Our next LCM featured artist is the award-winning Nashville based Country singer-songwriter Jenny Tolman. The outside world never quite matches up with the vision most people carry inside them. Much of life is about figuring out how to reconcile the difference, and one of the best ways to do that is by writing. It’s how Hank Williams became a prolific legend, how James Taylor emerged as a classic artist and how Taylor Swift became a household name before the age of 20. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a wonderful live version of 'Tabitha'. We really love Jenny's vocal and arrangements.

Twenty-year-old Jenny Tolman uses songwriting the same way. Soft-spoken in conversation, she’s bold and courageous behind a guitar, able to make sense of life’s challenges by putting them under a verbal microscope. Add in a melody and a fearless willingness to share her emotional journey and you have the kind of artist who sounds extremely familiar. Not because her voice mixes the smokiness of Shelby Lynne with the accessibility of your next-door neighbor, but because her stories are familiar. They’re not just hers – they’re stories that ring true for just about anyone who hears them.

“My music is very honest,” Jenny says matter of factly. “My goal is to help other people who are like me. I feel like if I keep myself hidden, then that’s not really going to help anyone.”

The songs are making an impact. “Damn Cigarettes,” a dark composition that investigates the dangers of addiction – to love or to nicotine – placed second in the country category in the highly regarded Unsigned Only songwriting competition, which features such notable judges as Rosanne Cash, Dustin Lynch and Craig Morgan. “Cigarettes” also landed Jenny an honorable mention in the International Songwriting Competition, placing her in the elite 1% among some 19,000 entries.

Jenny collects six of her most passionate pieces in her self-titled debut, an EP that ranges from the acerbic, bluesy opener, “Ain’t Got A Prayer,” to the sassy closer, “Spend A Little Time.” Along the way, Jenny adopts a glossy, fragile tone in “Don’t Ask Me Why (Opry Song)”; embarks on a dreamy, romantic bend in “Let It Go On”; and takes an assertive stand for self-reliance on “Crumbs In My Bed.” The EP hints at what’s to come, showing the multiple melodic emotions and specific lyrical imagery inherent in her writing, inspired by the likes of Miranda Lambert, Brandy Clark, Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgraves.

Jenny's wonderful self titled debut EP is available directly from her website.