Stephanie Quayle

A sometime choir girl who started writing poetry at age five, Quayle was fascinated by the way the country-radio stars used slice-of-life storytelling, graceful melodies, and sharp songcraft to impart pure emotion. On Meant For You, her upcoming first full-length album since moving to the country-music epicenter of Nashville in 2011, the singer-songwriter-guitarist builds off that very formula with lush arrangements and a lyrical sensibility that’s both sophisticated and raw. Featuring “Sugar High” (a breezy, harmony-driven track whose video had its world premiere on CMT last August), Meant for You also reveals Quayle’s power to channel passion and pain with her gorgeously soulful vocals.

Soon after graduating high school, Quayle headed to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music, but spent several years struggling to find an audience. “Everyone I played for would ask, ‘You’re a country artist, why aren’t you in Nashville?’” she says. In 2009 Quayle had her first big break when Maria Shriver invited her to perform at the following year’s The Women’s Conference, an opportunity that prompted her to finish and release her debut album Ain’t No Housewife. Two years later, itching to align herself with the country greats she most admired, Quayle made the move to Nashville to devote herself to music full-time. “When I finally got to Nashville, I focused 100 percent on becoming a better songwriter and musician, and just tried to absorb the energy of this town that’s literally built on a song,” she says.

Now splitting her time between Nashville and Montana, Quayle says her infatuation with Music City hasn’t diminished in the slightest over the past few years. “Songwriting is still so magical to me, and it really blows me away that right at this exact moment there are thousands of people out there working on a song,” she says. But Quayle also points out that her greatest joy comes from live performance, which she considers a deeply communal experience. “During my shows it’s not, ‘Hey, look at me!’ — it’s very much, ‘Hey, let’s all do this together, this is for us,’” says Quayle, who’s recently opened for country hit-maker Jerrod Niemann and country’s rising newcomer Jon Pardi. “Music is my love and the thing that’s most fulfilling to me,” she continues. “Most of the time in day-to-day life I feel like a fish out of water, but when I’m up there singing for a crowd, everything makes sense and I feel like I’m home.”