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A plethora of new artists debut every year with ambitions of breaking big, but alongside the pursuit of the dream comes loads of sweat and sacrifice—and even a few fears. While these newbies will often amplify their aspirations in interviews, we also wanted to know what they're worried about as they look ahead—especially in a lousy economy. Here are eight new artists we caught up with recently in Nashville.

Though he originally went to college with hopes of playing pro baseball, Diaz started exploring his artistic side and became an indie singer/songwriter. Though his brother Matt wound up with the Atlanta Braves, Jonny landed a record deal with INO Records after graduation. The resulting self-titled CD already spawned the smash single "More Beautiful You," though he'll be the first to admit the charts aren't what they're cracked up to be.

The Hopes: "I'm not looking to sell out arenas of ten thousand people, but hopefully work up to a theatre setting of around a thousand people. I look forward to making rooms that size feel like a living room where I can share my heart and my songs, and make everyone feel like they got to know me. I don't spend my whole time in songwriting or on stage trying to tell people about Jesus. Instead, I try to challenge, inspire and encourage the body of Christ to do great things for him."

The Fears: "As an artist who strives to put Christ first, my biggest fear is that I'd lose track of that. When I was indie, I wasn't in any competition, but now all of a sudden, I catch myself looking at the radio charts. My new song is up to the Top 20 for the first time, but I can't start letting that dictate how I feel about this. From an artistic standpoint, there's my fear of getting lost in mediocrity, though I would love to be remembered as somebody who worked hard enough to excel."

Taking cues from alternative pop acts Feist and Imogen Heap, this sister act from Portland, Maine merges acoustic instrumentation with electronic programming and silky harmonies. The group's already tested the waters on tour with Superchick and recently released its Essential Records debut Wake Me.

The Hopes: "Our aspiration is to create songs that Christians who don't normally listen to Christian music can identify with," says Tal. "A lot of college students tend to walk away from Christian music because they don't feel there's enough variety, and admittedly, there aren't a lot of [faith-based] groups that sound like Feist, so they wind up exploring all sorts of [mainstream] music instead."

The Fears: "The economy is already sort of bad and we don't make a lot of money, so I often wonder, Will I have to stay at my parents' house forever?" says Acacia. "The stage also freaks me out and I almost have a stress attack before a show. But in both of those cases, I just have to rely on God and pray to help calm my nervousness. I feel nervous and afraid, but there's a reason we're here and we're just trying to be obedient, which helps alleviate the stress."

These modern rockers from Kentucky have already scored a number one regional single, opened for TobyMac, Skillet, Jars of Clay, and Family Force 5, along with main stage performance slots at the famed AtlantaFest and Rock the Universe. The foursome's also caught the ear of powerhouse producer Ainslie Grosser (Mute Math, Rebecca St. James), who'll be working his wizardry on a full-length debut this fall.

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