning to the studio in 2009 with “The List,” a collection of recordings of songs that her father had considered to be the 100 most essential American songs. Cash then set up the ‘Johnny Cash Music Festival’ in 2011, as a tribute to her father. She then returned to the studio, developing new original material, which culminated in 2014’s “The River & The Thread.”

Earle was born in Hampton, Virginia, United States in the 50s, but spent the majority of his childhood in San Antonio, Texas. He learned how to play the guitar at age 11 and by the time he reached 14 he was placing in talent contests. Earle was rebellious as a child and naturally evaded school to focus on music. He ran away from home at 14, dropped out of school at 16 and not long after moved in with his uncle in Texas, who was only a couple of years older and was also a musician. When Earle was 19 he pursued a music career in Nashville and supported himself through various odd jobs. He eventually acquired the position as a staff songwriter for Sunbury Dunbar, but grew bored with Nashville and rerooted to Texas where he formed a group called The Dukes.

Earle returned to Nashville in the 80s as a ghostwriter and had some of his work performed by national legends such as Johnny Lee, Zella Lehr and Carl Perkins. In 1982 he emerged as a solo artist, releasing the studio EP “Pink & Black”. His music teeters on the line of Springsteen style roots rock and traditional outlaw country revivalism. Although his recordings very rarely peered into the mainstream, he was venerated as a cult hero. Earle’s sound took inspiration from country (Merle Haggard, Hank Williams) folk iconoclasts (Bob Dylan, Neil Young) and most notably his personal idol, Townes Van Zandt (whom he named his son, Justin Townes Earl after).

His studio debut album “Guitar Town” was issued in 1986 to critical and commercial acclaim. It followed in line with the trend of rockabilly, which was popular during that time, but it also acted as a strong reinforcement of Townes unique style. Earle put two more albums out in the 80s “Exit o” (1987) and “Copperhead Road” (1988). The latter of the album’s was ostensibly the first of it’s kind to mix the genres of heavy metal and bluegrass. The album’s track “Johnny Come Lately” is a standout on the album in large respects due to the Pogues’ memorable contribution. Earle’s 4th studio album “The Hard Way” came out in 1990 and marked his last release through MCA. By this time Earle had fallen deep into substance abuse and put his life as a recording artist on hold.

He emerged with a vengeful comeback in 1995, putting out his highly anticipated follow up “Train a Comin’”. The album featured Peter Rowan, Norman Blake, Roy Huskey, and Emmylou Harris and earned him a Grammy nomination in the category “Best Contemporary Folk”. This phase saw Earle in full swing and welcomed a frequent and consistent output of albums spanning from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s: “I Feel Alright” (1996), “El Corazon” (1997), “Transcendental Blues” (2000), “Jerusalem” (2002), and “The Revolution Starts Now” (2004).

After a three year break between studio albums he released his 11th studio album “The Revolution Start’s Now”, which brought him his 2nd consecutive Grammy award. His 2009 follow up “Townes” featured experimental virtuoso guitarist Tom Morello and peaked to No. 19 on the US Billboard 200. Acclaimed songwriter, musician, and sound engineer T-Bone Burnett produced Earle’s next album “I’ll Never Get out of This World Alive”. The title shares it’s name with a Hank Williams‘ song as well as with Earle’s first novel. Earle released his 15th studio album “The Low Highway” on 16 April 2013 through the record label New West.

Growing up on a musical diet of the likes of Peter Seeger and the Kingston Trio, Shawn Colvin learned to play the guitar at the age of 10. Having been raised in London, Ontario, Canada, and Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., to pursue her music Colvin moved to Austin, Texas and joined the Western swing band the Dixie Diesels. The singer subsequently joined both the Illinois and Berkeley, California folk circuits before taking a hiatus to allow her strained voice to repair itself.

In 1980 Colvin moved to New York City and became a member of the Buddy Miller Band, which after Buddy Miller’s departure became, The Shawn Colvin Band. By this time Colvin was becoming a recognised and respected folk singer aided by her involvement in the Fast Folk cooperative of Greenwich Village. After contributing to off-broadway shows including “Diamond Studs” and “Pump Boys and Dinettes”, and featuring in Fast Folk magazine, producer Steve Addabbo enlisted her vocals talents to sing backup to the Suzanne Vega song “Luka”.

Colvin subsequently began a fruitful working relationship with John Leventhal, who together produced a live tape, which earned the attention of Columbia Records. With major label backing the singer released her debut album “Steady On” in 1989. The album, with backup vocals provided by Suzanne Vega, was well-received and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Colvin’s sophomore album, “Fat City”, arrived in 1992, featuring more distinguishable pop sensibilities. Like its predecessor the album earned strong reviews and spawned the Grammy-nominated single “I Don’t Know Why”.

The signer’s third full-length “Cover Girl”, a collection of cover songs including the likes of Bob Dylan, Dave Byrne and Tom Waits, was marked by Colvin’s move back to Austin, Texas in 1994. After the release of “Live 88”, a collection of live recordings from 1988, the singer began work on her 1996 breakthrough album. “A Few Small Repairs” was issued by Columbia in 1996 to a host of favourable reviews. A concept album documenting the breakdown of her marriage, “A Few Small Repairs” peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the adult contemporary smash hit “Sunny Came Home”. The single was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1997 Grammy Awards and topped Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

“Holiday Songs and Lullabies” arrived in 1998 as Colvin became a mother, followed by the full-length “Whole New You” in 2001, and the 15-year anniversary compilation “Ploaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection” in 2004. After making the move to the Nonesuch label in 2006, Colvin released her seventh studio album “These Four Walls”, featuring contributions from Patti Griffin and Teddy Thompson. “All Fall Down” followed in 2012 with guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Jakob Dylan, and once again earned strong reviews from the musical press.

Thompson formed his first band Emil and the Detectives while still attending secondary school, and like so many of his age took to listening-to and playing rock and roll. At the age of 18 now in the band Fairport Convention Thompson was spotted by producer Joe Boyd who invited the band to make a record, soon after Thompson developed a reputation as being a brilliant guitar player. The band released five studio albums including “What We Did on Our Holiday” (1968) and “Unhalfbricking” (1969).

After leaving the group, unsure as to what to do with himself, Thompson undertook a sizeable amount of session work, appearing on the albums of John Martyn, Al Stewart and Nick Drake. The musician also collaborated on the projects Morris On and The Bunch around the same time and made guest appearances on albums by Crowded House, Loudon Wainwright III and Bonnie Raitt.

Thompson’s debut album “Henry the Human Fly” was released in 1972 and was Warner Bros. Records’ worst selling album in history, after which the guitarist focused on work with wife Linda Peters. The duo went on to release a string of albums including “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” (1974) and after returning to the music industry after a hiatus with a Muslim community “Shoot Out the Lights” (1982).

In 1984 Thompson signed to major-label Polydor who released the albums “Across a Crowded Room” in 1985 and “Daring Adventure” in 1986, neither album performed significantly well in the charts and the musician was dropped shortly after. Thompson then went on the form a band called French Frith Kaiser Thompson, formed of John French, Fred Frith and Henry Kaiser. The group signed to Capitol Records recorded and released the albums “Live, Love, Larf & Loaf” (1987), “Amnesia” (1988) “Invisible Means” (1990) and the commercial breakthrough album “Rumor and Sigh” (1991).

Due to his success and devoted following Thompson had free reign over his musical exploration, which allowed him to release a number of diverse studio albums in the 1990s and work on the soundtrack for the film “Sweet Talker”. The new millennium brought independent releases from Thompson; recorded in his garage studio were “The Old Kit Bag” (2003) and “Front Parlour Ballads” (2005).

Thompson’s next studio album “Sweet Warrior” arrived in 2007 which was followed by an album of live recordings called “Dream Attic” in 2010. Recorded at Buddy Miller’s home studio in Nashville, U.S. “Electric” was released in 2013 and highlighted the guitarist’s enviable musical talent.

Born to an oil executive father and an attorney mother, Keen was exposed to their love of folk and country, to which he would later blend when constructing his own style. It was quite late by the time Keen started to learn the guitar, waiting until he had started attending Texas A&M University, although he was a keen writer of poetry all throughout high school.

He recorded his self-financed debut album, "No Kinda Dancer," in 1984, which made a splash on the Austin, US, music scene. He moved to Nashville shortly after, mixing with the likes of Lyle Lovett and K.D. Lang, who had begun to create top ten country hits. Soon he returned back to Texas, finding inspiration there for his second album, "West Textures," which contained the crime-spree tale, "The Road Goes on Forever," becoming one of Keen's signature songs. Signed to Sugar Hill Records, he waited until 1993 to follow this release, with 1993's "A Bigger Piece of Sky," containing the hit song "Corpus Christi Bay." "Gringo Honeymoon" followed a year later, which featured the guitar talents of Gurf Morfix.

Keen continued to grow in popularity release after release, with a relentless touring schedule that would often see him attend over 200 dates a year bolstering his presence on the country music scene. In 2001, he gained his biggest chart success with "Gravitational Forces," which reached number 10 on the US Country Charts and number one on the US Heat charts. His subsequent albums continued to fair well in the country charts, all being in the top 40. Keen also helped coordinate the annual Texas Uprising festival, which took place in several venues in the state, acting as a talent festival for up-and-coming artists.

Hiatt began his career as a songwriter for hire, earning twenty-five dollars a week to pen tracks for Tree-Music Publishing Company - despite having no formal training and being unable to write music. He began to perform live in and around his adopted hometown of Nashville, and ended up signing to Epic Records in 1973; he had a number sixteen hit during that time with ‘Sure as I’m Sitting Here’, but was dropped after his first two records for the label, ‘Hangin’ Around the Observatory’ and ‘Overcoats’, failed to sell. He remained in the wildnerness until the late seventies, when MCA signed him, and he carved out a sizeable fanbase with tracks like ‘Across the Borderline’. He subsequently moved onto Geffen, where he collaborated with Elvis Costello and released “Riding with the King”, the title track of which would be a double-platinum smash for B.B. King and Eric Clapton decades later. He was eventually dropped by Geffen, but the best was yet to come.

In the late eighties, ‘Bring the Family’ became Hiatt’s first hit album; he recorded it with Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Kelter. His next nine albums made the Billboard charts, and his fanbase grew exponentially, making him something of an institution in the Americana scene. He continues to tour and record today.