Watershed Music Festival

Dwight Yoakam
A top-selling country music star since the mid-'80s, multi-talented Dwight Yoakam branched out into acting in the 1990s. Born in Kentucky, Yoakam was raised in Ohio and attended college at Ohio State University....

Tracy Lawrence
Part of the commercial rise of rock-tinged honky tonk in the early '90s, Tracy Lawrence was one of the decade's most reliable country hitmakers. Born in Atlanta, TX, in 1968, he grew up mostly in Foreman, AR, where he soaked up traditional and outlaw country as well as Southern rock....

Kix Brooks
Before he became one-half of Brooks & Dunn, the most popular country duo of the '90s, Kix Brooks cut an unsuccessful solo album on the basis of a much more productive songwriting career....

Sara Evans
Grew up in a Missouri farming community. Sang in family band at age 5. At age 8, broke both legs when she was struck by a car. Her brother Matt Evans played bass in her road band. Ex-husband Craig Schelske ran for U....

Johnny Reid
When Johnny Reid decided to name his new record Dance With Me, it was as much an invitation to his fans to get up and dance, as it was a call to celebrate the things that bring you home, even if home is thousands of miles away....

Reckless Kelly
Led by brothers Willy (vocals/guitar) and Cody Braun (vocals/fiddle/mandolin/harmonica), alternative country-rock outfit Reckless Kelly formed in Bend, OR, before relocating to Austin, TX, in January 1997....

Steve Holy
Born and raised in Dallas, TX, country vocalist Steve Holy was the youngest of eight children and entertained his grade school classmates with his imitations of Conway Twitty. At 19, he auditioned for the local Mesquite Opry and later earned a spot on Johnny High's Country Music Revue, eventually garnering the revue's Entertainer of the Year award....

Uncle Kracker
After serving as DJ for his hometown chum Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker (born Matthew Shafer) stepped out from behind the turntables to release his debut solo album, Double Wide, in 2001. Uncle Kracker had performed alongside Rock since 1994, and both favored a combination of funky, post-grunge rock with a hip-hop aesthetic....

Blake Shelton
Left Oklahoma for Nashville two weeks after his high school graduation to pursue a recording career. Released his debut album, Blake Shelton, in 2001 and had his first hit single with "Austin....

Dierks Bentley
The name Dierks is a surname on his mother's side. Moved to Nashville at age 19 and landed a job at The Nashville Network researching classic country music. Winner of the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Artist of the Year 2003....

The Lost Trailers
The framework for country band the Lost Trailers has been around ever since guitarist and songwriter Stokes Nielson and a high school friend of his from Atlanta, keyboardist/vocalist Ryder Lee, released the independent CD The Story of the New Age Cowboy....

Miranda Lambert
Claims that her private investigator parents took her on a stakeout when she was just 3. Starred as Annie Oakley in her high school's production of Annie Get Your Gun . Wrote her first song the same day her father taught her some guitar chords....

Brantley Gilbert
Although it’s tempting to call Brantley Gilbert a country artist -- he certainly embraces the outlaw country side of things -- in many ways his music is closer to the heartland sentiments of artists like John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, and perhaps most apt, Steve Earle....

Thompson Square
A husband-and-wife country duo comprised of Keifer Thompson and Shawna Thompson, Thompson Square combine classic rock, country, and singer/songwriter strands into a sharp, pleasant country-pop mix....

Jon Pardi

Thomas Rhett
Thomas Rhett, 21, hails from Valdosta, GA where music became a part of his life from the very beginning. Having grown up in a musical family watching his father Rhett Akins have hit after hit, he began playing guitar and writing songs in high school where he and some friends started a band....