singer-songwriter

Michelle Shocked is a traveller, a troubadour, a 'picker-poet', as they say in Texas. As a young feminist, she left Texas to travel, Kerouac-style, and was caught up in Reagan-era grassroots politics. Her musical career was ignited by a bootleg recording made around a Kerrville Folk Festival campfire on a Sony walkman. Released in England as ‘The Texas Campfire Tapes’ without Shocked’s authority, its success abroad enticed Mercury Records to offer the newcomer a recording contract.

Drawing on influences from old-time jazz standards, folk balladry and traditional country, Halifax Nova Scotia’s Jill Barber has become one of Canada’s most distinctive young voices. Jill is gaining acclaim and radio play for her new 2008 album " Chances" and her status as a 2008 double-Juno nominee and multiple East Coast Music Award winner for previous releases "For all Time" (2006) and "Oh Heart" (2004).

Jedd Hughes grew up in the small south Australian town of Quorn. His father loved the sounds of Australian traditional country singer Slim Dusty and American icons such as Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins. When he wasn't listening to music at home,
much of his childhood was spent onstage. At age 8, he won first place at the Port Pirie Country Music Festival. One year later, his dad gave him a few guitar lessons, and by age 10, he was playing a custom-made acoustic guitar.

Myles R. Kennedy (born November 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist originally from Spokane, Washington who possesses an impressive vocal range, with his longest held on note timed at 22 seconds (in Mayfield Four's "Summergirl". Kennedy, a former guitar instructor in the Spokane area who has appeared as a guest of both live performances and recording sessions of numerous bands over the years, currently fronts Alter Bridge, a United States rock band and the brainchild of former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti.