Stephanie Quayle Mixes the Reminiscent Past into Modern Country Music
Stephanie Quayle had no idea she could make country music into a career. That all changed during an exchange program in Switzerland when Quayle got the opportunity of a lifetime.
When Stephanie Quayle was growing up on the farm in Montana, she had no idea she could make singing her career. Even though she was raised on ranch life and country music from her “little silver AM radio,” she never even thought about the possibility of becoming one of those voices she listened to out at work.
That all changed, though, when her 16-year-old self moved to Switzerland on a foreign exchange program.
Long story short: the country newcomer got hired to be the lead singer of a Swiss band after their original lead left to become a soap opera actress in Germany. From there on out, her extra-curriculars consisted of weekend trips to gigs all around the country and recording songs in their spare time. She developed a knack and a passion for the professional musician lifestyle and made her pursuit a priority once she got back stateside.
She moved to Nashville only five years ago and has been putting music first ever since, in which her Switzerland education has helped immensely in her journey.
“What was kind of amazing was before I moved to Nashville, I was able to go full-time music where I was just performing live shows and playing any event that would pay us and the band to keep on going. So that enabled me to be, when I moved to Nashville, 2000 percent just in the music and able to focus on it. I’d already had a lot of experience on the road that I could just really focus on the music. It came with a little wisdom, I hope, or a whole lot of lessons and was just able to immerse myself,” she told Sounds Like Nashville.
Fast forward to the present and Quayle is at a great place in her game as she released her single, “Drinking with Dolly,” which honors all the iconic female country singers. The minute her producer, Matt McClure, played it for her, she knew that it meant something more to her besides just being another song.
“That song took me by such surprise and what I love about it is it’s reminiscent but also very forward,” she said. “Not to mention, it attributes the most incredible women in country music and I think that…I wasn’t obviously thinking this all when I heard it for the first time, I was just over the moon like this is my song. The world has to hear this song.”
Even as she’s continued to perform it for her fans, also known as her Flock of Quayles, she is drawn to its reminiscent quality.
“My little arm hairs raise every single time I play it,” she revealed. “I think there’s that simplicity of simpler times, which is kind of easy to fall there and go there and it’s wonderful. But the idea of sitting around a table with Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn…I can’t even say that without even getting choked up. I mean, just imagine, you know?”
While her single is gaining speed, Quayle is also working on another extended project, in which she said she has at least seven songs prepared. Her music ranges anywhere from deeply emotional tracks to the ones that keep the lyric simple for pure enjoyment. While she says that, “songs can be as deep as the ocean or as deep as a dog dish,” she hopes her next endeavor shows all sides to her music and doesn’t box her in to a specific voice.
“I just want to make music that’s great and that you feel something. So there’s a lot of different stuff going on this next one, so I’m so excited. I mean it obviously makes sense for itself, but like bending kinda within… ‘Drinking with Dolly’ is kinda the flight ship of this album. Filling in these other songs that just give it the uniqueness that I hope comes across,” said Quayle.
As Quayle continues on her musical path, she’s always thankful that her strong insight gave her the ability and the gumption to do what she loves for a living every day.
“I’m so grateful that I knew and that I had so much clarity about what I was meant to do,” she explained. “I think that’s a real gift when you have that sort of confirmation of what you’re meant to do and who you want to be and being who you are and all those aspects. It’s taken a lot of years to cultivate that, but I knew with that passion that this is what I’m gonna do.”
