Recently in Singer-Songwriter Category

TV shows like American Idol and Glee have made big production and big voices big business again, but what's wrong with simply picking up a guitar and pouring out your feelings in a song?

Ever since the "Jesus movement" of the 1970s, Christian artists have been borrowing earthly inspiration from folk singers and pop songwriters to create simple, organic songs. Decades later, the talent continues to flow, with artists mixing faith and feelings to tell stories so honest and real that we wonder if they've been reading our journals.

Teenager Amy Grant was plucking out simple songs at a Christian coffeehouse on Nashville's famed Music Row and performing for her all-girls school when, weeks before her 16th birthday, she was offered a recording contract. The rest is Christian music history. While Grant doesn't write all her own songs, she penned half of the tracks on her 1977 self-titled debut (including the sweet but goofy "Grape Grape Joy"). Her seminal 1988 disc, Lead Me On, was a nearly textbook-perfect example of her raw, honest talent. Grant continues to write regularly, often collaborating with her talented hubby, Vince Gill.

---

This Australian singer-songwriter was traveling around the world when he stopped off in San Diego and handily won a contest held by 91X, the city’s leading alt rock station. The prize was getting played on the radio, which resulted in Luke Kordyl getting “fanned” by converts from Tiajuana to Santa Barbara. Kordyl toughens up the breezy Jack Johnson surfer vibe with real electric guitar muscle, vocal passion and flashes of the expansive psychedelia that Crowded House’s Neil Finn is known for. — Nick Dedina Hear It Now!