After a friend gave Kid Rock a copy of a rough demo, Ty Stone was offered the chance to come and live with Kid Rock as he cultivated the songs that now make up this debut album for Top Dog/Atlantic. Read our review here!

LeAnn Rimes' Lady & Gentlemen finds the Platinum star returning with an interesting collection of classic songs traditionally done by men and turning them into her own, with help from Vince Gill. Read our review of the album here.

By the time of this release Billy Yates had released a debut album through a label and then If I Could Go Back via his own M.O.D. label. The success of the latter album allowed for more neo-traditionalist fare on the aptly titled Country.

For his third self-released album through his own M.O.D. Records label, Billy Yates came out with this 16 track collection tunes, a winning blend of traditional honky tonk barn-burners, wry story songs and sweet and reflective ballads.

Americana singer/songwriter and guitar craftsman Steven L Smith has just released his latest album Outside of Tupelo and it is a great example of how an artist can craft music outside of a label system.  Is it worth purchasing?