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An Anonymous Sara Evans Fan


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 is 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.”

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.”

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 of 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 you’re 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 new 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,” she says. “I want to be at the top. 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.”