If the leadoff single from her upcoming album is any indication, country singer and songwriter Sara Evans is relishing life in a whole new place.
In the upbeat “Feels Just Like a Love Song,” released this summer, the one-time Female Vocalist of the Year (who gained mainstream recognition when she left ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” midseason in 2006 to deal with an ugly, and very public, divorce) sings about finding heaven at home, where laughing children run up and down the stairs.
It’s a sound she seems extremely happy to hear every day at home in Birmingham, Ala., where she moved when she married former University of Alabama quarterback and sports radio host Jay Barker last year. The couple have made a home there with her three children and his four — Andrew, 11, Avery, 10, Braxton, 9, twins Harrison and Sarah Ashlee, 8, Olivia, 6, and Audrey, 5.
“They all play sports, and we are very busy, but Jay is an amazing father and handles everything so well,” writes Evans, one of seven children herself, in an e-mail to the Tribune.
Evans is on a quick, pre-Christmas tour of Western states, boarding with the kids on a tour bus from show to show. She’s just released a four-song EP of holiday music, and she’s working on a new album due out next spring. She also has a deal to write four books with Christian author Rachel Hauck.
Via e-mail from the road, Evans answered a
few questions for Valley fans:
Q: What can fans expect to see and hear at your show in Mesa?
A: The first half of the show is hits, then an intermission, then the second half is all Christmas songs. It’s very fun and festive and may even make you cry!
Q: How did you choose which holiday songs to include on your new Christmas EP and in your concerts? Were Christmas carols a big deal in your house growing up?
A: My parents are huge music lovers, but mostly just always had on country radio. The Christmas cd is a compilation of Christmas songs I’ve recorded over the years. But choosing the songs for the show was fun! I wanted to do a combo of fun/emotional songs!
Q: Tell us about the new album you’re working on.
A: The new album is great! It’s coming from a place I’ve never been in before! So happy and confident and at peace! But, it’s taking me a little longer to finish it because I’m putting tons of pressure on myself to make it amazing!
Q: Your first novel, “The Sweet By and By,” is coming out in January. Give us a synopsis of the plot and how you decided what to write about.
A: Well, I thought the best thing for me would be to write about what I know. And that is relationships! So it’s a fictitious story about a girl who’s about to get married and all the relationships she needs to reconcile before this happens.
Q: What does the title mean?
A: It’s about redemption. That eventually when we get to Heaven, all things will be forgiven and why not do that in this life too?
Q: You have a deal to do three more books. What types of stories are you interested in sharing next?
A: All 4 books are a continuation of the same story.
Q: How will you and your family spend Christmas?
A: Jay and I and the kids have started our own traditions. We have Christmas breakfast after we open gifts. We don’t want to repeat anything that we did in the past! Ha!
Q: Are you making any New Year’s resolutions?
A: Just to grow and nourish our family! Fall more in love with Jay every day and make the best music possible and get back on country radio!
Sara Evans in concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St.
Cost: $31-$51
Information: (480) 644-6500 or www.mesaartscenter.com
