Tara Lyn Hart - Tara Lyn Hart (1999)

Singer, songwriter, and pianist Tara Lyn Hart was born and raised on a little family farm in the rustic community of Roblyn, Manitoba. Being from a small area, the local radio stations were few and offered only the choices of golden oldies or country music. Country seemed to fit Hart best. As a small child Heart sang to entertain family and friends, and herself. When she was barely a teenager, she began landing steady gigs to sing at country fairs, weddings, and rodeos. She soon went from local appearances to traveling often enough that her parents had to switch her to home schooling.

When Hart was 17, she won the local talent contest. The prize was studio time to complete two demos, then having those demos given to Canadian radio stations. The producer who worked with her thought enough of her talent to pass one of the demos on to some people he knew at Sony Music. Hart soon had a contract and had also been named by Billboard as Most Likely to Succeed for 1998.

Hart married along the way and gave birth to two beautiful babies, but never let go of her music dreams. In 1999, Sony Records released her debut album, Stuff That Matters. She wrote three of the 14 songs on the album. Other numbers were written just for her, so the tunes on this debut release, like "Save Me," "You Can Get There From Here," "I Will be Loving You," and "Love Ought to Work That Way," offer fans a glimpse at the inner thoughts and life of the young artist.

A year later, in 2000, the Canadian Country Music Awards program gave Hart the Rising Star Award. ~ Charlotte Dillon