Katie Armiger Autographed 8x10

I don't often dual-post with my regular - more personal - blog, but this seemed like a good opportunity to do so, as I received this beautiful autographed 8x10 picture of Katie Armiger in the mail today:

Katie Armiger definitely classifies as a country singer, with a powerful voice and sexy Southern accent, but her attitude is all rock, which is what you get when you have released 4 professional records in 4 years, played hundreds of shows and met tons of people who were as impressed with your talent as they were your looks - and all that at just 22 years of age.

Don't get me wrong - I will never say a woman's success is only due to her physicality, especially in this day and age (this isn't the 1950s); what I am saying is that when a stunning woman has to deal with saying ''no'' more often than she does ''hello'', it builds character the likes of which men twice her age will never even come close to, and possibly a great deal of self-confidence, too.

And that attitude is reflected in the song I featured as Video Of The Week, Playin' With Fire (which shares a title with my favourite Rolling Stones song, incidentally), where she has that Leelee Sobieski / Jennifer Lawrence look going for her, but mixed with a dirty, ''garage girl'' attire, singing lines like ''I'm already crazy and I feel fine / as I cross this line between wrong and right'', ''I'm already lit and this ain't done yet'' and ''I like the burn''. And there's the look in her eyes in every close-up. And the totally sexual way she cranks up and uses that flame-thrower (in high heels, no less).

She's in control, and not much can stop her. I'd say the sky's the limit, but she can even shatter that if she wants to.

I first came to realize she existed when recording songs at Studio Loco in Montréal, where her Confessions Of A Nice Girl CD laid on a table. I put it on out of sheer curiosity and had expected ballads and cutesy, wholesome songs from the cover, but instead found well-written, beat-driven songs that I instantly connected with. I've been a fan ever since. Here's the cover art in question:

I wrote to her care of her label - Cold River Records - on June 8th, 2014, and received the above 8x10 today, just 10 days later, including shipping, customs and covering the distance between Tennessee and Montréal. It will be framed and hung on my office wall, where people can ask about her and I can turn them on to her music in person, word-of-mouth-style.