When an artist looks back on his or her own career, there are always moments he or she can point to where there was a shift to another level. Those defining moments tend to be easy to spot with the benefit of hindsight but more difficult to see without the passage of time. Yet Chris Young has a sense that something is happening..

Music has always been in Rhett Akins' blood. The Valdosta, GA. native grew up in a close-knit family that supported his musical interests and his desire to pursue music as a career. Early in life, he learned to play guitar, began writing songs, and dreamed of being a songwriter and performer. His musical interests and influences spanned all genres and included everything from George Jones and George Strait to The Rolling Stones and The Allman Brothers Band. In 1992 he decided to follow his...

There’s a story Dallas Davidson likes to tell about his move to Nashville. Within a few months of arriving in Music City from his hometown of Albany, Georgia, someone smashed the window of his truck and attempted to steal his CD player. The thief was unsuccessful, but did manage to render Dallas’s stereo useless—robbing the budding songwriter of a way to hear his very first hit, “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” on country radio.