Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb (born August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma) is an idiosyncratic American popular music composer. Jimmy Webb is responsible for writing numerous popular and Top 10 hits sung by a disparate group of artists, including Glen Campbell ("Galveston"); Art Garfunkel ("All I Know"); Donna Summer and many others. Webb's father was a Baptist minister and a former Marine. His mother died when he was a teenager. His most popular songs were all composed when he was between 19 and 21 years of age.
Jason Simon
As the voice of the celebrated psychedelic trio Dead Meadow since 1998, Jason Simon has helped craft many captivating, hook-laden songs while the band has enjoyed a successful, highly regarded decade-plus career. Simon's "wispy tenor" and "mystical lyricism" have been called "mesmerizing" by Rolling Stone while his distorted axe riffs and wah-wah pedal effects have been said to "ooze early '70s psych-rock power and experimentalism" by Spin.
Isaac Graham
Isaac Graham - A singer/songwriter type from Sydney who grew up on punk rock but now likes country, folk and punk rock and records his music with a Tascam 8-Track with a cheap microphone and attempts to collaborate with the like-minded as much as possible. Plays shows occasionally too. Isaac has released one full-length album entitled "Empty Vessels" on donation-based netlabel Copyleft Records.
Seth Lakeman
Seth Lakeman, the West Country born singer and songwriter credited with bringing folk music to a whole new audience since his 2005 Mercury nominated album, 'Kitty Jay', released his eagerly anticipated 4th album, ‘Poor Man's Heaven’, on June 30th 2008. Seth’s new album, (the follow up to 2006’s critically acclaimed, gold selling ‘Freedom Fields’), perfectly captures the raw, rhythmic energy of his live shows.
Luke Brennan
Luke Brennan is a singer-songwriter who was born in the southern suburbs of Brisbane and raised in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Consequently he boasts a conclusive knowledge of shopping-centre youth culture. He enjoys travelling, primarily for the purpose of people-watching, for he had people-watched with such excellence in his home town that he had, by the age of 18, seen all of its residents. Thus he lived abroad for a while, venturing tirelessly as a voyeur.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie (born 20 February 1941) is an Academy Award-winning Canadian First Nations musician, composer, visual artist, educator and social activist. She was born on the Piapot Cree reserve in the Qu'Appelle valley, Saskatchewan. She was later adopted and grew up in Maine and Massachusetts. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts and also holds degrees in both Oriental Philosophy and teaching.
Bright Eyes
Bright Eyes is a band consisting mainly of American singer-songwriter/guitarist Conor Oberst. Bright Eyes also features multi-instrumentalist/producer Mike Mogis, keyboard player Nate Walcott and a rotating lineup of collaborators drawn primarily from Omaha, Nebraska, United States' indie music scene. Having been deeply influenced early on by singer-songwriters David Dondero and Simon Joyner, Conor Oberst has been recording music since the age of 13. He released his first three albums at the ages of 13, 14, 15, respectively, all under the name "Conor Oberst" and released only on cassettes.
Kevin Devine
Kevin Devine is an American songwriter and musician from Brooklyn, New York, who is known for alternately introspective and political lyrics and melodic acoustic guitar tunes. He cites his influences as Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, Guns N' Roses, Brother Paramo and Nirvana, among others. He grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island, and has spent significant time in Manhattan and Queens as well. Devine graduated Fordham University at Lincoln Center in 2001, majoring in journalism. He also played in an indie/punk/emo band called Miracle of 86 after the (Miracle) New York Mets.
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban was born in Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand (on 26 October, 1967). Before he turned two years old his family moved to Australia. By age seven, Urban was already thinking about emigrating to America and making his mark in Nashville. Urban began to learn the guitar at age six and began winning talent contests at age eight. By twelve he was booking his band in local clubs, and at fifteen he quit school to hit the road.