Artists like Merle Haggard

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

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".

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.

Gary Gene Watson is an American country music singer. He is most famous for his 1975 hit "Love in the Hot Afternoon", his 1981 number-one hit "Fourteen Carat Mind", and his signature 1979 song "Farewell Party". Watson's long career has included five number-one hits, 21 top 10s, and 48 charted singles.

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.

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.

Melvin Huston McDaniel was an American country music artist. Many of his top hits were released in the 1980s, including "Louisiana Saturday Night", "Big Ole Brew", "Stand Up", "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On", "I Call It Love", "Stand on It", and a remake of Chuck Berry's "Let It Roll ".

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.

Mark Nelson Chesnutt is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of eight albums between those two labels. During this timespan, Chesnutt also charted twenty top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which eight reached number one: "Brother Jukebox", "I'll Think of Something", "It Sure Is Monday", "Almost Goodbye", "I Just Wanted You to Know", "Gonna Get a Life", "It's a Little Too Late", and a cover of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing". His first three albums for MCA along with a 1996 Greatest Hits package issued on Decca are all certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); 1994's What a Way to Live, also issued on Decca, is certified gold. After a self-titled album in 2002 on Columbia Records, Chesnutt has continued to record predominantly on independent labels.