Country singer/songwriter Elizabeth Cook made her Grand Ole Opry debut on March 17, 2000, appearing more than 400 times thereafter, the most ever by a non-member; a remarkable achievement considering that, at the time, she was an indie artist without a properly released album. But the excitement generated by her strong, crystalline singing voice -- as comfortable with bluegrass, blues, and folk as it was country -- and songwriting served to draw comparisons to respected artists such as Kelly Willis and Dolly Parton. Her proper debut was 2002's Hey Y'all, but it flopped. 2007's Rodney Crowell-produced Balls garnered attention from alt-country and Americana fans in the U.K. and Europe, and charted in the U.S. After 2010's Don Was-produced Welder, Cook  endured a prolonged season in hell: She got divorced, her farm burned, and she lost six family members including both parents and a brother. Stressed and exhausted, she canceled an upcoming tour and entered rehab, although substance abuse was not the reason. She emerged with 2012's Gospel Plow EP that got her an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Her electrifying performance and her ability to make him laugh got massive media notice, as did a radio show on Sirius XM: Elizabeth Cook's Apron Strings. After a four-year break from recording, she re-emerged in 2016 with the charting Exodus of Venus and later with 2020's powerhouse Aftermath, both of which that flirted with indie rock as well as country.