Several years ago, I heard Jessica Willis Fisher do a writer's round with the Song Suffragettes. I was mesmerized by her heartfelt lyrics and angelic voice. She mentioned her recently completed book, UNSPEAKABLE: Surviving My Childhood & Finding My Voice, so I downloaded a copy because music biographies are my thing. I was not prepared for her life story. I find it incomprehensible how anyone could have survived her upbringing while performing to thousands as part of the famous singing group The Willis Clan. Jessica Willis (now Fisher) was the eldest daughter in a controlling and abusive household. Still, she performed with her family band until her departure in 2016 at the age of 23.

Ben Gallaher has released his newest EP, Bullet, a five-song collection that covers love, loss, heartbreak, lessons learned, and hope.

Country music singer and songwriter Rebecca Lynn Howard grew up in Salyersville, Kentucky, a stone's throw from Loretta Lynn's beloved Butcher Holler. Like so many I've interviewed, she got her start singing in church and "for the lack of anything else to do." "There wasn't a lot going on there. All my family was musically inclined. They either sang or played guitar, banjo, mandolin, or piano. Everyone gravitated toward music because what else was there to do?"

One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting rising artists and knowing that great things are in store for them. I was blown away when I first heard 13-year-old Josie Sal and was surprised to learn that she is relatively new to the music scene. Sal never aspired to be a singer. At just 10 years old, Sal took a dare from her father to sing in front of a crowd in Florida, sparking a passion for music that quickly transformed into a promising career. After her impromptu performance of "Dance Monkey" captivated the audience, Sal began taking vocal and guitar lessons and performing at venues across Pittsburgh and Florida. Being the youngest of four children, she was always entertaining her family.

When I met KC Johns at CRS 2025, I was instantly drawn to her energy. More importantly, her music matched her electrifying can-do attitude. Johns was born in Memphis and raised in Hernando, Mississippi, a small town along the Tennessee-Mississippi line. Most of her family hails from Florida. Her mother and stepfather met on the rodeo circuit, where her mother participated in barrel racing, and her stepfather was a bull rider. While neither of her parents was a musical performer, she was always surrounded by it and was even named after KC and the Sunshine Band.