Kellie Pickler

Kellie Pickler's truck-sized twang, wrapped inside a wispy soprano, came to country music at the right time to get a proper hearing. She was a standout contestant on American Idol in 2005 and a year later produced a massive debut, Small Town Girl. Pickler cowrote five of the album's songs, including the self-asserting anthem "Red High Heels," equal parts Carrie Underwood and Carrie Bradshaw, and "I Wonder," a complicated ballad about mothers and daughters. Born in Albemarle, North Carolina in 1986, Pickler presented herself as a big personality who enjoyed cheeseburgers and crunching, U2-esque guitars over tales of the Walmart parking lot on a Friday night. She came around when women in country were getting a diminishing fraction of the airplay their male counterparts received, which only strengthened her resolve. After a follow-up in the vein of her debut, Pickler did what the best artists do: made the record that told her story, the one she wanted to make. Released in 2012, 100 Proof stripped away layers of guitar and vocal overdubs for a sound that's grown-up and rootsy. The album starts out asking "Where's Tammy Wynette when you need her?" and leaves you thinking she's not as far away as you thought.