Sara Evans knows what it’s like to have a radio hit. The 47-year-old has had more than a dozen Top 20 singles, including No. 1 hits like “Born to Fly” and “A Little Bit Stronger,” released in 2010, which became her last run in the top spot.
After leaving her longtime label, RCA Nashville, after the release of her seventh studio album, Slow Me Down, in 2014, Evans launched Born to Fly Records, releasing her latest album, Words, in 2017 on her own. Although she was hoping that her previous success would mean continued support at radio, Evans found herself, along with the majority of other female artists, struggling to get her music heard, a fact that has impacted not only Evans, but her entire family.
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“The girls are just as frustrated as I am because they’ve seen how this ridiculous change in country radio has affected my career,” Evans told Billboard, speaking of her two daughters, Olivia and Audrey. “It’s been sad. I grew up on country music and I made my whole, entire career on country radio and contributed what I believe is a lot of great music to the country genre.
“So for my family to watch me sobbing at home because [radio] refused to play the single I released when I’ve worked my a– off,” she continued, “and gone to visit every country programmer in America and I feel like I deserve a spot … They’ve grown up with it, watching it, and it’s devastated all of us. Now I just want to see it either change or find another genre for females, because it’s just absolutely ridiculous.”
Evans isn’t afraid of hard work, and initially hoped her determination would make up for what she lacked at a big record company. But the Missouri native soon realized that commercial success was tied into radio, leaving her, and many other female artists, out in the cold.
“The sad thing is we still need mainstream radio and mainstream TV to really hit it big,” Evans lamented. “When I had hits at country radio, that’s what got my career off the ground and made my career … Until these programmers decide that they’re going to get back in their normal thinking minds and listen to the songs, and actually play great songs, it’s never going to change.”
Evans will kick off her At Christmas Tour on Nov. 24 in Ohio. Find dates at her official website.
Photo Credit: Getty images/Ed Rode
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