For over 20 years, Sara Evans has been delivering chart-topping hits to her fans such as “Born to Fly,” “A Little Bit Stronger” and “No Place That Far.” But what her fans are in for this year is something that not even Sara could quite predict what their reaction would be. “My fans are literally getting another side of me that they didn’t know existed,” Sara tells Country Beat Magazine with laughter.

The project she is referring to is her newly-released covers album, Copy That, marking her first solo endeavor since her 2017 Words. The album contains 13 tracks – all covers – that spans six decades of pivotal songs which helped shape

her life and career. Tracks included on Copy That include The Wallflowers’ “6^th Avenue Heartache,” Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You,” Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and The Pretenders’ “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” among other classic hits.

“I really couldn’t be more excited and more proud of a project. I love this record,” she proudly states. “I can’t get enough of it. I can’t describe to you what a joy it was making it. The experience was so amazing.”

Sara spent close to six weeks solid working in the studio day in and day out, which was a family affair, from her 19 year old son Avery playing guitar on the tunes to her 16 year old daughter Olivia who provided background vocals. The kids who weren’t part of the project itself were still present, however. “My girls were there with me every day, every minute, every second, doing their online school work,” laughs the mother of seven, including her four bonus kids with husband Jay Barker. “I’m obsessed with my children. I’ve poured my entire being into raising them to be great people, and they truly are. I’m so proud of them. They bring me so much joy, and so does performing. We had the best time!”

The concept for Copy That was one Sara had in her back pocket for many years, just waiting for the right time. After recently relocating her family from Birmingham, Alabama back to Nashville, Sara felt the opportunity was at her doorstep, especially after her introduction to famed producer Jarrad K (Ruston Kelly, Goo Goo Dolls, Weezer). “One of the first things I wanted to do after getting back to Nashville was meet with him and see if we would vibe and just talk about doing a project together,” she says. “I thought if we liked each other and we can get along musically, why not do the covers record with him because that way we can get something out quicker instead of starting from scratch and writing an entire record, which is what we are going to do now that we are done with this record. It just seemed like the right time. I was ready to give the fans something just crazy, and that’s exactly what they’ve got!”

After working closely with The Wallflowers studio drummer, Matt Chamberlain, on her own music over the years, Sara knew including one of their songs on the project was a no-brainer. “I had to do a Wallflowers song because when that [Bringing Down the Horse]record came out, I became obsessed with it,” she gushes. “That’s how I found Matt, and he started playing drums on all of my albums since Born to Fly. [‘6^th Avenue Heartache’] is a song that is incredible. That line the same black line that’s drawn on you is drawn on me … I’m just like, whoever came up with that … it gives me chills every time. It’s so sad, like we’re both damaged.”

Unfortunately for Sara and die-hard Wallflowers fans, Matt was out on tour with iconic legend Bob Dylan and unable to play drums on the cover in the studio for Copy That, but Eric Slick stepped up to the plate in his absence. “He is absolutely an animal,” praises Sara of Eric’s musicianship. “He is amazing.”

Sara was able to work in some special collaborations still, including the duet with Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet on the Kenny Loggins tune “Whenever I Call You Friend” and her rendition of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” featuring Old Crow Medicine Show, which Sara gives full credit to Jarrad K for the end result. “I absolutely loved the idea when he suggested them,” Sara says. “I could not imagine that it would be as spectacular as it turned out. To me, that’s one of the best songs on the record. Plus,” she adds, smiling, “that’s my wheelhouse, singing that real old sounding country bluegrassy stuff.”

One of the more challenging songs on the project is Dexy’s Midnight Runner’s hit “Come On Eileen,” which Sara went the extra mile to match her version to the original. “That is such a bat sh-t crazy song,” Sara laughs. “What does it even mean?! That band was a one-hit-wonder, but that song is so iconic. Everybody knows it, so we worked our asses off to hear all the harmony parts and all of the lead parts. They just layered and layered and layered and layered. We didn’t want to miss anything. We wanted to find it all and copy all of it. It was super hard.

“A song like that can either turn out super cheesy or it can turn out really cool,” she adds. “And really, with most of the songs, I wanted to copy them verbatim to just pay respect to the musicians and the artists who did them. I don’t mind cover tunes that are changed a lot, but that wasn’t the vision I had for this record, and that’s why we named it Copy That because we copied them pretty much to a tee.”

While tour plans for Copy That are still in the works, Sara says that her live shows will definitely include a handful of songs from the album. “I would love to do the album top to bottom, but I don’t think we would be able to get away with not playing enough of the hits,” she says. “We will probably pick the ones that seem like the best live, but that’s going to be hard to do. I think we will just wait and see what the response is.”

And speaking of the hits, Sara Evans’ music has remained a staple in country music for over two decades now, being named the fifth most played female artist at country radio. But with all her success and all of her hit records, Sara still strives to push herself to be bigger and better with each passing year. “I’m still looking for the next thing,” she says. “I’m still trying to be more famous. I’m still trying to make more money. I’m still trying to do all those things that I was doing 20 years ago.”

The 20-plus years in the limelight has provided Sara with plenty of knowledge and learning experiences that have shaped so much of who she is as a woman and entertainer. “I’m really very much the same person I was back when I first started in this business,” she reflects. “But I love feeling like I’m wiser today than I was last year.

“Every day has something to teach us,” she continues. “I was born an optimist. I think that’s such a blessing, and I thank God for that every day because I think being an optimist has contributed to so much of my success because I never stay down. There’s nothing that I believe that I can’t do. There’s no question that should be asked and nothing that you shouldn’t try. I wish more people could grasp that instead of being crippled with fear, because it’s just like time flies, and I for one don’t want to miss any of it!”