Sounds like: Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez
Genre: Pop rock, country, dance pop

Meet Ashlyne Huff, a Nashville-bred singer-songwriter.

Huff is the daughter of the incredibly accomplished, award winning country producer and guitarist Dann Huff, whose production credits can be found in the liner notes of albums from the likes of Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood, as well as guitar credits on countless MuuMuse favorites, including Laura Branigan‘s “Self Control” and DeBarge‘s “Rhythm of the Night.”

In August of 2009, Huff released her debut single, “Heart of Gold.” The song saunters along with a country twang of venom a la Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”–a sound that Huff concedes is entirely of her own upbringing: “The songs are pop, but I’m from Nashville, I write like a country singer,” she explains in her biography. (That her own father was on board to help shape the sound of Underwood’s debut career probably couldn’t have hurt much either.)

On May 11 of 2010, Huff released her debut self-titled EP, a six track collection of pop-rock tracks that showcase a variety of different sounds from the up-and-coming singer–from punchy, catchy cuts like “Trippin’ It Up” to the unexpectedly aching guitar power ballad “Sweet Nothing.”

Now, Huff plans to release the first single from her forthcoming debut album, Let It Out: “White Flag,” a purely dance-pop affair.

Though the chorus melody is entirely derivative of Miley Cyrus‘ “Party in the USA” and the noisy synthesizer beat plays similar to the Ke$ha/Katy Perry sound that dominated much of 2010 (plus a touch of Madonna‘s “Celebration”), “White Flag” is still enough of an addictive, crunchy dance-pop offering in its own right to merit attention.

“Everything seems to be yours / I don’t want to want to fight no more,’ Huff surrenders atop the glittering chorus. Coupled with the most deliciously catchy bridge (“Left, right, turn around, there you are!”), Huff might just have found the winning formula for a breakthrough into the mainstream scene.

Click below to stream the song–and enjoy a free, guilt-free download of Huff’s “White Flag”!

DL: Ashlyne Huff – White Flag

“White Flag” was released on January 18. (iTunes)

These two are Nikki + Rich, a newly signed soul pop act from Warner Brothers Records.

While I was intrigued from the beginning, it was this slick, stylishly crafted intro video that sealed the deal for me.

And now, a brief summation:

Nikki & Rich are Nikki Leonti, a California-born pastor’s daughter who grew up singing in church, and Rich Velonskis, a Queens, NY-born former DJ and established hip-hop/R&B producer who got his start spinning in New York City clubs as a teenager. These two seemingly opposite characters first met in 2007. Nikki was based in Nashville working as a background singer for Carrie Underwood and Rich was in Los Angeles producing tracks for Eve, Robin Thicke, Mario, and Ludacris, under his moniker Rich Skillz…Rich was looking for a strong vocalist and lyricist to collaborate with and take his tracks to the next level and he found the perfect match in Nikki.

To put it simply, Nikki + Rich are to doo wop as Bitter:Sweet are to acid nu-jazz: a dynamic duo of two (rather attractive) musicians with a flair for the old-fashioned.

Though there’s been some backlash as of late for ‘revival acts’ that call upon the sounds of yesterday (Adele, Duffy, Winehouse), Nikki + Rich show the promise of staying true to today without looking back to the point of becoming a tribute band.

You can now stream the swinging “Cat and Mouse” and the deliciously sassy “Next Best Thing” right now.

I’m utterly obsessed with these two!

This one’s a bit unexpected, but hey…musical diversity, right? Also, I think I love her name.

It seems a bit late to be “introducing” Orianthi, the 24-year-old guitarist from Adelaide, Australia. Seeing as she’s already shared the stage with Santana, Carrie Underwood, and Steve Vai (not to mention the hand-picked lead guitarist for what would have been Michael Jackson‘s This Is It tour), the young guitarist has already had her fair share of the spotlight.

Now, she’s preparing the release of her self-penned debut, Believe. To lead the release comes the premiere of her first single, “According to You,” a feisty, Max Martin-esque yelp of defiance in the name of all things girly pop-rock. The song is catchy as hell, and hands down the best single Taylor Swift never recorded.

Similarly, check out the song “Bad News” off of her MySpace. Double the feisty, double the fun!

Orianthi’s debut album, Believe, will be released on October 27.

What I’ve been told is that this the new Pussycat Dolls album cover for their upcoming album, Doll Domination, but my eyes are simply telling me otherwise.

In order of appearance on the sleeve, is this or is this not: Sarah Harding, Dannii Minogue, Tila Tequila, Kimberley Walsh, and Carrie Underwood?! And look, Dannii even stole Kylie‘s body. She’s always been so impossibly jealous.

…That would make for a killer girl group, now that I think of it. Nevertheless, there is no trace of Pussycat Doll ‘flava’ happening on this sleeve! Except for the logo. Have the airbrushers no mercy anymore?