Though it’s certainly nothing to scoff at, Sarah Potenza is so much more than simply a high-ranking contestant on NBC’s hit talent scouting tv show, The Voice. With her unique, ferocious talent, she’s giving a voice to countless Americans- young and old, male and female, artists and otherwise- just by unapologetically being herself. With a deep voice (in high school, she performed as a baritone in an all-male choir and often sang the male parts in musicals) and a curvy figure, she isn’t the picture-perfect image of a young, blonde popstar, but who cares about all of that anyways? Clearly not fans, who identify with that outsider status, and have shot the singer to success, and she’s gearing up to release her debut solo record, Monster, on August 19^th.

Today Elmore is premiering the video for Potenza’s track, “The Mountain.” What mountain exactly? Well, in the singer/songwriter’s own words, “being a woman, a size 16 and a late bloomer  in an industry that is male dominated, and favors thin, youthful women, well, there’s a lot of mountains to climb there. Sometimes all a girl can do is put her big thighs in a see through skirt (insert my mom saying, I don’t like that skirt, is that a slip?) and let em’ roll.”

The resulting barn-burner is a searing blues-rock track that echoes with confidence. It starts off with a steady, somewhat tame beat, but builds as it progresses, layers of harmony and guitars adding to the song’s drive. Potenza is backed by a big, talented crew, but commands the camera’s attention, looking fierce behind thick, pearlescent glasses, bolstering her raspy vocals with a signature wink and a snarl.

“I wrote this song on Elizabeth Cook’s guitar, in a hotel bathroom in the Smokey Mountains,” Potenza recalls. “I was working for her as a tour manager at the time. I wanted so badly to be the one singing, and I could see that where I was and where I wanted to be was gonna be a climb. I was feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed by the road ahead, and I wrote this song as a pep-talk to myself.”

Get inspired yourself; Watch “The Mountain” below.

Catch Sarah on tour now and throughout the summer, dates and more info at sarahpotenza.net:

7/24- Eddie’s Attic- Decatur, GA (w/ Meghan Linsey)
7/27- The Pour House Music Hall- Raleigh, NC
7/28 Dangerously Delicious Pies – Washington, DC
7/30-  Spring Lake Community House Theater- Spring Lake, NJ
7/31 -Drom – New York, NY
8/2- Chirp Concert Happenings,Ballard Park- Ridgefield, CT
8/4 – The Surf Hotel- Block Island, RI
8/5- The Assembly Theater- Harrisville, RI
8/6- Falcon Ridge Folk Festival- Hillsdale, NY
8/7- Falcon Ridge Folk Festival- Hillsdale, NY
8/8- Catskills Distillery- Bethel, NY
8/10- Club Cafe- Pittsburgh, PA
8/11- The Listening Room- Port Clint, OH
8/13 -Studio G- Harodsburg, KY
8/18- Myrna Loy Center- Helena, MT
8/26-Family Wash -Nashville, TN