NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Megan Munroe

Head in the clouds and dirt in her hair" - that's how Megan Munroe describes herself as a child growing up in Sultan, Wash. She might have added "with a song in her heart," as her father's Country albums provided a soundtrack to her horseback rides with the Cascade Mountains as a backdrop. After adding Tori Amos, Jewel, Pearl Jam and Bonnie Raitt to her potpourri of influences, she headed at 17 to Los Angeles to see whether an acting career felt right.

It didn't, and despite some professional success she was back in Washington, wiser and committed to music by 20. A few years of performance and a self-released regional album helped prepare her for Nashville, where Munroe has spent the past three-plus years writing, modeling, acting, designing book covers and recording One More Broken String.

Produced by Doug Deforest, all 12 tracks bear Munroe's writing credit, one of them solo and the rest with Brian Oaks. They penned the debut single, "Moonshine," on which we hear Munroe's highly expressive delivery. Whether derived partly from her acting background or simply from her fusion of Country's narrative tradition and alt-rock's flair, she turns the lyrics into compelling and decidedly frank evocation of love, adventure and risk.

We may or may not see Munroe on the silver screen, but her Diamond Music Group debut album makes it clear that we've only starting hearing from this gifted newcomer.

2009 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.