Tell us a little about yourself. You're a young lady, and yet you've already accomplished a great deal. How did you get your start?

Same as anybody else. I started writing songs and didn't get anything thrown at me, so I just kept at it.

On a similar topic, how did you come into country music? Is it something you've always enjoyed, or does living in Nashville help you earn an appreciation for it?

I'm into a lot of things. I've been pretty heavy into classic country the past three or four years, but I've been hearing it since I was a baby. My parents both work in the industry so I guess I've been steeped in it a long time. A long time ago though I heard of a cover of "Stay Here and Drink" by the Mountain Goats that just hit me, and I haven't been the same since.

In addition to country, what else do you enjoy? Anything that might surprise fans of yours?

I'm really in to The Replacements and a weird French band called Herman Dune. I'm into good songwriting. I really dig Phosphorescent. The past year or so I've been living and breathing Fleetwood Mac and more recently, a lot of Tom Petty. I enjoy opera, but I've only been to one, "The Magic Flute," back in the 7th grade. Opera singers have to have powerful voices. I love Linda Ronstadt for having a voice with such incredible strength. I like when people sing loud. When I was younger I listened to a lot of girls making loud music, but mostly they just yelled. I adore The Runaways.

You recently participated in a kind of "'70s night." What do you enjoy about the music of that decade?

Great songs and good artists. Good hair. Tans. Aside from all the coke, the 70s seem very relaxed to me. I grew up on artists like Carole King and Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor and Jackson Browne. Those are the people my mom loved, plus these days all I care about is a good song and that's what the 70s were all about.

Your EP Dead Flowers came out last year. Can you tell us a little about what the album is about, or what sort of feel you were going for?

I was going to Boston to open for Lori McKenna in December so we recorded it in three days sometime in November I think and did a rush release of 100. So the feel was just about getting it done. That's why there's no band on it. There was no slacking during those three days, though, and that's the first time I'd ever really worked like that. Up until recently I've always been a slow songwriter. I'm picky about what I write. If I'm not feeling it, I wait for the next idea and maybe end up revisiting it later. Dead Flowers is two covers and five originals I felt confident enough to put on an album, though some are over five years old. Maybe that just makes it folk music or something.

You've also released a "Gorilla Man" single with alternate recorded versions of songs. Were you interested in just reworking your music, or was there another genesis for this single?

Me and my manager, Aaron, just wanted to put out a 7-inch. I went into Battletapes in East Nashville and pounded three of those out in a day with two of the awesome guys who played on the record that's due out next year. And then we decided to put out that borderline cheesy Music Row version of "Answer In One Of These Bottles" that my mom let me do with a session band she was demoing with. Dan Dugmore played steel. It was awesome.

What exactly is Nashville like, anyway? Is it still very geared toward more commercial country, or does underground country also have a strong foothold?

Nashville is great. You can't turn a corner without being subjected to something horribly mediocre, but on the very next corner you will find something extraordinary. I'm speaking figuratively since good buskers are few and far between, but there is boundless talent in this town. It's an industry town in that it's geared toward the commercial, just like LA, but it's smaller and more skill-based than LA. There's definitely a place for underground country or at least the musicians that play it, and they all start their own bands anyway.

We're excited to see you perform during Monolith. Have you played a festival before? Are you going to spend some time over that weekend checking out any bands you particularly love? Maybe you have a recommendation for us...

I've played SXSW and CMJ for the past two years, though those are more conference based. I'm really excited about Monolith, mostly about being in Colorado for the first time. I'm staying in Pueblo for a week with my friends The Haunted Windchimes and they're going to back me at the show, though I'm not quite sure what we're doing yet. I think we have two other small shows booked. I don't have a return ticket to Nashville yet, so I probably will be checking out some of the music on Sunday as well. I'd like to catch Deertick and Nashville band The Features. I'm excited about seeing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs again.

Last, do you think your young age is sometimes a detriment, like you have to prove yourself to crowds? Or is it just fun being in your early twenties and not worrying about it?

The only thing that was ever a detriment was getting kicked out of bars before I turned 21. That was always awkward, especially if I was playing. There's less to prove when you are young because, ideally, no one's got you pegged yet. They can't tell you you're doing it wrong because you don't really know what you're doing, but age brings more of an understanding of what that is and then what people think of it begins to matter less. When you're young though if someone is interested they just sort of look in on you like a sea monkey, waiting to see if you grow into something bigger than brine shrimp.