The new Tracy Lawrence album is titled The Singer, but the collection is much more than a showcase for one of the most unforgettable voices in contemporary country music.

“I’m at a time in my life where I am about to blossom, artistically -- as an artist, as a songwriter, as a producer and all these things,” says the multi-million-selling entertainer. “I’m learning how to express myself more, in many ways.”

Tracy Lawrence co-wrote six of the new CD’s songs. He co-produced the entire record. And perhaps most significantly, he created a striking new sound for himself. In an era when rock-influenced bombast and cluttered over production seem to dominate Nashville’s country recordings, Tracy Lawrence is offering a refreshing, stripped-down, “unplugged” record that throws the spotlight on songs’ lyrics and his beautifully resonant voice.

“This was such an easy record to work on,” Lawrence comments. “There’s something to be said for going back to being understated, taking a breath and getting back to basics.”

He has been silent on disc for more than two years. Along with fellow stars John Anderson, Lorrie Morgan, Darryl Worley and a number of others, Tracy Lawrence was trapped in a contract with a label that sank.

“I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ My fans need some new music. I need to get something done. So in May, we decided we were going into the studio and do an acoustic project. The album was recorded, pressed, packaged and released in four weeks, in time for my Fan Club Party at the CMA Music Festival in June.

“Originally, I just intended it to be a ‘bridge’ project, to have something out there while we worked on the next, full-production album. But as it started coming to life, I realized we have something special here. The fans told us how unique it was and how much they liked it. So now we’ve realized that we have something really refreshing in the market. I think it’s something that is needed.”

The Singer includes the haunting story song “Saving Savannah,” as well as the tongue-in-cheek “Pills.” On the relationship front, there’s the heartache of “Cloud of Dust,” the romance of “Tender Enough” and the enigma of “Roswell and Marilyn Monroe.” The philosophical “Jealousy,” the deeply painful “Heaven for Awhile” and the timely “Hard Times” are all illustrations of Lawrence’s new maturity as a songwriter. The album’s title tune and debut single seems strikingly autobiographical, as does the restless “Whole Lotta Me.”
Rounding out The Singer are lovely new versions of 2004’s “Paint Me a Birmingham” and 2006’s “Find Out Who Your Friends Are,” two major hits that brought Tracy Lawrence renewed popularity in the new millennium. All 12 of the tracks collected on this extraordinary disc ring with emotional authenticity and country conviction.

“I think everybody else seems to so busy trying to be pop stars that they’ve forgotten what they came here for,” Lawrence observes. “I didn’t come here to be a pop star. I came here to be a country singer. I’ve been passionate about country since I was a kid. I still love it, and I’m desperately trying to hold onto it, in spite of what the marketplace says is ‘fashionable.’”

Tracy Lawrence’s respect for country-music tradition has made him one of his genre’s cornerstone stylists. The Arkansas native burst on the scene with 1991’s Platinum-selling Sticks and Stones. The album contained four massive radio hits, including its title tune. Alibis, issued in 1993, sold more than two million copies and spawned four consecutive No. 1 hits, “Alibis,” “Can’t Break it to My Heart,” “My Second Home” and “If the Good Die Young.”

“Can’t Break it to My Heart” and “My Second Home” were the first hits that he co-wrote. Lawrence also had a hand in penning “If the World Had a Front Porch” (1995), “Stars Over Texas” (1996), “How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye” (1997) and “Lessons Learned” (2000).

“Back then, I had a lot of confidence issues about my songwriting,” he reflects. “I got placed with tremendously talented co-writers. Working with them, I realized how inadequate I was as a songwriter. It really made me hard on myself and very critical of the material that I wrote. But it also made me want to work harder.

“Over the past three or four years, I’ve become much stronger at it. It took me a long time to know that a song I wrote had the caliber to stand up to anything else that was out there. I’ve found that as I’ve matured, my favorite songs to write are ones that have a moral foundation, some insight, some substance and a message.”

His journey as a record producer began with 1993’s “Renegades, Rebels and Rogues” from the soundtrack of the movie Maverick. His Platinum-selling 1994 CD I See it Now had three self-produced songs on it. The Double Platinum Time Marches On (1996) and Gold-selling The Coast Is Clear (1997) each contained five tunes that the artist co-produced. Then came the 1999 all-star collection The Civil War: The Nashville Sessions, the first full album he guided.

“That was a big step for me as a producer, working with other vocalists and taking things I’d learned by working with myself and applying them to people like Trace Adkins, Travis Tritt, Deana Carter and John Berry.”

He co-produced his own Lessons Learned (2000), as well as its successors Tracy Lawrence (2001), Strong (2004), For the Love (2007), All Wrapped Up in Christmas (2007) and the Grammy Award nominated The Rock (2009). Along the way, Tracy Lawrence has picked up a number of other accolades. He was Billboard’s Top New Male Vocalist in 1992. The following year, Performance named him New Country Artist of the Year and the Academy of Country Music honored him as Top New Male Vocalist. Country Weekly gave him top awards in 1995 and 1996, and both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music gave him 2007 statuettes for his No. 1 smash “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.”

“In my career, I don’t really need to prove any points anymore. I don’t feel like I’m searching for anything. I just want to keep on being creative.”

The Singer is certainly proof of that. Its sounds are among the most creative in Nashville today.

“It was so refreshing for me to sing on it,” Tracy Lawrence comments. “And I think it’s going to find a home. The albums are selling as fast as I can make them. I’m very happy with it.”

The former hell raiser has found happiness in his personal life, too. His 2000 marriage to wife Becca and his devotion to their daughters Sklar, born in 2001 and Keagan, born in 2003, have matured him immensely.

In Nashville, he is famed for his massive annual turkey frying for the homeless each Thanksgiving. His golf tournament raises funds to battle breast cancer. Over the years, he has devoted his time and talent to many other causes and charities.

“I feel very content,” says Tracy Lawrence. “I feel very happy in my life, in my home and in my career. It’s a really good place to be in my life. I’m moving on, and I plan to be around for a long while.”

John Michael Montgomery has turned an uncanny ability to relate to fans into one of country music's most storied careers. Behind the string of hit records, the roomful of awards and the critical and fan accolades that have defined his phenomenal success lies a connection that goes beyond his undeniable talent and his proven knack for picking hits. Since the days when "Life's A Dance" turned him from an unknown artist into a national star, John Michael's rich baritone has carried that most important of assets--believability. Few artists in any genre sing with more heart than this handsome Kentucky-born artist. It is readily apparent in love songs that have helped set the standard for a generation. Songs like "I Swear," "I Love the Way You Love Me" and "I Can Love You Like That" still resonate across the landscape--pop icon and country newcomer Jessica Simpson cited "I Love The Way You Love Me" as an influence in a recent interview. It is apparent in the 2004 hit "Letters From Home," one of the most moving tributes to the connection between soldiers and their families ever recorded, and in "The Little Girl," a tale of redemption that plumbs both the harrowing and the uplifting. It is apparent even in the pure fun that has always found its way into John Michael's repertoire--songs like "Be My Baby Tonight" and "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)," where John Michael's vocal earnestness takes musical whimsy to another level. John Michael's origins lie in deceptively modest beginnings. He was born in Danville, Kentucky, to parents who imparted a lifelong love of music. "Where most people have chairs and sofas in their living rooms," laughs John Michael, "we had amplifiers and drum kits." The family band played on weekends throughout the area, and John Michael and his brother Eddie eagerly soaked up everything about it. "To a certain extent," he says, "my dad always had a natural ability to draw fans and entertain people; I don't care if it was on the front porch, the living room, or on a stage. I think that transitioned to me and my brother being able to do that on stage." John Michael took over lead singing chores after his parents divorced, and he performed for a while in a band called Early Tymz with Eddie and their friend Troy Gentry. Nashville talent scouts began hearing about and then seeing John Michael perform and by the early '90s he had a record deal. The hits followed steadily, with songs like "Rope The Moon," "If You've Got Love," "No Man's Land," "Cowboy Love," "As Long As I Live," "Friends" and "How Was I To Know" establishing him as one of the elite acts of the era. He received the CMA Horizon award and was named the ACM's Top New Vocalist, setting off a long series of awards that included the CMA's Single and Song of the Year, Billboard's Top Country Artist, and a Grammy nomination. Heavy touring meant he kept the close touch with fans he had begun in the clubs back home. "You get to know your fans and what they like more and more through the years," he says, "and you kind of gravitate towards one another." Indeed, he has always had an extraordinarily close relationship with his fans, and they have stayed with him through good and bad times. Asked what he thinks gave him the edge in a career that calls millions but gives stardom to just a few, he pauses, then thinks back to the legacy of his parents. "I reckon it was good genes and good blood," he says with a smile. Few who know the depth and breadth of his own growing legacy would disagree.

You know Joe. When you meet him, he’s the guy you thought he’d be. When you hear him sing, you can feel the honesty in his words.

Since he first topped the charts in 1990 with Home, Joe has remained on a steady course, staying true to his Oklahoma roots and delivering hit after hit totaling twelve #1’s, twenty top 10’s and four gold and platinum albums. When you attend a Joe Diffie concert, you’re not waiting for him to sing his hit - you’re waiting for him to sing your hit. Whether it’s Ships That Don’t Come In, Pickup Man, John Deere Green, or If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets), Joe’s music always makes you remember where you were the first time you heard it.

Joe’s journey to Nashville began when a song he wrote called Love on the Rocks was recorded by country legend Hank Thompson. The taste of success lured Joe to move to Nashville where he really got serious about songwriting and found an additional means of income by singing demos on music row. As his reputation as a demo singer burgeoned, it wasn’t long before he caught the attention of music row’s record executives and Joe was on his way to becoming the star he is today.

As a songwriter, Joe’s success is equally impressive. In addition to the numerous hits he kept for himself, Joe’s songs have been recorded by Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw, Tracy Lawrence, Conway Twitty, Doug Stone, and most recently Jo Dee Messina, who’s recording of My Give a Damn’s Busted became a big hit.

If you’ve ever been to a Joe Diffie concert, you don’t need to be told what an energetic, hit-filled show he delivers. If you haven’t seen Joe’s live show, do yourself a favor and make sure you’re there next time he’s in your town.

Vern Gosdin once described Joe Diffie as “the man with the golden voice.” He’s won a Grammy, CMA Awards, and been honored as Humanitarian of the Year by the Country Music Broadcasters. He’s a member of the Grand Ole Opry, recorded with George Jones, and toured the country numerous times. You would think that would be enough, but not for Joe Diffie.

He’s got a lot of great music left to make, and fans everywhere anxiously awaiting his next project. You know Joe – he’ll deliver.