Songoftheday 8/31/21 - I can't imagine any greater fear, then waking up with out you near...

 

 

"No Place That Far" - Sara Evans

from the album No Place That Far (1998)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 3

 

Today's song comes from Sara Evans, who got her start as a child singer in Missouri, before moving to Nashville to kickstart her country music career. After signing with RCA Nashville, Evans released her debut album Three Chords And The Truth in 1997. The first single from the set, the retro-sounding "True Lies", was her first minor hit on Billboard magazine's country chart at #59, but none of the three singles from the record reached the top-40, and the album lingered in the bottom of the Country Albums sales chart at #56. Sara returned the following year with her sophomore effort No Place That Far. The lead single, "Cryin' Game", which put her more in the pop-crossover vein of Faith Hill, again stalled in the lower half of the Country Singles chart at #56. For the follow-up Evans released a song she co-wrote with Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro. "No Place That Far" was a ballad that was even more cross-over friendly profession of love, with Evans' vocal affectation the sole tie back to her country roots. But what really sold the song was her "ringer" on harmony vocals, Vince Gill, who brings such a presence to the song without overshadowing Evans. The result, which by the end resembles a true duet between the two (though more call and answer), is a heartwarming promise to be there for their love no matter the distance. And that key change is heartpiercing...

"No Place That Far" not only became Evans' first top-40 country radio hit, but went all the way to #1 for a week, while landing her first top-40 placing on the Hot 100 in February of 1999. Internationally, the single went to #4 on the Canadian Country chart. The No Place That Far album, released in October of 1998, climbed to #11 on the Country Albums chart, and #116 on the all-genre Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to move over a half million copies. 

Sara's third and final single from the record, "Fool, I'm A Woman", was an uptempo track also co-written by the singer with critic fave Matraca Berg, climbed to #32 on the Country Single chart in the U.S., and #33 on the Canadian Country list. Evans will return to this series.

(8/10)

 

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Here's Evans performing "No Place That Far" on the Donny & Marie talk show to promote the album with just a piano to accompany her...

 

 Up tomorrow: A diva revives a hit from the woman who first gave her a job.