Emily Ann Roberts Is Touring with Blake Shelton, Singing with Vince Gill — and Dreaming of Her Garden (Exclusive)

Emily Ann Roberts seems like the type that would have a garden.

"Last year’s garden wasn’t the most successful garden though," admits Roberts, 25, during an interview with PEOPLE about her newest obsession. "We were first timers. We got some stuff, and we ate it, and so I'd say that's success." She laughs, adding, "It'll be better this year!"

The garden is just one of the many new pieces of the life of the authentic country music artist from Knoxville, Tennessee, as she continues to make a new home in Nashville with her husband of three years, Chris Sasser. 

"We just bought our first house about a year ago, and we're slowly making it a home together," says the songbird who burst onto the scene in 2015 as the season 9 runner-up of NBC’s The Voice. "We are painting walls and putting wallpaper up in some rooms and decorating. We're just making memories that I know will last a lifetime, and that keeps me so grounded."

Staying grounded will certainly be a goal this year, as Roberts looks to be on the cusp of perhaps the biggest year of her career thus far. Having released her illuminating debut album Can't Hide Country back in September, the country music spitfire is prepping to hit the road with her former The Voice coach Blake Shelton on his Back to the Honky Tonk Tour in February.

"For a lot of years, I was trying to fit into a mold," explains Roberts, who recently released an acoustic video of her gorgeous song “Devil Wears Denim." "I wasn't happy with it. So, it's so good to have things happening now that I'm truly proud of."

Indeed, Can’t Hide Country is an all-encompassing album that finds a way to show each and every side of the sparkling prism that is Emily Ann Roberts.  

"There were times when I was looking for reasons to believe, and I was wondering if there were people out there who are looking for an artist like me," admits Roberts, who joins voices with the legendary Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill on her song "Still Searching." "Is there somebody out there who's going to believe in what I have to say and what I want to bring to the table?”

And the answer to that question is yes.

"We can tell crazy stories and we can cut up and laugh, and we can be sarcastic and act like fools sometimes," Roberts says. "And I think that that's what makes country music so special. It seems like there's room for all of it. It's real. People want to hear about real life."

And she does it with a whole lot of humor imbued inside of her songs.

"People do ask me where I get my humor from," laughs Roberts, whose new album includes the witty "He Set Her Off" and the sarcastic "Loves Me for My Heart." "I think I just grew up in a family that like to tell stories and make people laugh. And I probably exaggerate a lot and stretch things sometimes. That's just a part of who I am, and it comes out in my songwriting as well. And I think that’s important. Life doesn't have to be serious all the time."

But Roberts can also be serious and quiet and romantic, especially on songs such as the luscious "Infinity."

"I actually wrote that one over four years ago," she says of the beauty she wrote alongside fellow songwriter Stephanie Chapman. "Even if I have forever with you, it won't be long enough to love you…that's kind of how this song was born."

Roberts draws in a deep breath.

"When you have such great people in your life, even forever with them just don't seem like long enough," she says. "I feel really blessed to have Chris. No matter how crazy life gets, when I walk through those doors of our little house, it's just me and him and he loves me just for me. If the whole music thing left tomorrow, he wouldn't love me any less. And having somebody like that in your corner has got your back, no matter what, is a treasure."