Breakout singer/songwriter Hailey Whitters moved from Iowa to Nashville in 2007. “I took my first trip to Nashville when I was 16 and fell in love,” Whitters said. A year later, she made the move, enrolled in college, and worked hard as a nanny, waitress and salon receptionist before signing with Carnival Music in 2012.

Whitters has called herself a risk-taker, performing in her late teens and early 20s almost exclusively around Nashville—the dive bars and honky-tonks, busking for tips by singing cover songs. Soon enough, she was ditching those covers for originals and Music Row critic Robert K. Oermann took notice, calling her very, very promising.

On October 3rd, Whitters will release Black Sheep, a ten-track album that paves the way for her career in country music. Three songs were written exclusively by her and other tracks include writing collaborators including Matraca Berg, Adam Wright and Stephanie Lambring.

The album’s “Low All Afternoon” sounds like early Taylor Swift, but the country sound and heartbreaking lyrics are stepped up a few notches here. Her lyrics and vocals seem so effortless, making her a natural to stand out against many other females in the country music scene these days. “Low All Afternoon” is certainly a stand-out. Even Martina McBride has decided to record it.