Nashville's Emily West would never be called a chanteuse -- there's just too much sassy, barnburning energy at the heart of her refreshingly unbridaled country songs. She may be channeling classic Opry spirits on her upcoming, as-yet-untitled debut album, but West also takes a cue from country rock queen Linda Ronstadt. Her commanding vocal style is capable of belting out over stomping, roadhouse riffs but it is also adept at caressing the tenderist of barstool ballads. It's a voice that's fortunately front and center of her self-penned songs. The rambunctious and defiant "That Kind of Happy" or "Rocks In My Shoes" are swooping tour-de-force anthems that keep the fiddle and pedal steel at a safe distance while growling guitars and kick-ass beats keep the pedal down and the engine racing.

"I'm a live singer...performing is very emotional," West observes. "They're my songs...my personality set to music." That special relationship with her material is evident most notably on "Blue Sky", a stunning ballad that she wrote about the breakup of her parents' marriage and shares vocally with former Tonic frontman Emerson Hart. We first heard "Blue Sky" nearly two years ago and it continues to knock us out as well as making us wonder how long we'll have to wait for West's full-length debut. We get the whole Nashville "machinery" that relies on radio and genre-specific promo gladhanding, but we're sure that Emily West has significant appeal outside of the industry formula box. A four-track EP (with "Blue Sky") is available digitally now with the new single "That Kind of Happy" available April 7.

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Emily West - "Blue Sky" Live at the Grand Ole Opry