Olivia West represents what a struggling singer/songwriter should be defined as. A normal, everyday person with a normal, everyday life just like everybody else except, she can write the bejeezus out of a song and sing it equally as well.

Born and raised outside of Kansas City, MO with a stay at home Mom and a father who made his living as a roofer and a Church of Christ preacher, she is living proof that great music comes from everyday personal experiences. Ask her and she’ll tell you that her father said that Patsy Cline’s voice was about as perfect as we all remember it because she always ate her peas. This led to years of eating peas while holding her nose just so she could sound like Patsy Cline.

When you listen to her sing, one thing becomes obvious. This is one talented artist. She has a sound that harkens back to the days when country music was all about family, going to church, and dealing with everyday life. “Alone and Personal-Acoustic Sessions” has everything from growing up in a small plains town (“Midwestern Town”, and “The World is Flat”) to the hopes, prayers, and dreams of a young family trying to make it in an increasingly cynical world (“Taking on the World”, and “Waiting For the Better”). The record evens includes a song entitled “Rock Yourself to Sleep” which was co-written by her son Luke (4 years old!) which is the stereotypical story of love vs. the travelling musician.

Fast forward to today. Now she is married to her highschool sweetheart, has two young sons, and after making sure her family is taken care of (including a dog named, appropriately, Patsy Cline), spends most of her time writing songs (solo and with other writers), singing demos, and playing in every little dive bar that will let her in. Five plus years of slogging through the red tape and heartbreak of the Nashville country music scene has brought us a collection of songs that could not be described as anything less than a diamond in a bucket of coal. Her music caused two of her fans to describe her skills as comparable to the way chocolate mousse tastes…dark, and rich, light and airy, smooth and tasty. The kind of thing that you just can’t get enough of…ever.

She just released her debut album “Alone and Personal-Acoustic Sessions” available through iTunes, Amazon, and other online music sites and this is an album that should be in every true country music fan’s collection. You can find out more about Olivia West online at www.oliviawest.com, on MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Reverbnation. Stop in and say Hey Y’all.

CMTT Music Contributor -  Trigger183