Since she was five years old and sang The Judds' "Have Mercy" at a Calhoun County talent contest, Joanna Smith has known she was born to write and sing country music. So at age 18 when she was tapped to sing lead vocals in the all girl group Mustang Sally, she gave up a full academic scholarship to Auburn University and moved to Nashville. Although the singing gig was short-lived, the ex-valedictorian chose to stay in town and pursue her dream. At 19, with no connections to help her, she set out writing and singing demos, and in a little over a year signed her first publishing deal with Big Borassa Music. Since then, she has had two songs cut ("Flying By" on Billy Ray Cyrus' latest record, Home At Last), opened for Glen Campbell at the Ryman Auditorium and gained the interest of a handful of major record labels. No wonder. She's the "real deal" from a very small town in southwest Georgia. Joanna has excellent sensibility when it comes to the demographic that buys and listens to country music. "I want to sing about things I know about and care about," she says, and after listening to her songs you immediately know, she knows how to reach out and touch a universal chord.