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Pencil singer-songwriter Louise Mosrie into the ranks of those who, with apologies to Thomas Wolfe, prove that you can go home again.

You just have to get away for a while to truly appreciate it, Mosrie told The Daily Times this week. After growing up on a farm in Middle Tennessee, it took her several years to come back to the middle of the state, to her Southern roots and to a life she once longed so much to escape.

"As a kid, I couldn't wait to get the hell off the farm," she said. "I didn't like the country, and I didn't want to be a part of that world. But when I moved back, older and hopefully wiser, I found myself, when writing songs, drawing on imagery I'd grown up around. I was influenced by songwriters like Nanci Griffith and Lucinda Williams, people that I'd gotten into later on, and my songwriting started to flow naturally out of that."

Ever since, Mosrie -- a Knoxville expatriate who started her music career here in East Tennessee -- has slowly built recognition as a new, vibrant voice of Southern folk and Americana. Earlier this year, she was proclaimed winner of the prestigious New Folk Competition at the annual Kerrville Folk Festival, and this weekend she's returning to East Tennessee to celebrate the release of her new CD -- appropriately titled "Home."

"I called it 'Home' because I'd come back to Middle Tennessee, where I'd grown up, and I came back to my roots in a way that was surprising to me," she said. "I found my voice in a type of music I never thought I'd write -- country and alt-country and bluegrass. And I love it! It feels so natural and authentic, and it's all a culmination of me moving back here."

Mosrie grew up in McEwen, in middle Tennessee. Both of her parents are British, and through high school, she lived in that small town of about 2,000 people. Once she graduated, however, she came to the University of Tennessee, majoring in broadcasting and working in local media while pursuing her musical interests at the same time.

As a member of the cover band Basement Zoo, she learned to harmonize; with the group She Said, she learned to play guitar and write her own songs, drawing heavily on English pop before going solo. She slowly developed a reputation on the regional tour circuit, playing Nashville's famous Bluebird Cafe regularly as well as other venues up and down East Tennessee and into North Carolina before deciding to move to Nashville several years ago.

"I just really wanted to improve my songwriting, and I got it in my head that I needed to go somewhere where there were more resources for me to do that," she said.

She and her husband, Mark, put their house on the market, and when it sold in only 10 days, they took it as a sign and made the leap to Music City. At first, she avoided the country and roots music scenes there; however, associations with such like-minded artists as Blount County native Diana Jones (herself a Kerrville winner) and Donna Ulysses exposed her to the styles that had been a part of her for most of her life.

In 2007, a writing opportunity with Ray Kennedy -- an acclaimed producer and half of the "Twangtrust" team responsible for Williams' stunning "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" album -- opened her eyes even further.

"We spent six hours co-writing this song, and he just turned my head around about songwriting," she said. "I learned more in six hours than I did in 10 years before that. He taught me so much about imagery and impact, and that was a real turning point for me."

Those lessons resonate across the 13 tracks that make up "Home." From the cat-loving shopper on the title cut to the woman on the run from metaphorical ghosts in "Don't Come Lookin' for Me" to memories of her father cooking breakfast in "Tennessee" -- those little slices of life and keen observations of the tiny details so many take for granted are what elevate the album to a rare work of sweet-sounding art.

"One other element that's been big since I moved back here is that I've become more of a spiritual person, and I don't mean that in a religious sense by any means," she said. "I'm trying to be in the present moment more, and I think that kind of awakening I've had on a spiritual level helps me in just appreciating every little thing. I do notice the details more now, because I'm in a better place that way. Those kinds of details don't escape me, and they end up in the song."

Those details no doubt played a role in her Kerrville victory. She had submitted her work for years, and last spring she almost didn't -- but with the new album under way, she sent in rough tracks of "Home" and "God Lives in Arkansas." When he received notification that she'd been a finalist, it was overwhelming.

"I was like, coming undone!" she said. "Then I went down there, and you play with a bunch of other people and the other finalists for two days. I just went down and thought, 'I'm going to have a great time on stage, just sing my songs and that's it.' I tried to let go of everything else, and I was able to do that and have a great time."

The last night of the competition, when her name was called, it was all the validation she needed that her Americana path is a true one. If she could turn back the clock, she wouldn't discourage her teen angst, and she wouldn't urge her younger self to stay put. If anything, her travels and trials have made coming back home even more satisfying, she added.

"I don't know that I'd do anything different, because leaving the farm made me appreciate the farm," she said. "I absolutely think that the travel and the moving away from home exposes you to as many different experiences as possible, and that's the key.

"You've got to get perspective, and I think one of the most immediate ways of doing things is to relocate yourself. Go do it all and then come back, because you really will come full circle."