Allison Moorer

Allison Moorer is a New Country singer who balances an array of music. She moved to Nashville after college and landed a recording contract after she performed Walter Hyatt's "Tell Me Baby" at a benefit show for the late singer's family. Before she could release an album, a song she wrote was included in the movie The Horse Whisperer (she also appeared in the film). Her debut album, Alabama Song, followed in 1998, and in 2000, she released The Hardest Part, after which she parted ways with her label but was picked up by Universal South. Her somber third effort, Miss Fortune, was barely in the stores when she started work on a live album titled Show, on which her sister, Shelby Lynne, and Kid Rock both appeared. The year 2004 brought Moorer another label and another release -- The Duel. With a rocking, Neil Young-like sound, it pushed her further from her traditional country roots. That gap turned into a chasm with 2006's Getting Somewhere, produced by husband Steve Earle and made up of stark, expressive slow songs and uptempo country-pop. Most recently, 2008's Mockingbird is a collection of covers from the likes of Nina Simone, Patti Smith and Johnny Cash.