Sara Evans

Once a Nashville traditionalist, Evans seems to have abandoned that approach for a more glitzy style a la Shania Twain. Her sound still rings true, though: rich, honest vocals are set to cheerful accompaniment led by good ol' Fender twang. During that more commercial part of the mid to late '90s, when Nashville artists were releasing watered-down "country" songs, Sara Evans dared to rock a New Traditional style by covering Harlan Howard's "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail." The recording was so powerful that Howard himself came out of the woodwork to help her career. Having been serious about singing since the age of four, Evans moved from Oregon to Nashville to ink a deal with RCA. Her first album, Three Chords & the Truth, debuted in 1997, landing her some radio play and a touring support slot for the great George Jones. Since then she's released albums at a prolific rate: 1998's No Place That Far was met with praise from critics; 1999's Girl's Night Out garnered her even more fans and positive press; 2000's Born to Fly did well enough, but she really hit her stride in 2003 with Restless. With less traditional instrumentation and more commercial-sounding songs and production, Restlessindicated that Evans had swapped twang for a more mainstream rock orientation, but she never lost her voice's impassioned force. In 2005, the singer earned Billboard's "country's next female superstar" status when Real Fine Place debuted at the top spot on the magazine's country album chart and at No. 3 on the Top 200 Album Chart. Veering closer to the pop flame than at anytime before, the winsome singer covered a Sheryl Crow song and hired John Mayer's drummer and bass player for the record. But she didn't entirely turn her back on her country roots; on songs like "Coalminer," and the "Cheatin'," she sounds as down home as someone in a pair of Daisy Dukes. She's also appeared on albums by leading country lights like Keith Urban, Faith Hill and Carolyn Dawn Johnson, and doesn't plan to stop there: Evans, who lives outside of Nashville with her husband and two children, son Avery and daughter Audrey, says the next thing she wants is a career on the silver screen. And who would ever doubt her -- by her own admission she can switch gears at the drop of a...…diaper: "I can separate things so easily in my mind. I can literally change a diaper or discipline Avery and then walk on stage. I'm such a multitasker you would not even believe. If I just had a few more arms, there's no telling what I could do. I think that's the trademark of a true woman," says Evans on her website.