“Songs are a combination of words and melodies, and it’s the
words that matter most to me,” she says. “When we go into these
pitch meetings, people always ask, ‘What are you looking for? Are
you OK with doing something that’s a little more pop?’ I always tell
them, ‘Just play me great lyrics.’ That’s what I’m looking for.”
Evans co-wrote three of the album’s 14 songs, instinctively
picking material along the way that matches her world view.
Thirteen additional females racked up writing credits on the project,
including Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, Pistol Annies’ Ashley
Monroe, The Isaacs’ Sonya Isaacs, Hillary Lindsey (“Blue Ain’t Your
Color”), Caitlyn Smith (“Wasting All These Tears”), Heather Morgan
(“Beat Of The Music”) and Liz Hengber (“For My Broken Heart”).
“A Little Bit Stronger,” Evans’ pensive, heartbreak anthem that
spent two weeks at #1 represents a look at the journey thus far, one
that’s kept her firmly in the forefront of country music for a solid 20
years. Born and raised in Boonville, Missouri, Sara grew up listening
– like much of her audience – to a mix of country, pop and rock on
the radio. She began singing with the family band when she was five
and made her first attempts at recording as a teenager, committing
to a creative path with her move to Nashville in 1991.
Smitten with country’s legacy, her version of Buck Owens’ “I’ve
Got A Tiger By The Tail” won the approval of songwriter Harlan
Howard – a Country Music Hall of Fame member who authored
Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces” and The Judds’ “Why Not Me” – and
of George Jones, who personally invited her to open for him at the
historic Ryman Auditorium on the strength of her first album.
That project – Three Chords and the Truth, produced by Dwight
Yoakam’s then-guitarist, Pete Anderson – arrived in 1997 to critical
acclaim. It accurately represented a key piece of Evans’ musical
personality, yet it missed other elements that were likewise
influential.
“If I could go back and whisper in my ear, I probably would have
advised myself to go a little bit broader with the music and not make
such a hillbilly record,” she says. “I was in this mindset that I was
gonna be a female version of Dwight Yoakam. That’s a part of who
I am, but it’s not all of who I am. I also grew up listening to Stevie
Nicks and Phil Collins and so I wish I would have rounded myself
out a little more on that first project.”
She clearly learned from the experience. Her resume now
includes 14 Top 20 country hits, ranging from her reassuring first #1
– “No Place That Far,” featuring background vocals by Vince Gill –
to the neo-traditional “Suds In The Bucket” to the elegant, spiky pop