Gretchen Wilson

To all appearances, Gretchen Wilson went overnight from talented obscurity to phenomenon. Her meteoric rise, the kind experienced by only a handful of artists in the past few decades, was that rare instance where talent and moment meet to form a cultural tidal wave. Still, she knows better than anyone the simple force that fueled it.

"The reason I've been successful is that I've been genuine from the get-go," she says, "and I continue to try to do that. I'm an open book." It helps that the identity she wears so guilelessly is one that resonates strongly with fans of country and Southern rock--the independent, take-no-guff, hard-working and hard-partying country woman. Gretchen's ability to inhabit that persona publicly, as well as her flair for tailoring songs as gorgeously rough-edged as she is, have given her the kind of "I am what I sing" originality few women in country music history--Loretta, Tammy, Dolly and Tanya chief among them--have ever been able to achieve.

Set as it was within the broader scope of the Muzik Mafia, a talented and audaciously original ensemble, and like-minded entertainers from Kid Rock to Hank Jr., her rise was part of a genuine musical and cultural groundswell. Her first single, "Redneck Woman," spent six weeks at #1; her debut album, Here For The Party, sold more than five million copies; she won across-the-board awards including a Grammy and ACM, CMA and AMA nods for best female vocalist; and she toured to large and raucous crowds around the world. Her second CD, All Jacked Up, rode enthusiastic reviews to platinum status as Gretchen's accomplishments continued to stack up.

Over the last three years, she has been featured on “60 Minutes,” “Dateline NBC,” “20/20 Primetime” and CNN’s “People In The News,” and she has appeared on virtually every morning, noon and late-night television show on the air. Magazine covers and major news features could paper an entire wall.

Such is her cross-medium viability that her first book, the autobiographical “Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life,” landed her on the prestigious New York Times Best Seller List. Now, with the release of her third album, One Of The Boys, Gretchen Wilson solidifies her position as one of contemporary country's most original and multi-faceted female artists, a woman in whom ambition and ability come together in every aspect of her career.

"When it comes to the music," she says, "I get involved on a personal level in everything that counts. I'm involved in the writing, recording, producing, mixing, and promoting of the music, down to which photos we pick and how the lyrics are laid out on the paper. I've been very lucky that way from the beginning in that the people at my label, when it came down to it, have trusted me with my gut on the music." Building on that freedom, One Of The Boys is a tour de force, a musical extension of the complex woman sometimes underappreciated by those who only know her rowdy aspects. One Of the Boys cuts a wider swath through both the hell-raising and the softer sides of a woman who has been in the public eye just three short years