Elizabeth Cook

Too quirky for conventional country radio, too traditional for country punks and too glamorous for country folkies, Elizabeth Cook will just have to settle for the Grand Ole Opry (where she's always welcome), a video spin on CMT and a spot on Sirius radio, where the songbird hosts the program Outlaw Country. The deep twang is in her genes and in her voice, however. Sometimes a dead ringer for Dolly Parton and sometimes a wholly individual timbre — coy and resilient even at a breaking quaver — Cook always sounds in character, whether she's singing about a heroin addict sister or a creepy but compelling dude in an El Camino. Along with her long-time guitarist Tim Carroll and her devilish comic timing, she's an irresistible entertainer and a true-to-her-hillbilly-roots country soul.