RCA LABEL GROUP LABELS: Arista | BNA | RCA Nashville
BROOKS AND DUNNRed Dirt Road is a reckoning, a redemption, a record as much about reclaiming where one comes from as it is blazing a trail to where one wants to be. It is acceptance of how you are, what you wish to be, the fearlessness that comes from knowing you won't step down or accept what's handed to you, and the calm that is knowing your place in the world as everyone around you scrambles after things that don't really matter. For Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks, Red Dirt Road is an album that's a lifetime in the making -- culling the influences they've been steeping in from their disparate youths in Arkansas/Texas/Oklahoma and the swampy backwater outside Shreveport, Louisiana. It is a country thing, definitely, but also deep gospel, soul, bluegrass, raw rock and anything else that crossed the ears of two men chewed up with the way music made them feel. continue... | Profile
DIAMOND RIOThere was never a “Plan B.” Whether or not Diamond Rio had become a star country-music band, its six members agree that somewhere tonight in America they’d all be making a living with music somehow. Electric guitarist Jimmy Olander vows he’d either be in a recording studio or writing songs with somebody. Bass player and baritone harmony singer Dana Williams had a single-minded dedication to becoming a professional musician since he was in the seventh grade, so he’d definitely be picking or singing someplace. Classically trained keyboardist Dan Truman says he’d probably be teaching or working in theater. Mandolinist and tenor singer Gene Johnson believes he’d be a bluegrass sideman, which is what he’d been for years before stardom arrived. Drummer Brian Prout joined a rock band in Florida after graduating from high school, so his only career experience has been as a working musician. Lead vocalist Marty Roe figures he would have tried a solo career if Diamond Rio had never come to pass. continue... | Profile
ALAN JACKSONWhen it comes to his success, Alan Jackson’s disbelief can’t help but ride shotgun to his appreciation. Selling over 40 million records, earning 30 number one singles (22 of which he either wrote or co-wrote), winning more than 80 major industry awards and gracing pages that bridge The New York Times to the Newnan, Georgia Times-Herald, is, in a word, overwhelming. Consequently, both on and off the public stage, Alan can’t help but be a bit confounded by the idea that he connects with so many by simply being himself. Luckily, the byproduct of this is an ever-fortified sincerity, present throughout his Greatest Hits Volume II collection (Arista Nashville, release date August 12, 2003). continue... | Profile
Carolyn Dawn JohnsonCarolyn Dawn Johnson has never doubted the power of music. And for the reigning ACM Top New Female Vocalist and newly crowned Favorite New Artist – Country at the 2003 American Music Awards, music has been at the core of her spirit ever since she was a child. “I remember asking my mother when I was young how anyone could live without music,” recalls the Canadian-born singer-songwriter. “Music made me happy, made me cry; it soothed me. It did then, and it does now. Music still takes me to places nothing else can.” It is this perspective on music, combined with Carolyn’s exposed lyrical candor and crystal vocal brilliance, that provide the soul and passion behind Room With A View, her debut album on Arista Nashville. Carolyn’s career is not only a testament to the power music has had upon her, but it is also a personal assertion of what goal setting and remaining true to one’s self can bring about. continue... | Profile
BRAD PAISLEY“It’s the little imperfections, it’s the sudden change in plans…I live for little moments like that.”With those lines from “Little Moments,” Brad Paisley may offer the perfect summation of Mud on the Tires. An unexpected turn, a change of direction, a surprise, even a laugh—all played out against a musical backdrop that’s laced through-and-through with Brad’s seamless guitar work and creative vision. His touch is everywhere—he wrote or co-wrote nine of the album’s 16 tracks (17 if you count the “hidden” one at the end), infusing those songs with moments and scenes drawn from his own life, and once again sharing his wit and humor along the way. “My favorite line in the [title] song is, ‘It’s in the middle of nowhere…only one way to get there…gotta get a little mud on the tires.’” And to bring Mud on the Tires to fruition, that’s exactly what Brad does. continue... | Profile
PHIL VASSARWhen Phil Vassar strode to the podium last May to accept his Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 37th Academy of Country Music Awards, one fact was made crystal clear: America has a bona fide career artist on its hands. From Willie Nelson to Neil Diamond, from Carole King to Billy Joel to Bruce Springsteen, the most compelling and soulful artists of the modern era have combined cut-to-the-heart songwriting with a solo performance charisma that dazzles fans and critics alike. Phil Vassar joins this elite group, an all-around performer who seals the deal with his new sophomore release, American Child. continue... | Profile
Source: Arista Nashville AristaNashville.com (Opens New Window)