Living in Maine, we all know what it’s like to scour a rocky beach in search of sea glass. It’s all good when you find it, but once in a while you get really lucky. You find that elusive deep blue one, big enough for a small gem and polished smooth by time and breaking waves. Then you put it in your pocket, feel it. You take it out again and look at it in the sun — all the while thinking you just found something perfect.

When I came across “Honest Words,” by Megan McCormick, I got that same blue sea glass feeling.

Released on Aug. 17 on indie label Rykodisc Record, “Honest Words” marks the debut album by Nashville singer-songwriter/guitarist McCormick. She just turned 24 this summer, but her music has the maturity, polish and lyrical soul of a veteran artist.

You’re going to want to get her album now because she won’t be a secret for long. According to her manager James Del Balzo, former senior vice president of promotion at Columbia Records and now owner of Jim Del Balzo Entertainment, you can catch her on “The CBS Morning News Show” on Saturday.

“The only thing I can add is that I made a promise to myself two years ago that I was no longer interested in signing unsigned artists to my management company,” said Del Balzo, whose client list includes John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello and LL Cool J. “I saw Megan once and was convinced that I had to work with her. She is a unique talent. There is no better way to describe her.”

How can her music be so deep given her young age? McCormick attributes it to growing up in a musical family and being on her own since she was 16. She quit high school in 10th grade with a plan to be a musician.

“I was really eager to begin this whole journey,” McCormick said in a telephone interview this week. “It’s always been my dream, not in a fantasy way, but it was just my plan.”

She earned her high school diploma equivalent and went to college to study business and marketing. “I thought it would be beneficial for my career,” she said.

Even with that mature look to her future, McCormick admitted that maybe you can’t really learn talent. Every song on “Honest Words” sparkles with musical depth. Written by McCormick and songwriting partner Tami Hinesh, the album gives you the highs and lows of a passionate relationship from first exciting thrill to soul-bearing end with a perspective of someone beyond her years. The sounds of jazz, punk, rock and country are all there, depending on the mood of the song lyrics.

“I’m not the kind of writer that just makes up different stories and scenarios,” said McCormick. “What I know best is what I’ve lived. I just put myself out there. I don’t think I can convince anyone to believe in me any more than I do. I don’t know how to be any other way.”

When it comes to musical breadth and the ease she has segueing from sultry jazz vocals in “Lonely Tonight” to a Concrete Blonde-like edge in “Shiver” or straight out rock ‘n’ roll in “Addiction,” McCormick chalks it up to her childhood.

She grew up in Alaska and Idaho but has called Nashville home for the past several years. She has picked up the accent nicely, by the way. She said she’s been playing guitar with her grandfather and uncle since she was 8 years old.

“I just grew up listening to all kinds of music,” said McCormick, who is a big fan of Bonnie Raitt and Steely Dan. “I think my dad’s favorite band was Steely Dan. I’ve never felt the need to pick one kind of music over another.”

While her rich vocals and emotional songwriting are obvious standouts on the album, you should know that the guitar is her, too. That gentle string melody on “Oh My Love” and “Driveway” is McCormick. And that sound of raw power on “Shiver” is McCormick.

“I don’t understand why it’s not a common thing,” said McCormick about female guitar players. “Maybe I’m young or a woman or whatever, but like at a sound check at a show, no one is assuming that this girl’s going to be the lead guitar player.”

The perfect blend of McCormick’s styles, experiences and vocal and guitar skills comes together in her song “Pick Up the Phone.” In an album full of blue sea glass, that’s the track that I keep admiring and returning to the most. The album ends with the title track “Honest Words,” a gently rolling acoustic song that carries you back out to sea along with memories, thoughts, regrets and hopes.

The entire album is that rare creation that can only be shaped by nature and circumstance. You can find this treasure on www.myspace.com/meganmccormicksmusic, where you can also find out more about McCormick.

Emily Tuttle is a freelance writer living in Minot. Her e-mail address is [email protected].