John Wesley Harding
English ex-pat Harding shows his affection for Bob Dylan by stealing one of the master's album titles for his stage name, but his real muse has always been Elvis Costello. As a vocalist, he's always echoed Elvis; as a writer, he goes in for the same sort of clever wordplay; and as a record-maker, he's even hired the Attractions. But Harding has carved out a niche of his own by performing doggedly and recording regularly, refining his craft each time out. Like Gray, he had a middling career with the majors before striking out on his own, financing his 1996 album, John Wesley Harding's New Deal. He now records for Mammoth Records.

Luka Bloom
A resolutely solo singer/songwriter who left Ireland to escape the shadow of his big brother, folk legend Christy Moore. It was a good move: Bloom reinvented himself as a very modern troubadour. He met with critical acclaim - and small but very solid followings - in the U.S., Australia, and continental Europe. Like Gray, he has an ear for the unusual cover. He turned LL Cool J's rap "I Need Love" into a gorgeous Irish ballad on Acoustic Motorbike and is about to release an album's worth of covers, Keeper of the Flame, in which he mixes up songs by Radiohead, the Cure, and Abba with Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and Joni Mitchell.

Joe Henry
He's a smart, underrated singer/songwriter who, like David Gray, was weaned on Van the Man. On his Shuffletown album, Henry valiantly tried to re-create the incantatory vibe of Astral Weeks. But the further away he moved from his influences, the greater were his artistic rewards. Like Gray, he found clever uses for electronics on his 1999 release, Fuse. The world didn't much notice, but his savvy sister-in-law did; he wrote "Don't Tell Me" with Madonna and producer Mirwais for Music.

Josh Rouse
Sentiment and whimsy sometimes have a hard time reconciling themselves, but when you're on your game - like Josh Rouse is - you can fit several emotions into one song. Rouse is part barstool philosopher, part boo-hoo poet, and his records, especially Home (Slow River), find ways to include his interests in Johnny Cash and Morrissey. One of his tunes made it to an episode of Dawson's Creek which shows that his raw but fetching tunes have a certain cinematic quality. Rouse's debut, Dressed Up Like Nebraska, explains a bit about the Midwest native's willful naivete. Exactly how homegrown is he? There are recipes for summer salsa and herb tomato sauce on his Web site.