CMT Next Women of Country member Tara Thompson is a sucker for classic country music.

Growing up listening to artists such as Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker and Merle Haggard, Thompson has an A-list roster of country music influences.

But her very favorite is Willie Nelson.

“I’m like a 90-year-old woman trapped in a 28-year-old body," the singer-songwriter said during a taping for CMT Next Women of Country Live. "I like old school."

Country isn’t the only thing Thompson likes to keep classic. She a sucker for classic rock, too.

“I like some Def Leppard and Aerosmith," she said.

But Thompson is country through and through.

And she’s got some fine roots, too, hailing from Dolly Parton’s hometown in East Tennessee. She moved to Nashville at age 18 and headed straight to the honky-tonks to perform, working double shifts and even triples on the weekends.

For years, she worked hard, waiting on that record deal to come her way. When she started songwriting and putting her story together, things started coming together, and now the rest is becoming history, including a recording contract with the Valory Music Co.

Earlier this year, she was featured on the inaugural CMT Next Women of Country Tour with headliner Jennifer Nettles. That was Thompson's very first tour, but one thing’s certain: It won’t be her last.

Enjoy Tara Thompson's performance of "Jail" from CMT Next Women of Country Live.