Pat Alger was born in New York, but raised in the small town of LaGrange, Georgia. As a teenager, he taught himself to play guitar and began writing songs at age 15. He studied architecture and graphic design at Georgia Tech in Atlanta while touring the Southeast college-club circuit, sharing stages with singer-songwriters such as Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Goodman and Jonathan Edwards. He moved to Woodstock, New York in 1973 and made three folk albums with the Woodstock Mountains Revue for Rounder Records. This loose-knit group also included, at one time or another, John Sebastian, Paul Butterfield and Eric Andersen. Alger also recorded a 1980 duet album with guitarist/singer Artie Traum, also for Rounder, and the two toured together internationally. He next spent time in Boston and Manhattan trying to break into the songwriting mainstream. Alger's first success as a songwriter was "First Time Love." Recorded by Livingston Taylor, it became a Top 40 pop hit in 1980. Alger moved to Nashville in 1981. The Everly Brothers chose him as their opening act in 1984, and he toured with the duo for four years thereafter. His songs have been recorded by Mickey Gilley, Brenda Lee, Dolly Parton, George Hamilton IV, Crystal Gayle, Patti Page and Peter, Paul & Mary, among many others. He has written Top 10 country hits for Kathy Mattea, Garth Brooks, Hal Ketchum, Don Williams and Trisha Yearwood. His solo albums include True Love and Other Short Stories (Sugar Hill, 1991), Seeds (Sugar Hill, 1991) and Notes and Grace Notes (Liberty, 1994). Pat Alger was named Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association in 1991 and ASCAP's Country Songwriter of the Year in 1992. From 1995 to 1997, he was president of the Nashville Songwriters Association International board and most recently named 2013 Inductee Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

The unmistakable voice of Grammy Award winner Kathy Mattea explores music’s most basic human essence through timeless melodies and uplifting narratives. Singer, musician, songwriter, public speaker, activist: Mattea’s music and message have taken her to venues across America from Maine to Alaska, and overseas from England to Morocco, from college campuses to capitol buildings, and from festivals to concert halls. Mattea’s music has spoken to millions of people during her 20-plus years as a singer, songwriter, and recording artist. In recent years she has found a growing audience for the words and ideas she has to offer on a variety of issues, ranging from arts education to finding your creative path to global climate change. Often interweaving her message with musical selections, Kathy’s presentations seek to provide her audience with spiritual nourishment: food not only for thought, but also for the soul. A dedicated arts and education advocate, Mattea is also deeply involved in social and environmental activism. She believes that music can influence social change by giving a voice to those who have none. Trained by Al Gore following An Inconvenient Truth, Mattea has traveled the country with her own lecture presentation, My Coal Journey, a reflection on her coal country heritage, her personal experiences as an activist, and her artistic journey. An accomplished speaker, Mattea was chosen to deliver keynote addresses at both the Arts Northwest and Performing Arts Exchange conferences in 2010.

Kerrville New Folk award-winning singer/songwriter Annie Mosher grew up in the northernmost part of rural Vermont where she began writing songs as a child.  She later travelled the country following the rodeo and writing music inspired by the souls she met and worked with from the Texas hill country to the mountains of Wyoming.  Her song "Goldfish" was recently produced and recorded by British pop icon and Beatles producer Alan Parsons.  She is a winner of the Texas Wildflower Music Festival, a beloved regular at Nashville's own Bluebird Cafe, and a longtime member of the sassy Nashville-based group Girls With Guitars.  Annie is featured regularly at events sponsored by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, as well as at clubs and festivals from The Cactus Cafe in Austin to Sundance beyond.  Wild and witty, provocative and poignant, Annie Mosher is an artist like no other.  Ultimately, when it comes to describing the captivating presence that is Annie Mosher, words fail.

Grammy award-winning songwriter, Nashville based, Jon Vezner is a tunesmith of rare sensitivity and dry wit. His catalogue of recorded songs, topped by the poignant “Where’ve You Been,” reflects his straight-to-the heart sensibility and emotional awareness. Vezner weaves the particulars of his own feelings with the lives of people he has known into universal themes that deeply touch listeners’ emotions. Vezner was honored with a Grammy for “Best Country Song” and the Nashville Songwriters Association “Song of the Year” in 1990, for “Where’ve You Been”, the true story of Vezner’s grandparents, co-written with Don Henry, and recorded by Kathy Mattea. “Where’ve You Been” was also honored as “Song of the Year” by the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). Jon’s catalogue of songs reads like a songbook itself, interpreted and recorded by the greats in the business as varied as the songs themselves; artists such as Martina McBride, Janis Ian, John Mellencamp, Nancy Griffith, Faith Hill, Clay Walker, Diamond Rio and Native American recording artist, Bill Miller. Other co-penned songs recorded by Kathy Mattea include “A Few Good Things Remain,” “Time Passes By,” “Whole Lotta Holes,” “Slow Boat,” “Who’s Gonna Know,” “All Roads to the River,” “The Innocent Years,” “Calling My Name,” “Trust Me,” and most recently the touching ballad “Ashes in the Wind.” Singles written by Vezner include “If I Didn’t Love You” by Steve Warriner, “Has Anybody Seen Amy” by John and Audrey Wiggins, “Then What” by Clay Walker, and “You’re Gone” by Diamond Rio.