Alison Balsom

For her eighth birthday, Alison Balsom received a trumpet. Now, a couple of decades later, she is a highly acclaimed soloist who was named Best Young British Performer at the 2006 Classical Brit Awards. Balsom grew up in Hertfordshire, near London, and played in her school band. Later, she studied at the Guildhall School of Music, the Paris Conservatoire and with Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger. She has performed with top orchestras worldwide, including the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles, Japan and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras. Her most recent recording is Caprice (EMI). "In her hands," one reviewer wrote, "the trumpet rivals the human voice for expressivity and tonal colouring."

Suzy Bogguss

Growing up in Aledo, Illinois, Suzy Bogguss loved music. She joined the church choir, played the piano and drums, and bought her first 12-string with the money she earned from babysitting. She moved to Nashville in the mid-'80s and paid the bills by singing demos by day and performing three nights a week at a local rib joint. Now, more than a dozen albums later, and awards ranging from the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist of 1989 to a Horizon Award given by the Country Music Association, Suzy has won acclaim in both country and contemporary music circles. Her new CD is Sweet Danger (Loyal Dutchess Records).

J.T. Bates

J.T. Bates started playing drums when he was seven. By the time he was 15, he was sitting in with his dad's big band. Since then, he has backed up countless musicians, as well as working with his own bands — Fat Kid Wednesdays and Poor Line Condition.

Dan Neale

Guitarist Dan Neale moves easily from blues and country to pop, jazz and rock. A Tennessee native who moved to Minnesota because "I married a woman who hates hot weather," this sought-after studio player and sideman has worked with Martin Zellar, Bobby Vee and a host of others.

John Niemann

After playing electric bass in a high school rock 'n' roll band, John Niemann took up guitar, fiddle, mandolin and mandocello. He was a member of Peter Ostroushko's quartet The Mando Boys, and he spent seven years with the bluegrass group Stoney Lonesome.

Joe Savage

Originally from Cloquet, Minnesota, pedal steel player Joe Savage made his way to Minneapolis in the 1980s. These days, he is a fixture on the Twin Cities music scene, performing with a number of artists in addition to keeping up his work as a studio musician.