Music has been in Joel’s blood since the day he was born, on Christmas day.
By the age of four, Joel was already performing gospel music in church.
By the age of ten, he was writing songs, and by fifteen, he Joel was playing in local country bands around his hometown of Van Wert, Ohio. Immediately, his remarkable talent and captivating stage presence began gaining attention and he quickly found himself opening for acts such as Neal McCoy, Chris Ledoux, Diamond Rio, and Kenny Chesney.
With a solid background, supportive family, and a commitment to his music, Joel moved to Nashville in June of 1999, to further develop his abilities and to follow his dream. Since then, he has performed his unique musical style of “country soul” around town at events including “Fan Fair”, and recently, the world famous “Wildhorse Saloon”. And Joel has even found himself writing with artist Michael Peterson, and multiple award winning songwriter Pat Alger. The combination of his strong, grounded, family background, and his wide range of musical influences, give him a very relatable and genuine sound. This directly reflects him as a person. His musical influences include, The Blackwood Brothers, Elvis Presley, Joe Diffie, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Steve Wariner, Huey Lewis, ZZ-Top, and Harry Connick Jr., just to name a few. There are many things Joel would like to achieve in his life, but one of the most important to him is making an impact through his music.
“Whether it’s making someone laugh when they don’t feel they can, making someone cry when they have been holding it in, or making someone think when they hadn’t done so in a while; I want to make a difference with my music

and now from NORWAY let's meet

THE WINNER ARLY KARLSEN (representing EUROPE) with the song
'Here's To You (Man In Black) '

for more info on Arly CLICK HERE

Arly Karlsen was born in Tveit, near Kristiansand, Norway.
He grew up in a typical farmer district and spend a lot of time playing and working at he’s Grandparents farm. He got his first guitar at the age of twelve. And since then singing and music have been a Part of his life, he was inspired by artists such as Elvis, Beatles, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and the blues Music from the time he grew up. The first official concert he did in his home suburb in 1975 where he was accompanied by a friend on piano.
This "duo" developed into a trio called "BAT", and this trio became quite popular, and
developed fast into a five man band called "Selection".
The music was mostly pop, old rock and Country & Western.
They were a popular band and were booked for dancing and they opened
for many known and established artists.
Arly launched his solo career in Europe and USA in 2001.
He is composing many of the songs himself and has also started a musical cooperation with International songwriters.
The first solo album “Beyond The Mountains” from Arly, released in 2002, was
made at Selina Records in Denmark with Dion Egtved as producer.
Arly's second solo album, "Country Home", was released in March 2004. The whole album was recorded in Nashville, in Sound Control Studio, with Mark Moseley as technician
and Tom Holland as producer.
Arly has done some duets with Red Lane, Pat Roden and Billy Don Burns, all from Nashville. The Album contains songs from songwriters as Hank Cochran, Red Lane, Billy Don Burns, and Byron Hill. He’s own song, a tribute to Johnny Cash, “Here’s To You (The Man in Black)”, was released as a single in December 2003. Johnny’s brother, Tommy Cash, and little sister, Joanne Cash Yates
said that this song is one of the best Johnny Cash tributes they’ve ever heard.
This song gets a lot of airplay around the World, and has already been a favourite
song on many Radio stations. Arly has released numerous singles on many
compilation CD's with ever increasing success and chart action.
Arly was #1 on European CMA chart 5 weeks in a row, and to times #1 on
"Worldwide mainstream most played major an Indie artists chart" and has for months been in the Top 30 on many Country Music chart lists worldwide.

United States: Thom Shepherd - All For The Love Of A Girl
http://www.thomshepherd.com/

Thom Shepherd is a singer, songwriter, and audience-grabbing entertainer born in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in Stephens City, Virginia, and started playing guitar in his senior year of high school. After receiving his Bachelor's Degree from George Mason University he gave up a budding career in the film and television industry to take his best shot at the Nashville music scene. The move paid off. In 1998 Thom signed on as a staff writer with Charlie Monk Music and Curb Music Publishing. His songs were recorded by Curb Recording artist Trini Triggs and Christian artist Amber Thompson, but after two years there, his writing deal ended and it was back to the world of having a day job. Then he wrote “Riding with Private Malone.” The song, recorded by David Ball, went to #1 on the Gavin Country Chart, and #2 in Billboard and R&R. Thom even got to be in the video, playing the title role.
In 2001, he started his own publishing company, Twang Thang Music.

In 2002 “Private Malone” won an Achievement Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association, voted on by their members as “the song you wish you had written,” and a prestigious airplay award from ASCAP. Recently his songs have been recorded by Blake Shelton, Cledus T. Judd, and Nashville Star winner Buddy Jewell. But that's only part of the reason he came to Nashville. He is an incredible performer and award-winning vocalist as well. His sneaky grin and charismatic presence will draw you in and his music will truly entertain and touch you. This young man is a crowd pleaser of the highest order. Whether it's a packed club or intimate setting, Thom delivers the goods. His style is traditional, yet contemporary. A two-time winner of Opryland's coveted Male Vocalist of the Year Award, he has opened for the Charlie Daniels Band, Ty Herndon, Neal McCoy, Ricky Van Shelton, Mark Collie, John Michael Montgomery, Exile, and Mel McDaniel. He has also performed on stage with Vern Gosdin, Keith Urban, Ricochet, David Ball, and Jim Ed Brown. Thom and his band, the Twang Thang, perform weekly in the heart of downtown Nashville's Lower Broadway music scene, a breeding ground for new talent that has produced such acts as Terri Clark and BR549.
He’s also been a recurring guest on Opry Star Spotlight, a program that originated from WSM Radio, the home of the Grand Ole Opry. His current CD, Country Squire, features fifteen of his original songs. In the spring of 2003 Thom performed with David Ball and Wood Newton on the Turner South Network’s “Live from the Bluebird Café,”and entertained our troops stationed in Alaska.