Canadian country singer Tara Oram was born in Gander, Newfoundland, and released her first single, “More Than I Dreamed,” at the age of 16, but it was her sixth-place finish on the 2007 season of Canadian Idol at the age of 23 that made her a star. In 2008 she signed to a major label (Open Road/Universal Music Canada); released her debut album (Chasing the Sun); became the star of her own reality series, The Tara Diaries, on CMT; filmed her very own Christmas special; and got to open for her idol Marty Stuart in Halifax. A Juno nominee and winner of the CCMA Rising Star Award, Oram issued her sophomore album, including the hit single “1929,” in the summer of 2011. ~ James Christopher Monger