From Dade City, Florida, population 7,265, where everyone knows everyone and loves country music, Emmet Stevens, Jr. is the son of a preacher. He first sang in public at age 11 in his dad’s church. A few years later, he picked up the guitar during a break from college and never went back to school.

Emmet writes his own songs and performs frequently with his band, opening for LOCASH, Jerrod Niemann, Josh Turner, and the Bellamy Brothers. They perform at more than 200 gigs a year. As a group, they most often play well-known covers designed to get the crowd moving and singing along.

Rob Wiliford wears many hats: singer, guitarist, songwriter, and producer. When he has the time, he returns to his native state of North Carolina, fishes for bass, and eats at Waffle House as often as possible.

Until recently, Rob toured as Luke Combs guitarist, and they have shared many hit country songs, written or co-written by Rob. Both from North Carolina, Luke met Rob at the suggestion of Luke's roommate who was the son of Rob’s science teacher. Their first hit together, “One Number Away.”

From Portland, Oregon, it’s easy to understand that Dave first gravitated to rock music, not country music. That changed when Ty Herndon recorded Dave's song, “I Want My Goodbye Back,” and it became a top-five country hit.

Dave moved to Nashville and was delighted to learn one of Nashville’s secrets: songwriters of all genres gather there. Over the years, Dave was a staff writer for several companies, including Reba McEntire’s Starstruck Writer’s Group. In fact, Dave’s first # 1 hit was Reba’s hit, “Somebody.”

From Kentucky, Lee Miller graduated from Kentucky University with a degree in music theory and composition and moved to Nashville directly after graduation to start his career as a songwriter.

Twelve years later, Blackhawk released “Days of America,” and Lee had his first chart single. Later that year, Joe Nichols released “The Impossible,” and Terri Clark released “I Just Wanna Be Mad.” Both of those songs received one million radio plays.

In high school, Lauren Hungate chose a music class for her required art elective it actually changed her life, although she didn't know it at the time. She just knew that she liked playing the piano and didn’t know what to do with it. Attending Lee University, she first majored in church music and then switched to studying the music business. Just like that required arts class in high school, the first songs Lauren wrote were for a required project in college. After graduating, she worked behind the scene in the music business for a few years, until she quit to focus on writing songs.