•   Chalee Tennison (born April 11, 1969) is an American country music artist from the state of Texas. She has released three major-label studio albums (two on Asylum Records and one on Dreamworks Records) in addition to charting six singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. Her highest charting singles, "Just Because She Lives There" and "Go Back", both reached #36 on that chart.

    Prior to her music career, Tennison worked as a prison guard in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in addition to performing in various Texas bands. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee and worked as a demo singer, eventually signing to Asylum Records in 1999. She recorded two albums on Asylum, both albums producing minor chart entries. In 2002, she moved to DreamWorks Records and recorded her Parading in the Rain album on that label. Although she has not recorded any albums since, she made an appearance on Leland Martin's 2006 single "Same Old Song and Dance" from his self-titled album.• Chalee Tennison Website • Chalee Tennison Discography

      Keni Thomas is an American country music singer. He attended high school at Buchholz High School and after graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in advertising and math, he enlisted in the United States Army, He served in the armed forces throughout the 1990s until leaving active duty. In addition to recording an independently-released album and charting two singles on the Billboard country music charts, he serves as a motivational speaker.

    Thomas formed the band Cornbread and began his career in music by performing with the band in and around Columbus, Georgia. After several album releases, Thomas and Cornbread released the album Flags of Our Fathers, with the artist listed as Keni Thomas. Thomas donates some of the proceeds to the Hero Fund, which directs those funds to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization created to provide college scholarships and financial aid to the children of fallen Special Operations soldiers.

    Keni has performed the National Anthem for the New York Yankees several times, including game 1 of the 2009 World Series • Keni Thomas Website • Keni Thomas Discography

      Henry William "Hank" Thompson (September 3, 1925–November 6, 2007) was a country music entertainer whose career spanned seven decades. He sold over 60 million records worldwide.

    Thompson's musical style, characterized as honky tonk Western swing, was a mixture of fiddles, electric guitar and steel guitar that featured his distinctive, gravelly baritone vocals.

    His backing band, The Brazos Valley Boys, was voted the top Country Western Band for 14 years in a row by Billboard. The primary difference between his music and that of Bob Wills was that Thompson, who used the swing beat and instrumentation to enhance his vocals, discouraged the intense instrumental soloing from his musicians that Wills encouraged.

    Although not as prominent in later decades, he remained an active and respected performer in the field, finding new audiences as a result of the resurgence of a harder-edged sound in country music. • Hank Thompson Website • Hank Thompson Discography

      Cyndi Thomson (born October 19, 1976 in Tifton, Georgia) is an American country music artist. Thomson wrote songs with songwriter Tommy Lee James and in 2000, she signed with Capitol Records Nashville as a recording artist. She released her first album, My World, in 2001 and her debut single, "What I Really Meant to Say", became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. She later walked away from her recording career in 2002, but resumed recording in 2006. Cyndi Thomson was born and raised in Tifton, Georgia, the youngest of four daughters for Pat and Russ Thomson. As a child, she was exposed to many different types of music. Her parents listened to the oldies while her sisters listened to music by Manhattan Transfer and Janet Jackson among others. As Thomson got older, she began singing in church like her sisters did. At the age of twelve, she knew that she wanted to be a singer and at thirteen, after listening to Trisha Yearwood's "She's in Love with the Boy", she knew that she wanted to be a country singer• Cyndi Thomson Website • Cyndi Thomson Discography
      Pamela Yvonne (Pam) Tillis (born July 24, 1957 in Plant City, Florida) is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music legend Mel Tillis.

    Originally a demo singer in Nashville, Tennessee, Pam was signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1981, with nine singles and a studio album being released in the 1980s. She later found work as a staff songwriter for Tree Publishing. By 1991, she had signed to Arista Records; that year, she reached Top 5 on the Billboard country charts with "Don't Tell Me What to Do", the first of five singles from her second album, Put Yourself in My Place, which was certified gold by the RIAA.

    Between 1991 and the present, Tillis has charted more than thirty singles on the U.S. Billboard country charts, including her only Number One single, 1995's "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)". She has also released ten albums overall (nine studio albums plus a Greatest Hits compilation), with three platinum and two gold certifications. She has also founded her own label, Stellar Cat Records. • Pam Tillis Website • Pam Tillis Discography

      Aaron Dupree Tippin (born July 3, 1958 in Pensacola, Florida) is an American country music artist and record producer. Initially a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, he gained a recording contract with RCA Records in 1990. His debut single, "You've Got to Stand for Something" became a popular anthem for American soldiers fighting in the Gulf War and helped to establish him as a neotraditionalist country act with songs that catered primarily to the American working class. Under RCA's tenure, he recorded five studio albums and a Greatest Hits package. By the later half of the 1990s, however, his sales and chart performance began to decline, and he was dropped from the label's roster.

    Tippin switched to Lyric Street Records in 1998, where he recorded four more studio albums, counting a compilation of Christmas music. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, he released the patriotic anthem "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly"; although it was his most successful crossover single, he saw his popularity decline a second time after its release. After parting ways with Lyric Street in 2006, he founded a personal label known as Nippit Records, on which he issued the compilation album Now & Then. A concept album, In Overdrive, was released in 2009. • Aaron Tippin Website • Aaron Tippin Discography

      The Tractors is an American country rock band composed of a loosely associated group of musicians, headed by guitarist Steve Ripley. Under the band's original lineup, The Tractors was signed to Arista Records in 1994, releasing their self-titled debut album that year; the album went on to become the top-selling album of 1994, even though it only produced one Top 40 hit on the Billboard country charts. To date, the band has followed up with five more albums.

    Since their foundation, most of the band's original members have moved on to separate projects, although they often collaborate with frontman Ripley on The Tractors' more recent recordings. Ripley is the only official member of the group; he has stated that The Tractors is more of a "state of mind", and the band contains a largely undefined cast of unofficial contributors.

    The Tractors were formed in 1988, with the original lineup comprising Ron Getman (electric guitar, slide guitar), Jamie Oldaker (drums), Walt Richmond (bass vocals, keyboards), Steve Ripley (guitar, lead vocals), and Casey van Beek (bass guitar, baritone vocals). All five members had previously been backing musicians for other notable artists, including Bob Seger, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, and Leonard Cohen. • The Tractors Website • The Tractors Discography

      Randy Andrew Travis (born May 4, 1959) is a Grammy Award- and Dove Award-winning American country singer. Active since 1985, he has recorded more than a dozen studio albums to date, in addition to charting more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which sixteen have reached Number One.

    Considered a pivotal figure in the history of country music, Travis broke through in the mid-1980s with the release of his album Storms of Life on Warner Bros. Records; the album sold more than three million copies. It also established him as a neotraditionalist country act, and was followed by a string of several more platinum and multi-platinum albums throughout his career. Starting in the mid-1990s, however, Travis saw decline in his chart success. He left Warner Bros. in 1997 for DreamWorks Records; there, he would eventually switch his focus to gospel music, a switch which — despite earning him only one more country hit in the Number One "Three Wooden Crosses" — earned him several Dove Awards.

    Travis, in addition to singing, holds several acting credits, starting with his television special Wind in the Wire in 1992. Since then, he has appeared in several movie and television roles, occasionally as himself. • Randy Travis Website • Randy Travis Books • Randy Travis Discography

      Ricardo Treviño, Jr. (born May 16, 1971 in Houston, Texas), known professionally as Rick Trevino, is an American country music artist of Mexican American descent. Signed to Columbia Records in 1993, Trevino began his career that year with the release of his debut single, "Just Enough Rope", the first mainstream country music single to feature separate English and Spanish-language versions. The song was included on his debut album Dos Mundos; a self-titled album followed a year later. Trevino has charted a total of fourteen singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and recorded seven studio albums. His highest-charting single, "Running Out of Reasons to Run", spent one week at Number One in 1997.

    Trevino is the son of Ricardo Trevino, Sr., a Tejano musician, and Linda Chavez. His music career began when he started taking piano lessons at the age of five. He plays rhythm guitar as well as keyboards.• Rick Trevino Website • Rick Trevino Discograhy

      Trick Pony was a Grammy Award-nominated American country music group. It was formed in 1996 by Keith Burns (lead guitar, vocals), Ira Dean (bass guitar, upright bass, vocals), and Heidi Newfield (lead vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar). Under this original lineup, the group recorded three studio albums: Trick Pony, On a Mission and R.I.D.E., released in 2001 in 2002 and 2005, respectively. These albums produced eight charted singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which the highest peaking was 2002's "On a Night Like This" at #4.

    In 2006, Newfield departed for a solo career, with Aubrey Collins taking her place on lead vocals; the group subssequently disbanded after she and Burns left in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Newfield released her solo debut album, What Am I Waiting For, in 2008 on Curb Records, while Burns joined singer Michelle Poe in the duo Burns & Poe. • Trick Pony Website • Trick Pony Discography

      James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963 in Marietta, Georgia) is a Grammy award-winning American country music artist and occasional actor, more commonly known as Travis Tritt.

    Starting with the debut single release of "Country Club" in 1989, Travis Tritt has charted more than thirty singles on the U.S. Billboard charts, including five Number Ones. His first and third albums—1989's Country Club and T-R-O-U-B-L-E—have each achieved platinum certification by the RIAA, while his albums It's All About to Change (1991), Greatest Hits: From the Beginning (1995) have each achieved gold status. His most recent album, The Storm, was released in 2007 on Category 5 Records.

    He has also received two Grammy Awards in his musical career, both awards for Best Country Vocal Collaboration: in 1992 for "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'", a duet with Marty Stuart, and again in 1998 for "Same Old Train", a collaboration of more than ten country music artists. In addition, he has received three awards from the Country Music Association, and is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Tritt was also honored with his inclusion in one of the "show bands", the "Louisiana Gator Boys", appearing in the movie Blues Brothers 2000. • Travis Tritt Website • Travis Tritt Discography • Travis Tritt Books

      Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914–September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music. In 1948–49, he was the first singer to record a hit version of "Blue Christmas," a song more commonly associated with Elvis Presley and his mid-1950s version. Another well-known Tubb hit was "Waltz Across Texas" (1965), which became one of his most requested songs and is often used in dance halls throughout Texas during waltz lessons. In the early 1960s, he recorded duets with up-and-coming Loretta Lynn, including their hit "Sweet Thang. Tubb was born on a cotton farm near Crisp, Texas (now a ghost town in Ellis County, Texas). His father was a sharecropper, so Tubb spent his youth working on farms throughout the state. He was inspired by Jimmie Rodgers and spent his spare time learning to sing, yodel, and play the guitar. At age 19, he took a job as a singer on a San Antonio radio station. The pay was low, so Tubb also dug ditches for the Works Progress Administration and then clerked at a drug store. In 1939 he moved to San Angelo, Texas and was hired to do a 15 minute afternoon live show on radio station KGKL-AM. He drove a beer delivery truck in order to support himself during this time, and during World War II he wrote and recorded a song titled "Beautiful San Angelo."" • Ernest Tubb Website • Ernest Tubb Discography
      Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958, in Seminole, Texas) is an American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood without losing her audience, and during the course of her career, she notched a streak of Top 10 and Top 40 hits. She has produced a long string of successful albums, several nominations for awards from the Country Music Association, and hit songs that includes 1973's "What's Your Mama's Name?" and "Blood Red and Going Down," 1975's "Lizzie and the Rainman," and 1988's "Strong Enough to Bend".

    Tucker was the youngest of three children. Her father, Jesse "Bo" Tucker, was a heavy equipment operator, and the family moved often as he sought better work. Tanya's early childhood was spent primarily in Willcox, Arizona, where the only radio station in town played country music. The Tuckers also went to the concerts of country stars such as Ernest Tubb and Mel Tillis, and Tanya's older sister LaCosta was praised in the family for her vocal abilities. At the age of eight, Tanya told her father that she, too, wanted to be a country singer when she grew up• Tanya Tucker Website • Tanya Tucker Discography

      Joshua Otis "Josh" Turner (born November 20, 1977) is an American country music artist. Signed to MCA Nashville Records in 2003, Josh released his platinum certified debut album Long Black Train that year. This album produced a #13 in its title track. In 2005, Turner charted his first two Number One singles on the Billboard country charts: "Your Man" and "Would You Go With Me", both from his Your Man album, which has been certified 2× Multi-Platinum in the United States. This album also produced the #16-peaking "Me and God", a duet with bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley. Turner's third studio album, titled Everything Is Fine, was released in October 2007. It produced the #2 hit "Firecracker", and two further Top 20 hits in "Another Try" (a duet with Trisha Yearwood) and its title track. Overall, Turner's three albums have all been certified gold or higher by the RIAA, and nine of his singles have charted on the Billboard country charts. Early in his life, Josh Turner sang lead and bass parts in his church choir. He also formed a gospel quartet called Thankful Hearts in which he sang bass and occasionally lead. After attending school at Hannah-Pamplico High School in Florence County, South Carolina, Turner attended nearby Francis Marion University. Josh Turner is also a devout Christian.• Josh Turner Website • Josh Turner Discography
      Shania Twain, OC (pronounced /ʃəˈnaɪə ˈtweɪn/; August 28, 1965) is a Canadian country pop artist. Her third album Come on Over is the best-selling album of all time by a female musician and the best-selling album in the history of country music. She is the only female musician to have three albums certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and is also the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind fellow Canadian Céline Dion, with three of her studio albums being certified double diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Twain has achieved both critical and financial success, having received five Grammy awards, 27 BMI Songwriter awards, and she has sold over 65 million albums worldwide to date, including 48 million in the USA alone. She is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen Soundscan era, with approximately 33,591,000 sales through April 5 2008, based on relatively few releases.

    Born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of Clarence and Sharon Edwards (née Morrison). Her parents divorced when she was two, and her mother then moved with Eileen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario, where she married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa. He adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. Because of her connection to her stepfather, in the past, people had presumed Twain's ancestry was Ojibwa, but she stated in an interview that her biological father was part Cree• Shania Twain Website • Shania Twain Discography

      Conway Twitty (September 1, 1933–June 5, 1993), born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was one of the United States' most successful country music artists of the 20th century. Most commonly thought of as a country music singer, he also enjoyed success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any country act, with 40 #1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006 with the single "Give It Away." He has been referenced in three episodes of Family Guy: Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey, Peter's Daughter, and The Juice Is Loose Conway Twitty was born Harold Jenkins on September 1, 1933 in Friars Point, Mississippi. He was named by his great uncle after his favorite silent movie actor, Harold Lloyd. The Jenkins family moved to Helena, Arkansas (now known as Helena-West Helena, Arkansas) when Jenkins was 10 years of age, and it was in Helena that Jenkins put together his first singing group, the Phillips County Ramblers.

    For a brief period, some believed that he was Elvis Presley recording under a different name. This was largely the case with "It's Only Make Believe ." The record took nearly one year to reach and stay at the top spot of the charts. The song went on to sell over eight million records and to No. 1 on the Billboard pop music charts in the U.S. as well as No. 1 in 21 different nations.• Conway Twitty Website • Conway Twitty Discography