Brad Paisley and B.B. King

Arguably the preeminent male country artist to emerge in the 2000s, Brad Paisley cannily blended the past with the present, paying constant tribute to his forefathers -- when he reached the top of the charts, he still found space for Little Jimmy Dickens and George Jones in his videos -- but pushing the music forward into the new millennium, expanding its sonic and thematic possibilities. This sense of adventure could be heard on 2009's American Saturday Night, a big-hearted and eclectic record that won crossover acclaim, but by the time of its release, Paisley was already a c...