For the uninitiated - and those unfamiliar with her music - Jonatha Brooke has been making solo records that bridge folk and pop since the mid-Nineties. Prior to her solo career, Jonatha was a member of The Story, a duo that also included Jennifer Kimball. Their 1989 debut, a collection called Grace In Gravity, was originally released on the folk-based Green Linett record label, and the band was promptly signed to Elektra Records.

One Moment More is the striking debut album from singer-songwriter Mindy Smith. It's an album filled with intelligent well-crafted songs characteristic of releases by artists like Norah Jones, Alison Krause, Gillian Welch, and Patty Griffin. Drawing on a variety of acoustic genres including country and folk the songs are honest, organic and from-the-heart - a winning combination for any artist to touch listeners regardless of the genre.

What do you say to a new artist who won a handful of Grammies for her debut album that sold over 12 million copies globally..."What do you do for encore, Norah?"

What is so exciting about Norah Jones ‘s 2002 mind blowing climb to fame is that it really came out of nowhere. Her debut album Come Away With Me beat the odds and musical trends - and deserved to.

July 14, 2001 approximately 11 months (count ‘em – 11) after Five For Fighting and John Ondrasik released America Town, John was on stage at XPN’s Singer-Songwriter Weekend and still on the brink of commercial success. John sat down at the piano and played the opening chords to “Superman,”

Wendell and Sherman Holmes, and Popsy Dixon have been playing their funkified and gospel inspired blues and R&B since the Sixties and released their first album in 1989 on Rounder Records. In The Spirit was an instant classic, showcasing their tight rhythm playing and vocal harmonies. Early supporters included Peter Gabriel and Van Morrison, while Joan Osborne produced their last album and hired them as her backing band in 1997. It has taken them almost a quarter of a century, but now The Holmes Brothers are internationally acclaimed performers.

Hailing from Taunton, Massacheusetts – South of Boston – the three piece band Wheat formed in 1997 and released their first two albums on the Chicago-based independent label Sugarfree. Wheat is made up of singer/guitarist Scott Levesque, drummer Brendan Harney and guitarist Ricky Brennan.

The soundtrack to the Civil War film Cold Mountain is a collection of old-timey traditional country, folk, blues and gospel music in the same vein as the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou. Produced by the extraordinary T-Bone Burnett whose work as producer of 'O Brother' has equal import to his work with Counting Crows, Wallflowers and other pop bands, Cold Mountain is a slightly darker, more bucolic first cousin to O Brother.

Sweetheart is an excellent collection of covers of love songs featuring many favorite XPN artists. Recorded especially for this collection, it includes a mix of classic love songs and more recent tunes.

The Scottish indie-pop band Belle & Sebastian have been critic’s darlings and since the mid-Nineties have released a handful of adventurous, whimsical albums influenced by folk-rock and 60’s pop. Led by guitarist and vocalist Stuart Murdoch, roots of Belle & Sebastian’s “twee-pop” can be traced back to the jangly-pop punk of The Smiths, The Go-Betweens, Orange Juice, and the enigmatic British singer/songwriter Felt. Today, Belle & Sebastian’s colleagues include bands like Stereolab, the High Llamas, Elliot Smith (RIP), even Nashville’s eccentric Lambchop.

Beneath These Fireworks is singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson’s sixth album in ten years. Born in Massachusetts and based in San Francisco, Nathanson has built a loyal and impassioned grassroots following over the last few years.

Comparisons to John Mayer, Howie Day and Jason Mraz notwithstanding, Nathanson has his own completely unique musical identity that includes a live show that literally has him taking unsuspecting audiences by storm. He knows how to entertain, and his performances take his recorded songs to a completely intense level.