Cedarburg to Nashville is no insignificant trek on one’s way into the music business, but Melissa Miller blazed her own trail by that route. Just Push Play navigates a wide field from power pop to pop country, culminating in an eclectic sort of Americana speaking to the aspirations of thoughtful, good-humored 20-something womanhood. The guitars accompanying Miller go from Sleater-Kinney hardness to the twang of steel, but her voice exudes a hopeful sweetness that shines through to her saddest songs. Miller could easily take a path paralleling that of LeAnn Rimes, crisscrossing country and pop, not necessarily country with pop. Whatever direction she takes from here, Miller has made a promising, affable first step that portends a Playable future.
