Second Cup Cafe: Megan McCormick

(CBS)  Twenty-four-year-old Nashville-based Megan McCormick is the complete package.

She's a gifted singer, song-writer and guitarist, and has been drawing praise from critics. She even earned Oprah's stamp of approval!

Her husky voice and passionate writing style are generating buzz, after the release of her debut album, "Honest Words."

She joined The Early Show on Saturday Morning"'s "Second Cup Cafe" to perform "Do Right" and "Things Change."

"Honest Words," which was released earlier this month, has an ecletic mix of genres, including country, rock, blues, pop and folk.

Although she's still in her mid-twenties, she addresses love, life and addiction with the wisdom of an old soul and the grace of a humbled performer.

"My songs reflect a deep look inward as well as the world around me. I find inspiration sometimes in my guitar, on a street corner, or even in a lover. The new album will touch on love, family, addiction and the never-ending search for self-understanding," she wrote on her Myspace page.

While McCormick grew up listening to Bonnie Raitt and Steely Dan, her greatest influences come from her musical family. Her mother was a country singer, her father more of a rock n' roller, and her grandparents are in the Western Swing Hall of Fame.

She was born in Idaho and raised in Wasilla, Alaska -- Sarah Palin's hometown.

How did McCormick pave her way to success and receive Oprah Winfrey's Midas-like touch?

McCormick, who wrote her first song when she was 11, left home when she was just 16 and headed to Tennessee. She got a coveted Public Performance Scholarship at East Tennessee State University.

She soon found herself thrust into the young, independent singer/songwriter community in Nashville, where she continued to thrive and gain respect for her exceptional songwriting, beautiful vocal style and guitar playing.