• Graci Phillips - wow! We listened to her latest single "Conductor Doctor" and that's a ride we could take again and again. Clocking in at just 2:33 this Nashville based sweetheart delivers a carload of charm and charisma that will transport you to another place and time in short order.

• Whiskey Creek hails from the suburbs of Chicago and like a shot of the amber elixir the female fronted country rock outfit hits you with a raw jolt of energy that is both refreshing and intoxicating.

• Sleepwar is an act that could get me up in the morning and make peace with my surroundings. This quintet rises like a Phoenix from their Arizona home base on familiar and fantastic sounds and lush synthesizers that could all serve to promote a new wave revival. Hope I'm not dreaming.

• Taylor Pfeiffer is the real deal and she proves that there is room for more than one banjo playing girl with her name in this world. She's already reached great heights on The Voice and the beautiful 18-year old singer/songwriter, banjoist and yodeller from Australia could be the breakout star from this year's conference on the strength of songs like "Take Her" and "Toughen Up Princess".

• Archeons are an immensely impressive progressive metal band now based in Nashville. They have only just rounded out their five piece line-up but this group of young guns are on their way to perhaps becoming this generation's Dream Theater or Avenged Sevenfold. Time will tell. Until, then we cannot wait to hear more.

• Rockwell Shift are a Texas based act who are doing a lot of things right in an effort to shift attention to themselves and their music. Consider the song and video for "I Know I Let You Down Again" that reveals an appealing alt emo approach to making music that is anything but a let down.

• Greco are four brothers from the musical hotbed of Athens, GA. When you add up the four quarters the sum of their parts is money backed by a motto of "Sing-Dance-Sweat-Sex". Greco expertly delivers a package that is bursting with rock & roll, modern hooks and so much more of what your mama warned you about. Come and make a connection.