Natalie Grant … Joy Williams … Rachael Lampa … Jaci Velasquez … I’m sure you can think of others who fit in the big-voiced “diva pop” genre (at least for a while). Admittedly, it’s not usually my style since the emphasis is on vocals and sentiments rather than creativity and originality. Yet for every one of these singers who fade into obscurity after a few years, there’s always one that seems to rise above the pack. As Grant once noted in an interview, she worked hard to be more than a pretty voice singing pretty songs.

 

There’s a sense that twenty-something newcomer Kerrie Roberts is striving for the same thing. This pastor’s daughter from southern Florida was a finalist on the WB network series Popstars, yet ultimately turned down the recording contract offered to her to study vocal performance at the University of Miami and eventually work on her music career herself.