Lindi Ortega

It's always been easy for young country artists to have failed romances with Nashville. But for Toronto, ON-born Lindi Ortega, her time in Music City so far has been a match made in honky tonk heaven. Tin Angel is Ortega's third album, and her most accomplished yet, in terms of bridging the country and punk divide. Ortega's natural appeal to both camps stems from an undeniably powerful voice and the rough-edged, old school twang in her songs. But the secret ingredient is Ortega's defiance, and Tin Star is fuelled by gallons of it, making it impossible not to root for her when she sings on "Gypsy Child," "Daddy said to sing it loud/Go on, make your mama proud/Be what you're meant to be." Sure, it's not exactly Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter," but Ortega's earnestness is a breath of fresh air coming from a country music industry forever trying to make current trends palatable to Middle American sensibilities. Much like forbearer k.d. lang, Ortega just wants to be herself, and the image she's built up over her previous two albums has now fully matured on Tin Star. With the conviction she shows when delivering the title track's chorus, "I wrote this song for those who are like me: lost in the shining stars of Nashville, Tennessee," it's hard not to think that she'll own that town sooner or later.