Stephanie Quayle’s latest single, “Whatcha Drinkin’ ‘Bout” is still climbing the charts, from her latest If I Was a Cowboy album. Both the single and record were released in 2019, but while Stephanie has been off the road, she’s been working on new music, with plenty of time on her hands to make it exactly the way she wants it to sound.

“It’s super fun because it’s also given me time while it’s making its way up the charts to be in the creative space again, and be writing and finding and collaborating and recording,” Stephanie told Everything Nash. “Which, virtually recording is super wild. I was listening to mixes this morning, going, ‘This has been created amidst all the challenges of our time.’ And that is what’s so powerful about music. I think it’s really a time you either step into it, you lean into it, and you’re like, ‘All right, weird time for the world, let’s go.’ Or it can be very mentally paralyzing. I think that we’ve all been navigating both of those things.  I don’t know anyone that’s been like, ‘Oh no, this has been a piece of cake.’

“I’m just excited,” she added. “I’m excited that I still have something to say. And I think that’s the greatest challenge.”

Stephanie has been working hard on new music, but she’s also just been working. The Montana native has been quarantining with her husband, David Couch, on their North Carolina farm, where she’s been doing a lot of physical labor — and definitely isn’t afraid to get dirty from time to time.

“I’ve been living,” Stephanie said. “I’ve been really living. I’m here on the farm. So it’s everything from going to pick up our beef to bring to our market, doing inventory at our stores, to cleaning and taking care of the animals, performing virtually. You know how they say, ‘She wears a lot of hats?’ Also a lot of shirts. ‘Cause I’ll take off one shirt for virtual shows, and I’ll put on my dirty one again, and go shovel manure. For me, that is very life giving.

“I’m hearing phrases and conversations among our farm team,” she continued. “We’re all out there doing this together, COVID-compliant, of course. I’m getting to hear more. I’m getting to listen more. I’m not up on a flight at 4:00 AM for a radio station performance and back on a flight. I really have been able to dive into the life part of it, so I have something to say.”

Stephanie has also been soaking up time with her spouse of five years, marking the first time since they tied the knot that they could spend weeks on end together. While the coronavirus pandemic has been a challenge in many ways for her career, it is teaching her an invaluable lesson about priorities in her life.

“II think for me, I’m, I’m going to do a better job of finding the best of both,” Stephanie said of balancing her work with her personal life. “I have been able to grab on to some moments with my family and just dive in. At first. I was like, ‘How do I do this? How do we do our laundry together?’ All these day to day things, but in our individual lives, we all had our way of doing itm and then you come together and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s how you load the dishwasher.’ It’s been really fascinating to learn each other in those little moments of the day.”

Download or purchase Stephanie’s music, and keep track of updates, by visiting her website.

Photo Courtesy of TRUE Public Relations / John Shearer