Sean Stemaly Brings Real Life Drama to ‘As Far As I Know’

With his new track, “As Far As I Know,” Sean Stemaly cleverly captures a drama playing out constantly in little towns all across America. But this vivid tale of teenaged turmoil isn’t just familiar to his listeners, it’s familiar to him.

Penned by Jameson Rodgers, Hunter Phelps, and Justin Wilson, the bittersweet ballad is all about the one who got away — but it comes with a twist. The song’s characters don’t breakup because their relationship went sour. Instead, they’re forced apart like a backwoods Romeo and Juliet, because she wants to see the world, and he feels trapped by the only place he’s ever known. Neither wants it, but both know it’s coming. And with Stemaly’s rumbling Indiana baritone bringing the song to life, it hits closer to home than anything he’s done so far.

“I spent my entire childhood like that,” the newcomer tells Sounds Like Nashville, joking that his team basically ganged up to convince him to record the track. “I never took vacations or spring break, because I always had to work with my dad on an excavating company. And then I worked as an equipment operator and also worked on farms. So I was just always busy working and never really left where I lived. The Indiana area was all I knew.”

But geography wasn’t the only parallel to Stemaly’s real life. He had to swallow the same romantic poison as the guy in the story, watching his high school sweetheart drive off and wondering what might have been at 19 years old. The singer/songwriter is past all that now, but you can almost hear a hint of lingering regret in the song’s powerful chorus.

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Before y’all hear “As Far As I Know” tonight I wanna tell you what it’s about. This is me at 18 years old. I was really young, in love and I didn’t know a world outside of small town Southern Indiana. I thought I knew everything about everything but If I could go back and tell that kid to do anything different, I wouldn’t. That heartbreak and a few other events led me to start trying my hand at music and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. This one is for anyone whose ever been through a heartbreak in a small town. Love y’all.

A post shared by Sean Stemaly (@seanstemaly) on Jul 9, 2020 at 5:54pm PDT

“If she takes it through the red light, and hangs right, she’s probably just headed to her mama’s / And if she takes a left turn, by the big church, there’s a 50/50 chance on where she’s going / I know where one road goes and the other I don’t / I just hope the county line is as far as she goes / ’cause that’s about as far as I know,” it goes.

“It was like just what me and my ex-girlfriend went through,” Stemaly says. “I thought I was gonna marry her, but she went off to Indiana University, and it ended up not working out between us. But that song is just bottom line, my exact story. My town had a big church where I used to sing, and she would have had to take a left turn there just like in the song to get to the highway and go to IU. So it was a must for me, I was like ‘I have to sing this.'”

“As Far As I Know” follows the steamy “Come Back to Bed” as the second track Stemaly’s released this year. But even as he chases his Music City dreams, he’s still feels deeply connected to his small-town home — and now with COVID-19 preventing artists everywhere from doing what they love, he’s missing it more than ever. Stemaly explained as much in a recent post on Instagram.

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Moving away from home was one of the best decisions I’ve made. It gave me the chance to chase a goal and shaped me into who I am as a man and an artist. But sometimes I can’t help but miss it. My family, my friends, the sunsets, the river bottoms, the smell of burning diesel fuel every morning when I fire up the tractors, listening to my grandpa tell stories about the railroad, arguing with my dad about stupid shit, I miss it all. But missing it is what makes it impossible for me to take it for granted and I wouldn’t change a thing about my life right now. No matter where life takes you, never forget where you came from. I’ll always be “Seandeere” from Southern Indiana.

A post shared by Sean Stemaly (@seanstemaly) on Jul 26, 2020 at 5:23pm PDT

“When I got into music it was like ‘Oh man, I can use a gift I have to go out and see the world — and get paid for it,'” he explains. “But now that that’s not a thing, I’m stuck in this big city every day and it’s just not the same as where I’m from. I’m not used to it yet, and I’ll probably never get used to it.”

Still, though, there’s plenty of bright side for Stemaly to look on. After only three short years of writing songs, he’s released four tracks which show off a diverse sense of style — and with “As Far As I Know,” one that captures his own heart’s essence. On top of that, “Come Back to Bed” has over 12 million streams on Spotify alone, and when concerts do finally come back, he’ll be ready. But for now, that’s about as far as he knows.

“Im just staying honest, and putting out songs I want to sing for the rest of my life,” he says. “I’m happy to ride it out and see where my career takes me.”