Here for the Party (2004)

Gretchen Wilson's buzz began with the trailer-park party anthem ''Redneck Woman,'' but her debut, Here for the Party, augurs a future deeper than one sing-along hit. ''Pocahontas Proud'' is a perceptive, self-penned mission statement, and ''When I Think About Cheatin''' rides the razor's edge between fidelity and temptation in classic honky-tonk style, while Wilson's river-gravel voice evokes Tanya Tucker's unvarnished blues influence. Country needs this: an artist who refuses to apologize for her roots or glam up for celebrity's sake.