MusicRowPics: Stephanie Quayle

Stephanie Quayle visit. Photo: Kelsey Grady

Bozeman, Mont. native Stephanie Quayle is so proud of her homestate that she frequently pays homage to it. “I sneak Montana-isms in when I can,” Quayle said before performing a brief acoustic set for MusicRow staff. A multi-talented musician, she took up piano at age 4, wrote her first song at age 12, and took up guitar at age 15.

Quayle’s road to Nashville was sparked by a chance meeting with hit songwriter Kelley Lovelace in Los Angeles. After seeing Quayle perform at club Ireland’s 32, he promptly told her she needed to move to Nashville. In 2011, she made the move to Music City and began co-writing with Lovelace and host of other ace songwriters. In 2013, she released the EP Stand Back, which showcased six songs co-written and co-produced by Quayle.

“After we began writing together, I asked if he could let me hear some of his songs, and he graciously opened up his catalog to me,” says Quayle. The catalog held what would become her current single, “Sugar High,” was penned by Kelley Lovelace, Ashley Gorley, and Steve McEwen. “Finding the right song when you didn’t write it is like trying to find the right pair of jeans,” Quayle quipped. “It’s not easy. This song felt right.” Quayle recently released a video for “Sugar High,” which was shot in Watertown, Tenn. “I’m a horse lover, so the video featured all these horses and animals around.”

For songwriters, inspiration can come from anywhere, and Quayle is no exception. The idea for another song in her set, “Meant For You,” came during a pizza stop in Nashville. “I was at Mafiaoza’s in Nashville, and I was chatting with the guy making pizza. I asked him what brought him to Nashville, and he said, ‘It’s the first place I ran outta gas.’ It sounded like a good song idea.” Quayle went to a writing space and spent the next two hours building a story around the lyric. “You can craft all day long, but some songs just magically create themselves.”

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