This week, we have two superstars at the peak of their powers and two newcomers vying to rock your world.
The superstars in question are Ronnie Dunn and Keith Urban. The understated, restrained performance by the latter won my heart as the Disc of the Day. The two rocking first timers are Bridgette Tatum and actor-singer Christian Kane. Despite my reservations about his using a rock producer, Christian Kane’s songwriting ability and undeniable vocal talent led me to crown him with a DisCovery Award.

The lesson in today’s stack of platters is that there is life after major labels. Elizabeth Cook, Jeff Bates, Josh Gracin and Jason D. Williams are all here to tell us they’re still standing tall. So is singer-songwriter extraordinaire Lori McKenna, who wins the Disc of the Day with a stunning album that dropped just yesterday.

Let’s do a little Grammy gazing, shall we? For starters, let’s look beyond the stunning and well-deserved six nominations for Lady Antebellum. What Nashville act has the second most? Surprise! It’s the quintuple nominated outing by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Which, by the way, wins our Disc of the Day. I’d also like to give a shout-out to Darrell Scott, who not only has a Country Instrumental nomination, but is also a crucial component of Band of Joy, the twice nominated CD by Robert Plant.