"The next big thing outta Nashville"

Lewis Bailey of Bailey Mountain, Georgia is not only the best videographer and news cameraman east of the Great Wall of China, he's Tabloid Baby's lifeline to the heartbeat of the South, so when he points us in the direction of a country western singer, you know we're gonna be right on the scent. And hot damn, if he isn't right about Elizabeth Cook.

Her new album is called Balls-- and how's that for a title? It's produced by Rodney Crowell and dropped last week, while her new single "Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be A Woman" is country music the way we demand it: straight up, no frills, and without hats, and stands alongside Loretta, Randy, the Georges (Jones and Strait) and at first listen gave us a countrified jolt we haven't been stuck with since the first time we heard The Dixie Chicks' "Tonight The Heartache's on Me" or "I'm Gonna Hire A Wino" by David Frizell. See the video above.

And thanks, Lewis!