 | | Born and raised in Liberty, MO, near Kansas City, Matt Wertz grew up wanting to be a shoe designer, but when he started writing songs his freshman year of college, he realized that it was actually music that he wanted to pursue. |
 | | Influenced by some of the legendary names of pop and soul, such as the Beatles, Elton John, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, and -- oddly -- the Go-Go's, Californian Ernie Halter first began to make waves for himself with the release of his 2005 collection, Lo-Fidelity. |
 | | Born in Huntington Beach, California, in 1982, Matt Costa received his first guitar at age 12. While he was always interested in music, even playing in a band in high school, Costa's first love was skateboarding. |
 | | In much the same way that José González hails from Sweden and not Spain, Paolo Nutini is not a smooth Italian pop star, but rather a soul-influenced adult alternative songwriter from Paisley, Scotland. |
 | | Consider Josh Kelley a fan of Napster. The Georgia native was studying at the University of Mississippi and writing songs on the side when, in a happy Internet accident, some MP3s of his work made their way onto Napster and into the hands of an A&R rep for Hollywood Records. |
 | | At the ripe old age of 21, James Morrison became an overnight sensation in the U.K. with the release of his debut album, 2006's Undiscovered, which wasted little time going platinum in the British Isles. |
 | | Though Joshua Radin enjoyed singing during his childhood, the Cleveland native never intended to be a professional musician. |
 | | Singer/songwriter/actor Teddy Geiger makes heartfelt, contemporary pop. When he started out, his raspy vocals and sophisticated lyrics disguised the fact that the budding pop sensation wasn't even old enough to vote. |
 | | Youthful West Coast singer/songwriter Brett Dennen first drew attention in 2004 with the single "Desert Sunrise. |
 | | Singer/songwriter Jonathan Clay began penning original material as a high-school student in western Texas, eventually arriving at a gentle, easygoing sound reminiscent of Matt Nathanson and John Mayer. |
 | | The uniquely named Shotgun Honeymoon was born in Lexington, KY, although his acoustic-based songwriting didn't take root until his college days at Florida State University. |
 | | New York City-based singer/songwriter Alex Nackman self-released his debut album, Good Impressions, at the age of 20 in 2003 and began touring to support it, eventually opening for such acts as the Roots, Norah Jones, Buddy Guy, Glen Phillips, the Pat McGee Band, and Ari Hest. |
 | | While growing up in Franklin, TN, Josh Hoge was surrounded by music -- his grandfather was a jazz musician, while both his father and brother sang in rock bands. |
 | | Guitarist, songwriter, and Texas native Ryan Cabrera never planned on a career in music. His hobby turned into a passion after hearing Dave Matthews, causing him to turn his back on the noisy punk rock of his high-school band, Caine, and pick up an acoustic guitar for the newly minted Rubic's Groove. |
 | | With a flair for poignant ballads and pop/rock singles, Missy Higgins became one of Australia's most popular artists during the early 21st century. |
 | | Alternative singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik premiered in mid-1996 when Atlantic released his self-titled debut album. |
 | | When a teenage Jason Reeves encountered the works of Bob Dylan and James Taylor, it set off a chain of events. |
 | | With his laid-back vocal delivery and acoustic songwriting, Amos Lee draws inspiration from soul music, contemporary jazz, and '70s folk artists like James Taylor. |
 | | L.A.-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Shane Alexander has drawn comparisons to everyone from Jeff Buckley to Art Garfunkel and Jackson Browne, thanks to his beautifully emotive vocal style and his haunting, finely crafted songs. |
 | | Singer/songwriter Matt Hires made his recording debut at the age of 22, when the Florida native introduced his confessional songcraft with the Live from the Hotel Cafe EP. |
 | | Ari Hest became interested in music while still a teenager growing up in the Bronx. Though he'd taken piano lessons as a child, he taught himself how to play the guitar, mostly by listening to records from his parents' collection (Paul Simon) and alternative radio (Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews). |
 | | Possessing both a soulful singing voice that harks back to the masters of the style like Donny Hathaway and Bill Withers and a laid back, largely acoustic sensibility that fits in nicely with singer-songwriter contemporaries like John Mayer and Jack Johnson, Chris Pierce spans musical generations. |
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 | | Daniel Powter, the Canadian who stormed the European charts in 2005 with his single "Bad Day" (from his 2005 self-titled release), was born and raised in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, picking up the violin at the age of four. |
 | | Before launching a solo career as the protégé of Jack Johnson, Donavon Frankenreiter began his professional life as a surfer. |
 | | Though she was born in Seattle, songwriter Alison Sudol spent most of her life in Los Angeles, having moved there with her mother when she was five years old. |
 | | The son of a preacher and the youngest of five children, Tyrone Wells was only allowed to listen to gospel music growing up in Spokane, WA, although he was eventually also exposed to artists like Stevie Wonder and James Taylor. |
 | | Singer/songwriter Steve Means was born in Cincinnati, OH, and attracted a following at Ohio State University before moving to Nashville. |
 | | Popster Tony Lucca was born and raised in Pontiac, MI, where he reportedly learned to play guitar by the age of three. |
 | | Singer/songwriter Joe Mannix started off doing rock-friendly stuff in the late '90s with his punk-pop outfit, Oral Groove, and the more rootsy Mannix. |
 | | San Francisco-based singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson has built up a loyal fan base through extensive touring. |
 | | Her love of the Cranberries, John Mayer, and Fiona Apple is easy to hear when one listens to the poignant music of singer/songwriter Anna Nalick, but it's her beloved Blind Melon that had the most impact on her career. |
 | | Singer and songwriter Crosby Loggins is the son of singer and songwriter Kenny Loggins (of Loggins & Messina fame), and he grew up in Santa Barbara, CA, in a home frequented by his father's famous musician friends, including the likes of Jackson Browne, Michael McDonald, Graham Nash, and others. |
 | | Ingo Pohlmann, a German singer/songwriter, was born in 1972 in Rheda Wiedenbrück. His debut album was a chart success, as was his follow-up, Fliegende Fische(Flying Fish), released in 2007 and a Top 40 seller. |
 | | A singer/songwriter born to Jewish and Tunisian parents, Yael Naïm first hit the pop-music scene in 2001, but her debut was not what she had hoped for, and it wasn't until 2007 that her follow-up appeared. |
 | | As the son of a preacher, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Jeremy Lister spent his formative years immersed in music, picking apart notes and chord changes while writing songs with his piano-playing older brother, Richie. |
 | | Born in Eugene, Oregon, singer/songwriter Mat Kearney began his musical career 400 miles south at the Chico branch of California State University, where he studied literature and played on the soccer team. |
 | | Paper Round Kid is actually London, U.K., guitarist, singer, and songwriter Darren Filkins. In the late '80s, Filkins was the lead guitarist for Seymour, the band that eventually morphed into Blur, but he walked away from the band (and the music business) when he was only 19 years old to try his hand as a professional photographer. |
 | | Like Patty Griffin before him, singer/songwriter Howie Day emerged from the country quietude of Bangor, Maine, and entered both Boston's coffeehouse scene and the world of folk music. |
 | | Contemporary singer/songwriter Brendan James began writing placid, autobiographical songs in college, accompanying himself on piano and wrapping his tenor vocals around tales of childhood, love, and nature. |
 | | Though he spent most of his formative years in the grim surroundings of 1980s Belfast, singer/songwriter Foy Vance's musical vision is the product of an entirely different sort of nervous tension -- the cross-racial friction, harmony, and disharmony that gave rise to jazz, blues, and soul in the American South, where Vance, the son of a traveling church minister, spent the pivotal first five years of his life. |
 | | Singer and guitarist Jim Wolf was born on December 4, 1979, in Norwalk, CT, and raised in nearby Fairfield, thus sparking comparisons to fellow hometown singer/songwriter John Mayer. |
 | | Born and raised in Anderson, IN, singer/songwriter Jon McLaughlin began taking classical piano lessons at an early age. |
 | | Joel Kroeker grew up in Winnipeg, Canada. He learned how to play the guitar in high school, and he eventually went on to study music at the University of Manitoba and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where he earned a master's in ethnomusicology and popular music studies. |
 | | Augustana's music is the heartland equivalent of Coldplay and Keane, with a touch of mid-'90s adult alternative throwback (think Counting Crows or the Wallflowers) also peppering the band's rootsy, piano-based rock. |
 | | Although born in South Carolina, singer/songwriter Dave Barnes spent most of his childhood in Mississippi, where he formed an early attachment to hip-hop but was also exposed to classic soul, blues, and R&B by his parents. |
 | | A literate singer/songwriter whose music splits the difference between pop/rock and folksy Americana, Brandi Carlile was born in the small town of Ravensdale, Washington, an isolated community 50 miles from Seattle. |
 | | A singer/songwriter whose lush, theatrical pop harked back to the traditions of Tin Pan Alley, cabaret, and even opera, Rufus Wainwright was born in 1973; the son of folk music luminaries Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, his parents divorced while he was a child, and he was raised by his mother in Montreal. |
 | | New Jersey native Pete Yorn took a rather unique route to singer/songwriter acclaim, gaining his first big break by providing the score to a Farrelly Brothers film. |
 | | Singer/songwriter George Simon Stanford honed his musical skills at Philadelphia's University of the Arts. |
