Sarah Gayle Meech - Easin' On (2024) Hi-Res

From the heart of Nashville's vibrant music scene, Sarah Gayle Meech has emerged as a captivating force. Her upbringing in picturesque Longview, Washington, amidst evergreens, small towns, and resilient souls formed the bedrock of inspiration that permeates her work. Since moving to Tennessee over a decade ago, the city’s spirit has woven itself into that emotive sound, infusing it with the soul of country music’s past, as Meech looks towards the future.

With her forthcoming LP, Easin’ On, co-produced by Meech and Shawn Byrne, delivers a gut-punching collection of songs, penned solely by Meech, that speak to making peace with herself, and finding love - and life - again. After the release of her sophomore album, Tennessee Love Song, Meech went through the ringer - a divorce, the death of her best friend, struggles with inner demons, and just trying to survive.

"I journal and work on songs through that process all the time, and some of the things I had documented during that time were extremely hard to revisit," she recalls. "I had too much to say and nothing to say, all at once. It took me years to be able to turn these experiences and feelings into songs, and not break down when I played them for other people,” she continues. “I've never been more vulnerable in my writing; it was scary at first, to be so open with these lyrics, but it ended up healing me.”

Following a transformative decade in Los Angeles, Meech made her way in the bustling California country music scene, honing her craft, before she made the pivotal decision to move to Nashville. Her debut album, One Good Thing, resonated deeply with both fans and critics, and with residencies at iconic venues like Robert’s Western World and Layla’s on Broadway, she solidified her presence in Music City,

The momentum surged with her self-released sophomore effort, Tennessee Love Song, earning Meech the Ameripolitan Music Award for Best Female Outlaw. Her compositions found a home in film and television, with features on ABC’s “Nashville,” CMT, The Travel Channel, FX’s “Justified,” and many more.

There is an intimate and transformative journey within the grooves of the 10 soulful tracks on Easin’ On. The adventure begins with opener “Time For A Change,” which Meech describes as “the story of everything that was wrong in my life at the time.” After taking stock of her life, dealing with loneliness, emptiness, and divorce, she wrote “Time For A Change” as a prayer, a plea for salvation, a reminder of the hard truths she needed to face. “I couldn’t keep living the way I was. I wanted to find love again and couldn’t understand why nothing was working,” she recalls. “I realized I didn’t love myself, so how could anyone else? I knew I had to change and get my soul and life at peace.” Songs like “Love Me” pay homage to the rhythm and good vibes of heroes like Glen Campbell, whose “Southern Nights” captivated Meech at an early age. For an artist whose catalog brims with love songs from a sad perspective, “Love Me” is about finding joy and happiness again - and having fun. Title track “Easin’ On,” which captures the overarching spirit of the record, celebrates freedom.

“This album captures the beautiful highs and the terrible lows,” Meech explains. “I hope it helps others feel stronger, and that it’s possible to find joy again. To me, Easin’ On is about leaving the past in the rear view. Taking control of my life again and doing it my way,” she says. “I wanted to invoke the feeling of soaring, growing wings and taking flight. This body of work is a call to liberation, to keep on truckin’, keep on going down the road. Be free. Move on,” she adds. “Let the new in.”