Southern-born, New York City-based Tara Leigh Cobble has spent the past eight years building an indie empire, and it runs as fast and direct as a subway train. This year she announces the release of a new book and album within months of each other. Crowded Skies: Letters to Manhattan is the follow-up to her first book, Here’s to Hindsight: Letters to My Former Self (RELEVANT), a spiritual memoir which prompted reviewers to hail her as “the female Donald Miller.” Her sixth album, Playing Favorites, released in June.

Read more about Tara Leigh Cobble on Last.fm.