hey,

Aside from all the commercial waste that we've been showered in over the past few years, I think there are more than enough resons to be optimistic about what the future of music might bring. In the last two years I've been hearing a lot of new artists that I feel have what it takes to make it to the big-time without having to compromise their styles or music. So what i want to know is...what newcommers do you believe will be huge within a few years? (defining huge: have several multi-platinum albums, dominate the charts while making music of high quality)

here are my picks:

1. Los Lonely Boys : Their debut album created quite a big splash when it came out, and deservingly so...All you need to do is listen to the exquisite guitarplaying backing their songs and you know this band has everything to become this milleniums equivalent of Santana...If they manage to keep the quality of their music as high as it is on their next albums...all they need to do is find a way to connect with the audiences once the hype is over. If they continue to have the support of Willie Nelson, and if country radio keeps bavking them as they do now,...that won't be a problem.

2.Willy Mason : His first full studio album has been in the shelves for only a few weeks and already he's being compared to Bob Dylan...and again, deservingly so. He has created the most exciting album to hit the stores in years. If there would be a nuclear war and I could only save one album for the future generations...this one would be it. If he can proove that this wasn't a one-time flash in the pan...there's no doubt in my mind he'll reach just about everybody that's fed up with what's in the charts these days.

3.John Mayer our brightest hope for the future. Has the guitar-skills of stevie ray vaughan, sings the blues like Muddy waters and has the song-writing-skills of Kris Kristofferson. In short this guy has all the talents he needs to make it big...What he doesn't have, or hasn't had is the chance to record an album without his record-company pushing for a pop flavored result...Anybody that has ever seen him perform life can attest to this: if the guy should ever be able to put what he does on the stage on an album...he's gonna make all the critics eat their words.

4.Blaine Larson With a debut album that has been sadly overlooked in a sea of cross-over counrty acts all bringing the same cr*p, the future might not look to bright for Blaine. This is, to say the least, extremely onfortunate because 'off to join the world' is a damn good album. Kenny Chesney or Tim Mcgraw wouldn't be able to put something like this together if their lives depended on it...sadly they are the ones selling millions while this fine young artist hasn't taken off like many hoped he would. Still, anybody that takes the time to listen to OTJTW once will agree that Blaine ows more to guys like George Strait or Alan Jackson (who have become the 'guardians' of traditionalism in the country genre)...If this singer gets the chance to record another album (or more) it seems only logical that the fans who are few up with cross-over pop-country will find their way to this talent. If that indeed does happen he might very well become the next george strait or Alan jackson (and for those who are not familiar with these names: both sold over a 100 million records).
[Edited 5/25/05 10:11am]