Anyone who heard the memorable refrain from the title track of Elizabeth Cook’s 2007 album Balls (“Sometimes it takes balls to be a woman”), or tunes in her morning show Apron Strings on Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country channel, knows the Florida native isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Now residing in Nashville, Cook is back to her down-home, forthright ways on next month’s Welder, whether advising a lover to put that six-pack on ice on “Yes To Booty” or recounting her rural origins on “Blackland Farmer.” Produced by Don Was, Welder is largely upbeat and light-hearted, aw-shucks country and gritty rock, but not always – the album’s title comes from stark acoustic ballad “Heroin Addict Sister,” while the similarly self-explanatory “Mama’s Funeral” is closer to an Appalachian hymn.

Fri., April 16, 8:30 p.m., 2010

Chris Gray is the former Music Editor for the Houston Press.