Cowboy Crush photo courtesy of Curb Records.

One of the girls on the stage -- not sure who -- answers, "How about a shot of whiskey?"

This has been going on for a few minutes as the women of Cowboy Crush do pretty much what band members everywhere do before getting down to practice. Behind the keyboard stack Becky Priest blows on her hands and rubs them together. Debbie Johnson rumbles through a few licks on her bass. Behind the drums Darla Perlozzi twirls the stick in her right hand.

Then, without a warning or a cue, the front line turns toward their mics and breaks into a cappella harmony: "Nobody ever died," they sing, right on pitch, their voices oozing like honey through a filter of blue notes and country twangs.

"Nobody ever died," the repeat, even more soulful and free. And finally: "Nobody ever died... of a broken heart."

Then Renaé runs up behind Trenna and, for no apparent reason, kicks her in the butt. And everyone falls back to joking around, playing little diddly licks ...

It's just like before, except for one thing: We've heard, just for a second, the sound of Cowboy Crush.

And just like that, in an instant, something in how we've always heard and felt music changed -- for the better.

Really, it's that simple. There's no band out there like Cowboy Crush. They sing like angels, play like demons, and have more fun while they're doing it than anyone you've ever seen onstage.

Let's be clear: We're not talking just all-girl bands. We're talking bands, period, whether all-girl, all-guy, or whatever combination you like. Whoever you throw into the mix, it's hard to imagine topping the energy, excitement, musicianship, and sheer joy these five friends and colleagues pump out.

Country music insiders already know this. The band's very first gig was at the famous Wild Horse in Nashville in October 2003, at the International Entertainment Buyers convention. They played just three songs -- and before leaving the building they'd earned something like fifty bookings from the spellbound executives.

Fans caught on quickly. From their first road show -- a party for Fox network honchos at the Super Bowl last year -- to appearances before huge festival crowds and at arenas opening for headliners like Travis Tritt, Lonestar, and Trace Adkins, they've drawn standing ovations, encores ... and more than one million four hundred thousand visitors to their website, www.cowboycrush.com, all without having released so much as a self-produced single.

The media are getting the message too: Country Music Today covered their performance at Country Thunder, where "the all-female quintet ... carried themselves with the sass and confidence of superstars, unafraid to show off their musical prowess." Country Stars Online has even declared that "the five beauties of Cowboy Crush ... could teach Big and Rich a few things when it comes to rocking the house with flamboyance and attitude."

Now, with their debut CD, Title Goes Here, poised for a summer release on Asylum/Curb, with their single, the previously described "Nobody Ever Died of a Broken Heart," scheduled to air in April, this band -- picked as contenders for the title of "Next Big Thing" by the Cincinnati Enquirer after tearing it up at last year's Meijir County Stampede -- begins changing the way we all think about country bands, girl bands, and foot-stompin', good-timin' American music in general.

Cowboy Crush photo courtesy of Curb Records.

"As soon as I heard them play, it was a revelation. It was like God saying to me, 'This is what I've been preparing you for. This is where your home is.'"

Darla -- a five-foot dynamo behind the drums, a firecracker with an Italian temperament under normal circumstances -- is dead serious as she describes the first time she heard her future bandmates. Her colleagues, sprawled now on a couch and a couple of chairs at SIR, have been laughing at each other's punch lines, howling over shared memories, and having nearly as much fun during this break as they'd been having in rehearsal. But now they're reflective -- briefly.

Clearly they agree: It was inevitable that their paths would cross ... though, looking back, it's a little surprising to them all that it took this long -- for all five had spent a fair amount of time in Music City, playing the Lower Broadway honky-tonks, or backing up superstars on the road with their touring bands, or even taking classes together as music majors at Belmont University.?

But, Nashville being a small town, talented people -- and, especially, very talented, independent, and ambitious young women -- will inevitably cross paths. So it was with Trenna, Becky, Renaé, Debbie, and Darla , whom fate eventually brought together on March 18, 2003, the date of their first practice. Home base at the time was Becky's garage, with their first audiences gathered on the street to line-dance. They started picking up gigs; without even a homebrew single to sell, they spread their reputation simply by doing killer shows and developing a sound that's often described as a high-octane blend of Emmylou Harris and Aerosmith.

From that garage to their debut at the Wild Horse to jam-packed venues and fairgrounds throughout America, Cowboy Crush's ascent has been swift. With the release of Title Goes Here the pace picks up even more. History, as we've noted, has already changed, at least for this writer on a recent afternoon at SIR. In the wake of that experience, we can guarantee that these five ladies will be the act to see throughout 2005.

And for listeners who haven't yet been enlightened, our advice is simple: Prepare to be Crushed.

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WHO'S WHO IN COWBOY CRUSH

You've heard the CD, right? You already know that Cowboy Crush is an awesome, tear-it-up, rock-all-night outfit. So the next question is: Who are these young ladies who are already scaring the Stetsons off of every guy-ridden band in the business?

Rather than unravel each one's personality from the impression they make together as a band -- and that's not easy to do, by the way, given how they all tend to talk and laugh at the same time and finish each other's sentences when you've got them together in one place -- we've invited the artists themselves to rat on ... er, let's say share their real feelings about each other as colleagues, as musicians, as pals, and as the soon-to-be hottest act east or west of Lower Broadway.

Here's what we got:

TRENNA BARNES

Becky: Trenna is the "bar." I knew that the first time I played with her. Nobody has her stage presence, her vocal finesse, her sheer range, and the emotion in her voice. She knows how to convey a song; that's what gives her the it factor. We also think and act a lot alike. I don't know if it's because my birthday is June 22 and Trenna's is June 25, so although I don't really follow horoscopes, we're both under the Cancer sign. It's interesting how similar we are, though: We're both very emotional ... which is great, because emotion is what makes for great music.

Darla: I can't tell you how many times I hear Trenna deliver an emotion in a song and it gives me chills. It's a gift she brings to our band along with her passion to make this succeed all the way to the top. Her sassiness makes me think that we have the country version of Bette Midler on our team. She's an awesome performer onstage and a dedicated friend offstage. And really cool hair! Trenna so rocks!