DOUG SEEGERS If you want an easy reference point for virtually anonymous 63-year old Doug Seegers, think Austin's James Hand. Like Hand, Seegers has spent years battling the demons, many of those years living on the mean streets of Nashville and, like Hand, Seegers has that classic-country voice and pens songs that would have been more radio-friendly in the '60s than today. Seegers has spent a huge chunk of his adult life living the role of the singer in Kinky Friedman's epic Nashvegas tragedy, "Nashville Casualty and Life," and for him to be getting the recognition he has in 2014 can only be a good sign for lovers of underdogs and strays.

JOHN FULLBRIGHT An Okie still on the south side of 30, Fullbright has already been nominated for one Grammy and it's doubtful that will be his final one. Fullbright's inner ear separates him from the pack; his melodies and lyrics are inventive, thoughtful, and gripping, his performances are full of grit and determination, and it doesn't hurt that he's so intense when he's performing it looks like the top of his head may explode.

Fullbright leans into it hard every time. If there's another Willie Nelson out there, Fullbright just may be the guy, even though his style is more a country-pop-blues concoction. Oh, that sounds like Willie, huh? The fact is, Fullbright, like Willie, may be just too damned good and too damned smart for the brains who run Nashville.

PARKER MILSAP If anyone rivaled Simpson for buzz and exposure in 2014, it's fresh-faced, earnest young Okie Parker Milsap. Milsap doesn't have the classic country sound that is Simpson's bread-and-butter; he's folky (no drums in his stage band) and smartly wordy; like Fullbright, Milsap makes every syllable count, even if there are a lot of them.

LOM will admit that Milsap is not everyday listening fare around the house, mostly due to some vocal tics that don't sit quite right with our ear. But give the guy credit: he's young, good-looking, quite personable and believable, and probably only going to get better, especially after some ladies do a bit of damage to his ego. No one can deny his effort or sincerity. If mainstream stardom comes to Milsap, then it's a whole new encouraging ball game again. Until then, it's just Americana.

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