BR549
"There are only two kinds of music," says BR549's Chuck Mead, "good and bad." From such a simple credo, however, Mead and his bandmates in BR549 have helped ferment a revolution in the world of country music, spearheading a movement back to music's roots. For almost two years, BR549 held court on Nashville's Lower Broadway at Robert's Western World, playing for tips three nights a week for five or six hours a night. According to McDowell, they came to Nashville because of the "romanticized version", but found instead a country music industry enjoying its best years (at least business-wise) but loosing sight of its soul. By doing what they love, BR549 is helping to reinvigorate the world of country music, and may even be pointing the way for the industry's next step.

Kim Mitchell
"Listen very carefully" because rock icon Kim Mitchell has some wise words to tell within the release of Kimosabe. This album tells tales of loves lost, personal afflictions, fun times and new beginnings. Since 1984, Mitchell has crafted seven impressive, multi-platinum albums; each delivering honest appraisals of life experiences coupled with the explosive sound of a master guitarist and songwriter at work.

Adam Gregory
Edmonton native Adam Gregory is just a regular kid - a regular kid with a record deal. Gregory delivers the songs on his Sony Music Canada debut, The Way I'm Made, with flair and pose amazing for a high school student. He first picked up the guitar at the age of eight. The philosophy of "The Sky is the Limit" - one of his own originals - is really at the heart of Adam's feelings regarding his career and his future. "I've always had people tell me that the sky is the limit," he explains," and I guess I took the message seriously."

Alberta Legends of Country Music
Alberta Legends of Country Music includes Joyce Smith, Gary Buck, Bev Munro, Randy Hollar, and Dick Damron.

Asleep at the Wheel
Going on three decades of keeping the pilot light on for Western swing, Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel have earned six Grammy Awards and kept a buzz on the genre while maintaining a musical integrity that's never waivered. Ride With Bob, a cross-style, multigenerational tribute to one of country music's innovators, took 18 months to bring together. "Without being a tribute record, I think this is a real tribute to the music of Bob Wills," Benson says with conviction. "It has brought Western swing to another generation."

Beverley Mahood
Beverley Mahood grew up in a family of eight in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. She took to the stage in 1980 and never left. Twenty years later, her musical resume includes numerous Canadian and International contest awards. Mahood's debut album, Girl Out of the Ordinary, hit stores in the spring of 1998. It is a revealing look at this young woman's attitude about life, songwriting and music - she has a lot to say.

Billy Ray Cyrus
"There isn't one song that was forced on us or that doesn't belong," says Billy Ray Cyrus of his debut Monument Records album Southern Rain. The fall of 1999 saw Cyrus at a crossroads, as he knew the relationship with his record label was coming to an end. A Sony A&R rep caught one of Cyrus' concerts, heard the demo and the wheel started turning. Southern Rain, is a collection of songs that represent a long and eventful journey; a journey filled with personal and professional highs and lows, love, loss…life.

Blue Rodeo
If the career of a band is looked upon as a journey, then Blue Rodeo has arrived somewhere special with the release of their ninth album, Days In Between. "We didn't want anything to seem tossed off with this album. We'd done that before and it's nice to know, as a band, that you're able to do that, but we realized wa wanted something different this time," says frontman Jim Cuddy. Blue Rodeo is one of those bands that is particular about hwere and how an album is recorded, with personality and atmospheres always woven into the result.

Brian White
Wholesome, handsome and talented, Bryan White sings songs about matters of the heart and delivers them with an honesty, innocence and purity of spirit that have made him a popular personality in country music. At age 17 White switched to the guitar, began writing songs and made the decision to make music his profession. He then made a gutsy move to Nashville after high school graduation. Within three months he landed a deal with Glen Campbell Music and GC Management. White's experiences and perspectives from the last year are reflected in his newest record, Right Place.

Danny Hooper
To watch this Alberta entertainer onstage is to see a man who truly loves his work. Resisting the temptation to move to Nashville, Danny Hooper decided long ago to keep his music business and family based in Alberta. Today he performs throughout North America at well over 200 special events each year as an entertainer, motivational speaker, emcee and fundraising auctioneer. And now, with the upcoming release of his own television show, Hooper's career is set to take on a whole new direction.

Diane Chase
In the past few years Canada's talent explosion in country music has seen some of the biggest stars in the history of the Canadian music business emerge. One singer looking to emulate this acceptance is a new voice in country music - Diane Chase. From Sudbury, Ontario, Diane performed for friends and neighbours as an enthusiastic five-year old. Her singing led to her first paid engagement at fourteen years old. At the age of seventeen Chase toured Ontario with her own band. She has appeared at many clubs throughout the province. Now Chase has two top ten hits on the radio, "In the Middle of Something" and "Walking Away With You."

Farmer's Daughters
The distinctive, recognizable sound of three-part harmonies of Angela Kelman, Jake Leiske and ShaunaRae Samograd now encapsulates the trio's most successful songs with one CD called The Best of Farmer's Daughter. Since inception, the BC based trio has gone on to record four albums, resulting in a string of radio hits and massive video play on CMT Canada.

Jason McCoy
Mason McCoy, a Canadian from Minesing, Ontario, doesn't claim to be country music's salvation, but there is a definite sense of something old and real in the way he plays on his new album Honky Tonk Sonatas. Wisely, McCoy has converted his initial instincts. His first album was an old Webb Pierce record, honky tonk melting into McCoy's brain with a flash long ago.

Ken Munshaw
Ken Munshaw uses his life as the basis for his observations on our society, as presented in his debut Duke Street album, Human Condition. Born in Toronto, Ken was introduced to music at a very early age. He started playing piano when he was four years old. Munshaw started to play coffee houses in Kitchener, Ontario, building quite a name for himself locally as an entertainer and composer.Munshaw wrote all ten songs on the album Human Condition, recorded during 1994 and 1995.

Lisa Brokop
By the age of 12, native Canadian Lisa Brokop was sitting in with other Vancouver bands. She became a full-time country professional at age 15 when she joined the Canadian touring group Sweetwater. A year later she joined her own band. The next three years after signing with Capitol (Liberty) Records she released two critically acclaimed albums: Every Little Girls Dream and the self-titled Lisa Brokop.

Lonestar
Lonely Grill is a wonderfully diverse demonstration of how sophisticated and skilled this band has become during its four short years as a hit-making outfit. From the get-go they shared a tremendous work ethic, performing more than 500 shows in 1993-94. Lonestar promoted itself with a six-song live CD and a string of label showcases. The hard work paid off in 1996. The Academy of Country Music named Lonestar its Top New Group of the Year.

Lorrie Morgan
With Lorrie Morgan, it's what lies beneath the surface that resonates with a luster all its own. Her persona takes tradition and makes it accessible, fiery and intimate. Ms. Morgan's version of "Another Lonely Song," originally recorded by her idol Tammy Wynette, is a timely reminder of her wide ranging ability to make any song her own. "Every song I sing reflects a part of my life. The joy, the sorrow, the will to survive, it is all there in the lyrics and music."

Mark Wills
The Georgia native is no longer a newcomer to country music, establishing himself as a soulful song stylist and charismatic performer. As he evolved as an artist, the likeable 26-year-old matured personally as well. While his self-titled debut album was working its way up the charts, Mark got married. Shortly after the release of "Wish You Were Here", Mark and Kelly welcomed their first child, daughter Mally, into the world. The other cuts on Permanently are just as much the stuff of life: love, loss, fear, joy and hope.

Patty Loveless
With Strong Heart, Loveless' first album since 1998's critically-heralded Long Stretch of Lonesome, she continues exploring the depths of the human soul - and in the process pushes the envelope on what exactly is Patty Loveless' kind of country. "Country music has always been about big emotions," Loveless said. "The joy is huge too. But I think the things people remember are the sad songs." After two decades in the music business, Loveless continues to make better records that illuminate more subtle truths and celebrate more poignant emotions.

Tracy Byrd
The title of Tracy Byrd's seventh album says it all. It was about time that he started cutting the songs that he truly wanted to cut. It was about time that he enjoyed his career again. And it was about time that he was able to express himself through his music. It's About Time is about change and creative freedom in Byrd's career. The songs prove he is a multi-dimensional artist whose complex personality make him just at home singing songs with sensitivity as cowboy swagger.

Williams & Ree
What do you call a fair-skinned Scandinavian from Mountain Home, Idaho and a Sioux Indian from Pierre, South Dakota? "The Indian and the White Guy" - of course. Better known as Williams & Ree, they share a unique ability to make people laugh even if it comes from laughing at themselves. The majority of people who follow the career of Williams & Ree realize that even though they aren't serious about much, they are serious about music.

Chad Klinger

Dixie Chicklets

Barnacle

Clayton Bellamy

For more information check out the website at www.bigvalleyjamboree.com