When Taylor Swift came out and became popular it was only time before other young artists, who Nashville typically avoided, except for the last LeAnn Rimes-lead influx, began gaining exposure.  One of those artists who started gaining attention is 18-year-old singer/songwriter Veronica Ballestrini, who released a couple of singles before her debut album for new inprint TimBob Records, What I’m All About, was released.   Produced by Cliff Downs, the album has steady production that moves between pop-leaning arrangements and while there are some songs that are obviously modeled after what has gotten Taylor Swift her success, the majority of this album is remarkably enough to suggest that Veronica Ballestrini isn’t just some carbon copy artist. 

Lead-single “Amazing” starts off being one of the Taylor-like tracks but by the time the chorus comes in, Veronica sings a chorus that begins to show some individuality while “Pray When It Rains” shows off Veronica’s ability to sing a ballad.  It is on those ballads, and there are quite a few here, where Veronica shines.  The production allows Veronica to show off her pipes without washing her out in production tricks. The laid-back ballad features some gorgeous fiddle melodies which work to help showcase Veronica’s still-growing voice, which has the potential to match Jo Dee Messina somewhere down the line.  

 The two songs which show Veronica’s greatest potential to become a break-out star are the melodic “Destiny,” a song which fits right in her vocal pocket while the lyrics are sharp and appropriate for an 18-year-old to sing.  The other one is “Eskimo Kiss,” a piano-lead ballad that could have been a huge power ballad for Veronica but, thankfully, producer Cliff Downs doesn’t ever try to push Veronica to sing in a range that doesn’t fit her voice quite yet.  What’s most remarkable about these songs is that each of these songs was solely written by Miss Ballestrini. 

Both “Don’t Say” and “What I’m All About” are a couple of other Veronica Ballestrini co-penned tunes and while they’re not as strong of an artistic statement as the songs mentioned above, they do fit well within the young country format that Taylor Swift has made a mint with.  Two songs towards the end of the project, the cynical “L.A. Baby” and the Gary Burr and Trey Bruce co-write “Bullet Life” show off yet another side of Veronica Ballestrini and while the album could’ve benefitted from a little more cohesiveness, What I’m All About does, in the end, show off a talented singer who has the potential to become, as she says in “Destiny,” something.  While she’s not quite there yet, What I’m All Abut is a good start.

Check out the album below:

You can support Veronica by purchasing this album at iTunes | Amazon.