Colt Ford

Corey Smith

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For Corey Smith, one of the best things about making music has always been getting the chance to hang out and have a good time with his friends. And it’s still that way, nearly 10 years after his early days of playing the bars around Athens, Georgia. The big difference now? Well, it seems these days Corey just has a lot more friends to hang with. The crowds at his sold-out live performances frequently number in the thousands—quite a change from the times when he never dreamed of much beyond playing for a handful of his college buddies. But, thanks to his astonishing gift for crafting addictive, soulful songs and the high-energy reputation of his shows, Corey Smith is one of modern country’s hottest young artists, a quintessentially indie performer with a dedicated following most Nashville-fueled hat racks would trade their flashy limos for. Not that he’s gotten carried away by all of the adoration, though.

“To me success is a matter of staying focused on songwriting and continuing to mature artistically,” says Corey. “I try not to think about the popularity.”  (Read More)

Ira Dean

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You remember IRA DEAN as the”wild”,”untamed”,”crazy”,”energetic” bass player of the country trio TRICK PONY but since leaving the group in 2008, Ira has proven that strength doesn’t always come in numbers....

JB and the Moonshine Band

JJ Lawhorn

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JJ Lawhorn is the epitome of a good ol’ southern boy. With hunting, fishing, and working on his truck as just a few of his hobbies, this rural Virginian lives a life most country artists only sing about.

“I grew up working with my hands—you know—doing good hard physical labor,” says the 17-year-old musician with a thick drawl. “I’m proud of my heritage. I’m proud of where I come from.”

Lawhorn was raised on his family’s farm, and until recently intended to carry on the family business.

“I had plans to go to Virginia Tech to study agriculture—I thought I was gonna be a farmer for the rest of my life.”

But everything changed in the spring of 2010 when producer Jeremy Stover discovered the young singer/songwriter on YouTube. Less than a year later, JJ signed a publishing deal with EMI Publishing in Nashville, and in June of 2011, he officially signed with Average Joes Entertainment.

JJ now spends most of his time in the recording studio instead of out in the field, but his music still reflects his Southern upbringing. Influenced by some of the industry’s greatest rebels (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard), his songs are a perfect blend of sweet melody and raw country sound.

“All of my music is about things that I know—whether it’s sitting on a tailgate, driving trucks in mud, huntin’, or fishing. Average, everyday life,” he says. “I want to make music people can relate to.”

Lawhorn’s first single, “Sitting on a Tailgate,” was recently featured on the Mud Digger vol. 2 album, alongside fellow Average Joes acts, Colt Ford, JB and the Moonshine Band and Sunny Ledford.

He is currently working on a solo album of original songs with an expected release date of early 2012.

Josh Gracin

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Gracin’s self-titled debut album, featuring the first single “I Want to Live,” was released in 2004. Its second single, “Nothin’ to Lose,” reached No. 1 at country radio. Since, hits like “Stay With Me (Brass Bed),” “Unbelieveable,” and “We Weren’t Crazy” have catapulted the star to mainstream country celebrity status.  Gracin has since joined Average Joe’s Entertainment, home to country entertainer Colt Ford, and is planning to release a new single to country radio in March 2010 and a new album to follow shortly.

Kevin Fowler

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"Ask Kevin Fowler how’d he’d describe his own music and he doesn’t think twice before responding: “It’s country with a bad attitude. It’s country with an edge. It’s just beer-drinkin’, hell-raisin’, good-time misc.”

With his career track record, it would be easy to assume Kevin must’ve always known music would be his life’s passion. After all, how can you be this good at something and not have worked at it for a lifetime? But he admits coming to his career path later in the game than most.

“There was a day in life that changed me,” Kevin recalls of the transformative epiphany he experienced at the Texas Jam in the Cotton Bowl back when he was about 20 years old. “I had been dabblin’ in music and played everything a little, but nothing well. Aerosmith was there. White Snake. All these bands were playing at a day-long festival. They were hosing down the crowd with big fire hoses. And it was just mayhem. I had never seen 100,000 people in one place. I remember that day going, ‘Well, that’s what I’m supposed to be doin’.’”

Lauren Briant

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“Rebellious,” “playful,” and “colorful” have all been used to describe country music’s hot new female artist, Lauren Briant.  Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, this country girl grew up on the vivid lyrics and instrumentation rooted in country songs.  “I would listen to the radio and sing along,” Lauren remembers, “and I guess when you grow up country, country music melodies and stories are the only ones that make sense.”

Matt Stillwell

"I watched friends do showcases and hoped someone would show up," he says. "I watched them being promised record or publishing deals that might or might not happen. So I made the decision that what I needed to do was to eliminate the ‘no’s, and the way to do that was to go build a following."  A man with a work ethic as big as his talent, Matt did just that, and in this age of American Idol and viral videos, he has built his following the old-fashioned way--one city, one club, one crowd at a time. Since the release of his debut album, Shine, and the current single from the record “Dirt Road Dancing”, fans nationwide can experience the magic that Matt brings to bear every time he steps in front of a microphone. In a recent interview, Roughstock.com noted "Matt Stillwell has managed to carry a niche in the country music world with his star on the rise."

Montgomery Gentry

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Montgomery Gentry's journey into the front ranks of American music has been one of the
most gratifying sagas of the past decade. Their road to gold and platinum albums, CMA
and ACM awards, a Grammy nomination and highly successful tours has been paved
both with musical integrity and with an abiding respect for the people and the genre they
represent.

Seldom have entertainers been identified so closely with their fans, and seldom has the
respect and affection run so deep in both directions. They share blue-collar outlooks;
sunup-to-sundown work ethics; rootedness in God, country and family; and the ability
to celebrate life and endure hardship. It is a relationship few other artists in the often
volatile world of show business can boast.

Rachel Farley

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A vivacious songstress with the lyrical maturity of someone twice her age, fifteen-year-old Rachel Farley is poised to conquer Music City before even taking her driver’s test.

Raised in Lawrenceville, Georgia, Rachel already considers herself a life-long performer, “I hate to sound cliché, but I came into the world singing. It’s something I’ve always loved to do. When I was 3 years old, I wanted to be Shirley Temple. I’ve always loved putting on a show.”

When she was 11, Rachel began her professional career performing in community theaters around her hometown, but it wasn’t until she picked up a guitar that she found her true calling in songwriting. Armed with a handful of lyrics, Rachel performed her first solo gig at age 12 in a coffeehouse outside of Atlanta.

Rich O'Toole

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Rich O’Toole is honest to goodness Texas talent with a spicy presence in his music that can only be found hailing from a state that has a reputation for everything being bigger – and Rich proves this rumor true with huge lyrical passion, a gigantic portion of daring subject matter that’ll leave any listener wide-eyed, and massive on-stage energy.  This energy hasn’t fallen one bit even after four years of touring nationally.  It’s only increased, and for Rich, that’s the plan for the rest of his career.

"Rich’s upcoming record -- soon to be released July 12, 2011 -- showcases passion, mixed with honest songwriting, and spun into guitar driven country/rock melodies that are noticeably present in his latest single “The Cricket Song”, released in February.  This single is only one of many on the record that beg each listener to be a part of Rich’s story and sometimes, the story pushes the envelope without tipping it over.  Crowd-favorite “Marijuana & Jalapenos” is a Texas anthem that’ll have you trying to grin around the tongue in your cheek.  Rich is accompanied by some of the industry’s most sought after songwriters including Jimbeau Hinson (“Hillbilly Highway”, Steve Earle) and Trent Summar (“She Knows What to Do With a Saturday Night”, Billy Currington).  Be ready to embark on a story-telling journey when Steve Earle meets Mark Twain in one of the album’s cuts written by Hinson titled “Banks of the Mississippi”.

"Rich displays an energetic take on-stage that is aurally present in the upcoming record.  His drive for life is lyrically present in the album’s closer, “I’m Never Gonna Quit”.  This never-give-up mantra has led Rich to accumulate a die-hard and dedicated fan base over his years of touring who could sing every word to each song on the night’s set list.  Night after night, he offers audiences an energetic and intimate performance that could only be described as “Bruce Springsteen meets Country Music” and if you ask him what it is that fuels these performances and his recent success, he’ll reply with one word:  passion.

“If I didn’t love playing city after city so much, I wouldn’t do it.  There’ll be times when I leave the stage soakin’ wet because of how much energy the crowd and I shared.”
Intriguing song content, melodies that will have you riding on verve, and the determination to present an ever-increasing on-stage dynamism to audiences across the U.S. make Rich O’Toole a Country force to watch out for.