Kristen Kelly - Kristen Kelly (2012)

Contemporary country singer/songwriter Kristen Kelly was born and raised in Texas, where she developed a healthy addiction to country, blues, and classic rock. A member of the high school choir and a student of poetry, Kelly pursued a degree in music at Waco’s McLennan Community College, where she began writing and recording with a friend, eventually releasing an album, Highway Is My Home, under the name Modern Day Drifters. In 2010, after her collaborator had moved on, she decided to record under her own name and released Placekeeper. The record caught the ear of Arista Nashville, who signed Kelly and brought in award-winning producer Tony Brown and Grammy-winning songwriter Paul Overstreet to oversee her major-label debut and first single, "Ex-Old Man."