Eli Young Band photo courtesy of Universal Records South.

In an era when Kid Rock and Bon Jovi have found success in country music, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to hear Tom Petty’s name being thrown around.

The Eli Young Band has been covering the rocker’s “American Girl” frequently in concert, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are something of a muse for the Texas foursome as it develops a follow-up to the 2008 album Jet Black & Jealous.

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Darius Rucker (center front row) and his fellow co-writers (including Radney Foster, right front row) at the 2010 CRS ASCAP-sponsored event, "Storytellers With Darius Rucker," on February 24 in Nashville, Tenn. Photo by Bev Moser, courtesy of AristoMedia.

It takes a certain amount of guts — and a lot of self-confidence — to work as an artist, continually pushing against the odds until maybe, just maybe, you get a chance to break through. And a story about his pre-stardom days suggests that Darius Rucker always had the attitude it takes.

When he first heard Foster & Lloyd’s “Crazy Over You” on an AM radio in 1987, Darius was hooked on country music, and the following year, he went to see the duo at a South Carolina club after he finished his shift at a retail store. They’d already started their set, and Darius proceeded to down a few brews. He soon began shouting repeatedly for them to play “You Can Come Cryin’ To Me.” They didn’t. Instead, Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd closed out their regular set, then came back for an encore, only to hear Darius screaming for the song again. Radney politely told him he had missed it when they sang it near the start of their show, but Darius belligerently called his attention to the racial makeup of the audience.

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Josh Turner photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

They’re back to back at Nos. 15 and 16 on this week’s list of the top country videos in the nation; Josh Turner and Radney Foster will both join host Nan Kelley this weekend as guests on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

Radney is positioned at No. 16 with “Angel Flight,” from his 2009 album Revival. Having established himself with the ultra-cool duo Foster & Lloyd, he’s gone on to become a jack of all trades in his solo career. In addition to making his own albums, he’s produced the Randy Rogers Band and written such hits as Sara Evans’ “A Real Fine Place To Start” and Keith Urban’s “Raining On Sunday.” He’s allegedly got something up his sleeve for Darius Rucker’s next album as well.

Josh finally releases his next album, Haywire, on Tuesday. His infectious “Why Don’t We Just Dance” is at No. 15 on the Top 20, and it’s also in the Top 5 on the Mediabase country airplay chart.

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Darius Rucker wins New Artist of the Year at "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: Donn Jones / CMA.

A certain amount of irony accompanied Darius Rucker’s victory as New Artist of the Year at Wednesday’s 43rd annual CMA Awards. He is, under the Country Music Association’s voting rules, a new artist to the genre, though he’s hardly new to the music business. He experienced the big time before as the lead singer for Hootie + The Blowfish.

Still, he’s done such a good job of reinventing himself that he’s now begun to encounter fans who know nothing of his history. That became clear when he played a concert in Houston. Two women stood throughout the show singing all of his songs verbatim, but when Darius launched into “Let Her Cry,” from the 16-times-platinum Cracked Rear View, they sat down.

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