Sometimes the best way for an artist to move forward is to take time
to be still. There’s nothing that feeds a creative soul like taking time
to soak up life and marinate in the moments that matter. Sara Evans
embraced that philosophy, and now, six years after her last studio
album, she’s back with Stronger, a landmark record filled with
the kind of gutsy explorations on life and love that have made Evans one
of the most compelling female vocalists of her generation.
If people are surprised to hear that Evans is back, it’s because it
didn’t seem as though she’d ever gone away. She continued to tour and
maintain close contact with her active fan base. She became an author,
signing a three-book deal with Thomas Nelson Publishers, which has
already published two of her novels – The Sweet By and By and Softly and
Tenderly. She released a greatest hits collection that included four new
tunes, and she’s continually remained a favorite at country radio thanks
to such hits as “Born to Fly,” “Suds in the Bucket,” “I Keep Looking,”
“Perfect,” “No Place That Far” and “A Real Fine Place to Start.”
Away from the spotlight, much has happened to Evans since her last
studio record. She weathered a high profile divorce, yet focused on her
three children, took time to heal and found love again with
football-star-turned-sportscaster Jay Barker. They married, and Evans
moved from Nashville to Birmingham, AL, devoting the last few years to
happily focusing on home and their blended family of seven children. “I
cannot believe it’s been six years,” she says of her self-imposed
hiatus. “In so many ways, I feel like I’m just beginning. I really and
truly do. I feel like I’m just starting my life, my career, and there’s
nothing that I can’t do. I’m definitely more confident now than I’ve
ever been in my life.”
That confidence informs the album’s lead single, “A Little Bit
Stronger,” a portrait of a survivor that carries an empowering
message. The song has quickly become one of the most successful singles
in Evans’ career, approaching the half-million digital sales mark even
before the release of her album. “‘A Little Bit Stronger’ is definitely
something that I can relate to, and everyone else can, too,” Evans says
of the song, penned by Hillary Lindsey, Luke Laird and Hillary Scott.
“Time really does heal everything. You come out on the other side, and
you always are stronger from it.”
Though Evans readily admits she’s the happiest she’s ever been in her
life, her new album is a diverse collection of songs that don’t
represent a singular season. “I honestly have to say that very little of
this album is autobiographical,” Evans says, “because I really separate
my personal life from my artistic life and my professional life. I could
be going through a horrible, horrible day, but I could still go and
write a happy song. I don’t have to write about what I’m going through.
I like to write about something I saw in a movie or something that I
heard a friend say or something that I saw on the news. I can put myself
into a song. It doesn’t have to be about me in order for me to be
passionate about it.”
Though she’s occasionally taken the confessional approach to writing
– best exemplified by her autobiographical hit “Born to Fly,” which is
reinvented on Stronger with a spirited bluegrass twist – Evans
generally takes an observational approach, and it serves her well on her
new collection. “What That Drink Cost Me” is a heartbreaking ballad
about a woman who loses her husband to alcohol. Co-written with her
brother Matt and producer Nathan Chapman, the song is a classic country
weeper that gives Evans a chance to reveal the full emotional range of
her powerful voice.
She and Leslie Satcher co-wrote “Ticket to Ride,” a buoyant story
song about a new relationship that blossoms on an airplane. She and
longtime friend and collaborator Marcus Hummon teamed up to pen
“Desperately,” an examination of the kind of love we all crave. Evans
co-wrote six of the album’s 10 tracks, but says her goal was to record
the very best songs no matter who wrote them. “I didn’t have a message
really that I wanted to say. I just wanted each song to be incredible,”
she says, “so that was my only focus. That was my goal.”
Evans puts her own distinctive stamp on “My Heart Can’t Tell You No,”
an ‘80s hit for rocker Rod Stewart that was originally intended as a
country tune by Nashville writer Dennis Morgan and co-writer Simon
Climie. Another highlight on the new album is “Alone,” a tender ballad
about a woman letting her man know that what she needs most from him is
space and time on her own.
In recording Stronger, Evans worked with hot young producer
Nathan Chapman – known for his work with Taylor Swift – and with Music
Row legend Tony Brown. “Both of them are brilliant producers,” says
Evans. “It took me two years to make the album, so Nathan started out on
the project and then he was committed to other projects so we begged
Tony to come in and finish it. He so graciously stepped in and did a
fabulous job.” Evans also teamed with Marti Frederiksen, who produced
the track “Wildfire,” which he co-wrote with Evans, her brother Matt and
Kara DioGuardi.
Stronger is just the latest jewel in an already stellar
career. The New Franklin, MO, native has come a long way from singing
with her family’s band as a child. She has garnered numerous accolades
including the Academy of Country Music’s Top Female Vocalist honor in
2006 and the Country Music Association’s Video of the Year prize for
“Born to Fly.” She’s been named one of PEOPLE magazine’s “50 Most
Beautiful People.” Her previous studio albums have been strong sellers.
Her sophomore set, No Place That Far, has been certified Gold; 2001’s
Born to Fly is double-Platinum and 2003’s Restless and 2005’s Real Fine
Place are both Platinum.
Evans admits to having mixed feelings about taking so long between
albums. “If I’d released this music any sooner than now, I know it
wouldn’t have been the right timing,” she says, “but there were moments
of feeling very anxious that I’d been off the radio for too long. My
manager said to me, ‘You don’t need to think about how long it’s been or
rushing into it. You just need to wait for the right song, and if you
wait for the right song, it will all fall into place.’ He kept saying,
‘Don’t make any decisions based on fear. Be patient. Know that your fans
are there. They are waiting. Nobody is going anywhere.’”
He was right. Country radio and the fans have embraced her new music,
and Evans couldn’t be more excited about this next chapter in her
career. “My goal with this album and then all the albums to come is just
to continue to make the very best music that I can possibly make. I want
to be at the top,” she says, and the supportiveness of her husband is
certainly as empowering as any lyric Evans might sing. “Jay tells me,
‘There’s nothing you can’t do. There’s nowhere you can’t go. There’s no
song you can’t sing. There’s no venue you can’t fill. Whatever you want
to try to do, I’m there to support it. If you don’t want to do it
anymore, I’m also there to support you.’ But I want it more now than
I’ve ever wanted it.”
