Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside are an up-and-coming indie outfit hailing from Portland, Oregon. Sallie Ford herself describes their sound as more rock'n'roll than anything else, though it doesn't take much effort to distinguish jazz, roots rock, and a healthy dose of rockabilly in their style.

At the core of The Jayhawks acclaimed alt-country is the paired talent of Gary Louris and Mark Olsen. These guys seem to have it all--impeccable guitar lines, smooth harmonies, and songwriting capabilities that could rival just about any musician (or group of musicians) around.

The music of tUnE-yArDs is certainly experimental, but every sound that Merrill Garbus weaves into her compositions is so deliberately placed, experimental seems too nonchalant a word to classify Garbus's highly inventive, extremely successful Lo-fi, folk-infused, world-music inspired project.

Lisa Hannigan's voice should sound familiar in the best way possible.  Her music career took off in 2001 when she began what would be a six-year collaboration with Damien Rice that included singing vocals on most of the tracks from his album "O" and lead on his song "9 Crimes."

One of the single most influential musicians in today's world, Paul Simon was named one of the "100 People Who Shaped the World" by Time magazine.