When Trisha Yearwood released Every Girl in August, it marked her first album of new songs in a dozen years. For some, that length of time might have meant extra pressure to make sure the record was perfect. For Yearwood, it meant that she felt unconstrained as she chose and recorded each of the 14 songs on the project.
“There was a freedom in making this record,” Yearwood told PopCulture.com. “I think we talked before about not feeling any pressure. A lot of that, you put pressure on yourself as an artist. Like, ‘Okay, I want to get played on the radio,’ or, ‘I want to sell records,’ or, ‘I want to make sure that this is successful.’ I didn’t feel any of that pressure and I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been doing this for 28 years. I just didn’t have an expectation of what those things would be, but I knew that I loved the music.
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“That’s really what you’re supposed to do as an artist,” she continued. “You’re supposed to find songs that move you and then let the rest of it take care of itself. I think I’m the most settled. I’m a Virgo so I’m kind of controlling, and I always tend to want to change things after the fact, but I wouldn’t change a note on this record and I love the songs, so I’m happy that it’s now out in the world for everybody else to decide what they think about it.”
Yearwood didn’t release the debut single, “Every Girl in This Town,” to have a hit at radio, but was pleasantly surprised when the song started climbing up the charts, and is now inching close to the Top 20.
“Well first of all, I’m a woman, I’m 54,” Yearwood explained. “Two things stacked against me. I think that we were having this conversation about how hard it is for women to get played on the radio right now, and that’s young women. I’m watching my friend Kelsea Ballerini have 18 months between a No. 1 record, and it’s just harder and harder. I’m watching these young girls who should be flying up the charts having trouble, so I just didn’t have any expectation for myself.
“And I guess because of that,” she added, “the fact that it’s doing well on the charts, is really kind of icing on the cake for me. I’m just really enjoying myself.”
Yearwood is donating a portion of the proceeds from Every Girl to the American Cancer Society. Purchase the album, and find upcoming tour dates, at her official website.
Photo Credit: Getty images / Brett Carlsen
