Jo Dee Messina

It's a strange day when the biggest star in Nashville is from the unlikely locale of Framingham, Mass, a town where the shopping malls outnumber the people, not to mention the cattle. But that's what happened in 1996 with the release of Messina's self-titled smash-hit debut and her ensuing CMA Award in 1999. Listening to the pure Country Pop material, however, offers no evidence of a New England upbringing. With studio help from buddy Tim McGraw, one-two-punch arrangements that spare nothing in the hook department, and a singing voice that sets her a cut above the rest, Jo Dee Messina offers an admittedly commercial but substantial product that's more than young country fast food.