Newcomer Matt Kennon is making quite a splash with his powerful debut single, “The Call.”  Matt tells us that he felt like he needed a big, powerful song to make an immediate impact. We think he’s done just that.

Listen in and sing along as we give “The Call” a spin in the New Music Spotlight.

There are few country artists who crank out music as consistently good as Lee Ann Womack. Her albums are always chock-full of beautiful songs, many of which never hit the radio waves. A lot of that has to do with the fact that radio likes to play upbeat, shiny,  happy songs and, well, that’s just not Lee Ann’s thing.

Lee Ann’s new one certainly has a religious tone to it, but that isn’t a first for Lee Ann. When I first saw the title, I was reminded of a song from her There’s More Where That Came From album, “Stubborn (Psalms 151).” Do yourself a favor and listen to that song! And then listen to “There Is a God” below in the New Music Spotlight…

The guys from Love and Theft stopped by the office and Stephen just couldn’t resist getting his picture taken with everybody’s favorite cardboard cutout…

Things have taken off pretty quickly for the beautiful duo of Steel Magnolia. They’ve quickly moved from the karaoke bars of Nashville to the stage of CMT’s Can You Duet, where they were this past season’s winners. And now they’re racing up the country charts with their debut single, “Keep On Lovin’ You.” The single is also on the Valentine’s Day soundtrack.

We recently caught up with the lovely Miss Meghan Linsey and she told us about how they had to pick a song quickly. Seems like they picked a good one! I mean, it’s gotta be good if we’re spinning it in the New Music Spotlight!

The may have a peculiar name, but this brothers & sister group are undeniably poised to have a breakout year in 2010. Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry call their debut single, “Hip To My Heart,” a “smile song that gives you a shot of caffeine over the airwaves.” Sounds… groovy, man…

Listen in below and sing along as we give their new one a spin in the New Music Spotlight!

I know I’m going out on a limb here, but you may want to pay attention to this group, Lady Antebellum. I see big things in their future…

We recently caught up with Charles, Dave and Hillary to get the scoop on their new chart-topping album and awesome new single, “American Honey.” Check it out!

Your favorite redneck woman is back! Where has she been and what has she been up to? Oh, not much… just getting her high school diploma, starting her own record label and releasing a greatest hits album. All in a day’s work I guess. While Gretchen may work hard, she likes to play harder (betcha didn’t see that one comin’!).

Gretchen co-wrote her new one with John Rich & Vicky McGehee — two people that Gretchen says she’s very comfortable writing with. Listen in as we give “Work Hard, Play Harder” a spin in the New Music Spotlight!

Love & Theft’s debut album World Wide Open hits stores August 25th… but we’re giving you a chance to win a copy right now on the world wide web! All you have to do is drop us a line using this link and we’ll throw your name in the hat.

We’ll post our winners right here when we mail the CDs! Good luck!

Here’s your chance to win one of 10 copies of Sugarland’s new Live On the Inside CD / DVD set!

Not only does the set contain the Sugarland hits you know and, undoubtedly, love (”Baby Girl,” “Stay,” “All I Want To Do,” etc.) but they’ve also thrown in quite a few covers. Personally, I was surprised that they covered Kings of Leon’s “Sex On Fire” (which I now always think of this video when I hear…). They also cover REM’s “Nightswimming” and “The One I Love” and the B-52s’ classic “Love Shack.”

This is being sold exclusively at Walmart, so stick it to the man and score your FREE copy by dropping us a line using this link. We’ll pick 10 lucky winners and post their names right here when we mail the prizes! Good luck!

Ahh… Whitney Duncan. I really like Whitney Duncan. Wait — that was last post! Sorry!

I’m always taken aback when I see Whitney Duncan in person because I’m so used to seeing the 12″ cardboard cutout of her that sits on top of my desk. But I sure ain’t complainin’!

Whitney recently dropped by HitMakers HQ and talked about her new single, “Skinny Dippin.” Check it out below as we catch up with Whitney and hear how she was nearly attacked by a snake in the water. I tell ya — that thing could have killed her… if it weren’t dead!