Artist of the Week: Veronica Ballestrini

With her warm pop-country vocals, 17-year-0ld Veronica Ballestrini is bound to lighten the mood of any listener's worst day. While comparisons to Taylor Swift abound, Ballestrini's easygoing style and MySpace success bring reference to that of Colbie Caillat. Most recently, her single "Amazing," has been climbing the Country Music Television countdown. Did I mention she's only 17?

Songs like "This Girl" are upbeat and fun, the kind you have the windows and sunroof open while driving to the beach. In fact, most of her MySpace tracks have that same quality. Ballestrini's music is fitting for her age. She never tries to be someone she isn't, whether she's singing about boys, not knowing what she wants or unrequited love.

Current hit "Amazing," is blowing up the Country music charts and debuted No. 6 on CMT's fan-voted "12 Pack Countdown," above Taylor Swift’s new video "You Belong With Me." A pretty impressive feat for an up-and-coming artist.

It's remarkable that just a few months ago, Ballestrini introduced her new music to fans on MySpace and Facebook. Since then, she’s met with an overwhelming welcome, her MySpace page views soaring to more than 8 million.

You can listen to her song, "Amazing" and watch behind the scenes of her music video shoot below.



For more on Ballestrini, be sure to visit her on MySpace and, if you're headed to Nashville for the CMA Music Festival check out her appearances listed. I'll be interviewing Veronica this Thursday, so if there's anything you want to know about her, leave your responses in the comments.