40,
BAC KSTAGF
PAS S
WITH STACEY FALDETTA
tephanie Quayle is talented,
well spoken and beautiful.
Dedicated to her music
and a genuine Montana country
girl, she is the one to watch as
the newest rising country music
star to hit the scene in Nashville.
She grew up on a farm right
outside Bozeman and her brand
spanking new extended play (like
a CD but shorter), 'Stand Back'
was featured by Billboard and
released on August 6th. It features
the title track single and is set to
hit the radio waves soon. She
has performed at the 2012 and
2013 CMA Music Fest as well
as the Sundance Film Festival. I
was lucky enough to catch up by
phone with the rising superstar
so I could get to know her a little
bit better, ask her a few questions
about her early years and her path
to success, as well as a few fun
personal questions.
Where were you born?
Stephanie Quayle: Bozeman,
Montana, at Bozeman Deaconess
Hospital.
Who were your musical
S
influences growing up?
SQ: My family had a strong
work ethic as 1 was growing up
and we always had chores to do
around the farm, mucking out the
Inspiring others inspires me. We
are all in this together and I want
my music to reflect that.
I prepared emotionally and
mentally, and I believe my hard
work ethic, my 'how ever long
it takes to get it done' attitude,
really made it easier to transition.
Interestingly, in the fall of 2012,
my manager, Dale, saw potential
and came out of retirement to
work with me. It was awesome
because it all started over a
breakfast meeting with him in
Big Sky. In early 2013, we made
Do you play any instruments?
SQ: I learned to play the piano it official.
I have read that you love
at age four from my Gramma
How do you
Katherine. She was one tough songwriting.
cookie and taught me, as well all approach the process?
SQ: I do love songwriting.
my brothers, how to play. I also
play guitar and taught myself at To me, it is all about telling a
age 15 on a black Charvel that story, sharing moments, creating
I bought myself at a pawnshop memories. There is magic in
on Main St. I play my guitar on songwriting. I will start out
stage but have yet to introduce with trying different strumming
my piano. I have that in the plans patterns on my guitar. Or when
I play the piano, I get lost in the
though.
For lack of a better term, how music. And to be honest, (another
giggle) much of my inspiration
did you get 'discovered'?
SQ: (Laughs) Well, I consider for new songs comes to me in the
it more of an 'in process' type of shower. In this business you have
thing. I moved to Nashville in to be 'all in'. You have to write
the fall of 2011 to focus solely on your own songs that tell your own
my music. I had to do a gut check story. It is what makes you unique.
to be prepared for the move, as I Being true to me and true to my
knew Nashville is where I had to voice makes my music authentic.
be to push my music, and I also I find it amazing to be able to
knew it would be a tough process. share this journey with people.
stalls, cleaning the barn or taking
care of the random animals
that we acquired so often. I
didn't have much time to listen
to anything except what was
playing on the AM radio as I did
the chores. There was always a
country station playing so I grew
up listening to the old classic
country: George Jones, Patsy
Cline, and The Judds.
Now these questions are just
for fun to get to know the 'real'
Stephanie. Tell us your favorites.
Favorite truck?
SQ: Ford F-150, but an old
one. Like the boxier version.
Favorite Animal?
SQ: My dog, 'MO'. But I love
horses.
Favorite Food?
SQ: I always eat healthy, but
when I don't, when I want some
junk food, I love, love, love pizza.
But I don't just eat one slice; I can
really tear it up!
Favorite current country
artists? Male and female?
SQ:I love artists that
love what they do, don't take
themselves too seriously, and
can have fun. Right now it would
have to be Blake Shelton and
Miranda Lambert. And currently
the ratio of men in country music
outweighs the women. I am going
to change that.
Any advice for new artists?
SQ: It is important to know
what you want. You have to
really want to be in this business.
It can't be a 'one foot in, one
foot out' kind of attitude. There
is a business side to the music
industry that can be very intense.
You have to have a thick skin, be
able to handle a lot of criticism.
I have a great team of people
around me that kind of shield
me from that. For me, there is
nothing else that I would rather
do than music. My wish is to
leave a legacy of music behind
that people will want to listen
to for decades to come. I want to
grow old in my career, until my
very last breath.
That is advice worth following.
Thanks for taking time with us,
Stephanie.
Stephanie is also ecstatic to
announce her return home in a
Montana homecoming show. This
is very exciting for me as well,
as I have exchanged a few notes
with Stephanie over the last few
months, but I have yet to meet her
in person. She seems a very warm
and centered woman, passionate
about her music and her fans.
Stephanie is to be admired for
the pursuit of her dream with
hard work and dedication. I can't
wait to meet her in person. The
live show will be in Bozeman
on Sunday, December 8, 2013 at
the Emerson Arts and Cultural
Center located at 111 S. Grand,
beginning at 6 p.m. Until then, I
suggest checking out Stephanie's
EP 'Stand Back' on Amazon, her
website: Stephaniequayle.com .
Spotify, XM Radio, or Pandora.
FACEBOOK IS AN ADDICTION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS
By ASHLEE TWIFORD
cultureernsubretortorg
onsider logging off
Facebook and not going
back for one week. It
wouldn't be a steep estimate to
figure that most Facebook users
couldn't do such a thing without
constantly reminding themselves
not to open that jar and reach in.
It's like a twitch that most people
aren't aware that they have until
they try to shut it off. Sooner or
later, and more likely sooner than
later, it's going to have some real
affects on how humans socialize
in group settings.
This article isn't the first
attempt to identify Facebook as
a lonely person's island from
which they can stare at other
islands in hopes to show that
theirs is, in fact, much cooler.
Online personalities aren't the
only observers either. Sherman
Alexie' wrote a poem titled "The
Facebook Sonnet" and published
it within the New Yorker. It reads,
...Why can't we pretend/Every
stage of life is the same?/Let's
C
-
exhume, resume, and extend/
Childhood ..." Perhaps the poet
believes that we are committing
too much to self absorption in
adolescence just as much as the
political cartoonist in another
issue of the same publication. The
cartoon revised the monkeys of
evil to read, "Hear all evil, see all
evil, post all evil."
A culture of non-culture
seems to be prevalent on college
campuses and Facebook is
a contributing factor. After
speaking with a large portion
of the student body, most admit
that they almost always have
Facebook open while doing their
homework. Some even admit
that they dropped the ball on an
assignment because of the "time
suck" that Facebook is.
How did social media sites
drift so far from the original
intention? If their original
intention is to connect people
it's strange to have hundreds of
friends that users don't often have
conversations with. It seems that
the Facebook status update has
become more like a proverbial
mountain top for people to
scream, "I'm important. My ideas
matter!" But this projection of
self isn't used to promote personal
ideas, spark conversations, or
even communicate stances on
national issues. Instead it is used
to document the mundane every
day happenings of life and those
even get more "likes" too.
As people start noticing the
concept of social networking
aging, they might also notice that
the desired spread of information
and connections has grown into
more like a platform for group
think. People can show approval
without even saying any words.
Are well-developed personal
opinions on the decline?
Research in social capital is a
pretty lucrative area of expertise
and Robert Putnam developed
his book Bowling Alone in the
field. He discusses successful
civilizations and the fact that they
are successful not because of the
amount of money that they make
but rather they are a result of well-
linked communities. According
to Putnam, bowling leagues,
soccer and bridge clubs and
gaming groups are what make a
nation, well, a nation. He believes
that the rise in technology is
working to isolate people from
those connections. The book
was written in 2000 so it isn't
filled with new conclusions; new
observations have not been made
nor have any real changes. A quick
Google Trends search shows that
"Facebook" still trumps other
popular search terms like "blog"
and "world news."
Is being young and in
your 20s the worst time to be
involved in Facebook? Those
chance encounters, awkward
public moments that test ideas,
and the growth as a person
into an objective adult might
be threatened by the existence
of Facebook. Do you agree or
disagree? Could you give up
Facebook without feeling like a
limb has been cut off?
Are you addicted?