Artists like Cal Smith

Johnny Lee is an American country music singer. His 1980 single "Lookin' for Love" became a crossover hit, spending three weeks at number 1 on the Billboard country singles chart while also appearing in the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and top 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. He racked up 17 top 40 country hits in the early and mid-1980s.

Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the frontman for The Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music chart. He pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, named in honor of Bakersfield, California, Owens's adopted home and the city from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call "American music".

Johnny Paycheck was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is a notable figure in the outlaw movement in country music.

Confederate Railroad is an American country rock band founded in 1987 in Marietta, Georgia, by Danny Shirley, Michael Lamb, Mark Dufresne (drums), Chris McDaniel (keyboards), Warren "Gates" Nichols, and Wayne Secrest. After serving as a backing band for outlaw country acts David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck, the band signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records, releasing their self-titled debut album that year. The band's debut album is certified as double platinum and their second album (Notorious) has also had platinum level sales. They have also had 18 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

Tracy Lee Lawrence is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Texas, and raised in Foreman, Arkansas, Lawrence began performing at age 15 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1990 to begin his country music career. He signed to Atlantic Records Nashville in 1991 and made his debut later that year with the album Sticks and Stones. Five more studio albums, as well as a live album and a compilation album, followed throughout the 1990s and into 2000 on Atlantic before the label's country division was closed in 2001. Afterward, he recorded for Warner Bros. Records, DreamWorks Records, Mercury Records Nashville, and his own labels, Rocky Comfort Records and Lawrence Music Group.

Shenandoah is an American country music band founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 1984 by Marty Raybon, Ralph Ezell, Stan Thorn, Jim Seales, and Mike McGuire. Thorn and Ezell left the band in the mid-1990s, with Rocky Thacker taking over on bass guitar; Keyboardist Stan Munsey joined the line up in 1995, until his departure in 2018. The band split up in 1997 after Raybon left. Seales and McGuire reformed the band in 2000 with lead singer Brent Lamb, who was in turn replaced by Curtis Wright and then by Jimmy Yeary. Ezell rejoined in the early 2000s, and after his 2007 death, he was replaced by Mike Folsom. Raybon returned to the band in 2014. That same year, Jamie Michael replaced the retiring Jim Seales on lead guitar.

James Robert Wills was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing. He was also noted for punctuating his music with his trademark "ah-haa" calls.

The Statler Brothers were an American vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. Formed in 1955, they went on to become the opening act and backup singers for Johnny Cash, which led to their own successful career.

John David Anderson is an American country singer. Starting in 1977 with the release of his first single, "I've Got a Feelin' ", Anderson has charted more than 40 singles on the Billboard country music charts, including five number ones: "Wild and Blue", "Swingin'", "Black Sheep", "Straight Tequila Night", and "Money in the Bank". He has also recorded 22 studio albums on several labels. His latest album, Years, was released on April 10, 2020, on the Easy Eye Sound label and was produced by Nashville veteran producer David Ferguson and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.

Dave Dudley was an American country music singer best known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s and his somewhat-slurred bass. His signature song was "Six Days on the Road", and he is also remembered for "Vietnam Blues", "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun", and "Me and Ol' C.B.". His other recordings include a duet with Tom T. Hall, "Day Drinking", and his own top-10 hit, "Fireball Rolled a Seven", supposedly based on the career and death of Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.