TUPELO - It's natural to associate Tara Nolan Priest with the family business, Nolan Brothers Motor Sales.

Anyone who's watched television in Northeast Mississippi in the past decade has seen commercials where Priest extols the virtues of pre-owned cars.

But cars aren't the only family business, which you also might have noticed while watching her sing on some of those same commercials.

"I've been singing since I was 4 years old," Priest said. "My dad was in country music in Nashville in the '60s and '70s. He played with Tanya Tucker, and he knew Merle Haggard.

"He played with some big people before he came back to Tupelo to start a car business," she continued.

The late Jerry Nolan and his wife, Judy, sent their daughter to voice lessons for about 10 years.

"He always wanted me to sing the Judds and all of that old-school country type of music," Priest said. "I wanted to sing what I liked at the time, Debbie Gibson and New Kids on the Block. I went through a Widespread Panic and Phish phase in college."

Now, she has a new self-titled album with songs that would easily fit on contemporary country radio stations.

"It's pretty much country with a little bit of soul," she said. "I guess you'd say with blues mixed in with it."

Her current goal is to get the attention of music fans, and you'll find a sample of songs at www.tarapriest.com.

"It's only been out a month since I got the CDs," she said. "I'm really trying to get the word out."

The venture came out of left field, when a friend recommended Priest to Jeff Huskins, a former member of Little Texas. After a get-to-know-your-voice visit in Nashville, the project got the green light.

Christy DiNapoli, another founding member of Little Texas, shipped her about 150 songs and told Priest to find what worked for her.

"If You're Leavin'" by Karyn Rochelle made the cut. Rochelle wrote "Red High Heels" for Kellie Pickler and "Georgia Rain" for Trisha Yearwood.

Priest said she picked "Soulshine" by Warren Haynes because "that's one of the songs that most represents me and my style.

"My dream would be for him to hear it," she continued. "I know it's crazy, but maybe he'd hear it and want to sing with me."

Priest completed a Little Texas triple play by singing a duet with another former member, Tim Rushlow.

"He did the vocals on my brother's song, 'Who Knows What Love Is,'" Priest said.

Dennis Nolan also contributed "It's All Good" to the CD. Another song with a Tupelo connection is "Why Not Tonight" by the late Jimmy Gilreath.

The recording process took about three years. During that time, Huskins' plan to start a record label hit the same economic wall that much of the rest of the country has been dealing with.

Priest helped pay for the recording process, and now owns the master recordings of her first CD. She and Huskins plan to shop it around to record labels in the coming months.

"Labels want everything finished and ready. They want the albums, the photographs and everything done," she said. "They want the artist ready to go."

Priest sings with her brother when she gets a chance, and she's also interested in getting a band together and working on new material.

While her music career develops, she's a part-time insurance again and sells her paintings on her website.

If that's not enough, she's also a wife to Shelton Priest and a mother to Jude.

"I have a fighting spirit inside that pushes me to be successful," Priest said. "I'm trying every day, but I don't need to put too much pressure on myself.

When she was first offered the chance to record a CD, Priest wasn't sure she wanted to do it.

She talked with her mom, and thought a lot about her dad. Eventually, she decided she owed it to herself to give the family business a try.

"My dad influenced me a lot. With a lot of the things I do, I say, 'I'm so much like him,'" she said. "I have to give my music a chance the way he did, and see where it goes. I don't want to be thinking what might've been."

Contact M. Scott Morris at (662) 678-1589 or scott.morris@djournal.com.