Photo: Courtesy of EMI Music

Megan McCormick
Cross Sheryl Crow with Bonnie Raitt and you get Honest Words, a bluesy, lovelorn showcase for singer-songwriter McCormick's bright alto and growly guitar.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed
Marvin, Otis, and Stevie deserve a new playlist pal: On Come and Get It, Reed mines classic '70s soul, but the romantic fervor of his whoops and wails is totally here-and-now.

Nikki & Rich
Have you listened to "Single Ladies" so many times, you fantasize about marrying off every last one of them? Try this duo's Beyoncé-spirited debut album, Everything—her swooping vocals add a jazzy lilt to his boisterous club beats.

Brendan James
If David Gray's "Babylon" burned a hole in your CD player, tune in to James's rich, vibrato-tinged croon, which straddles postadolescent ardor and grown-up love on his self-titled disc.

The vocalist for country duo Sugarland talks about the music that moves her