Sometimes you have to come to the mountain, and sometimes the mountain has to come to you. In the case of “I Can’t Quit”, it happens to be a little bit of both with the new song from chart-topping, singer/songwriter Shane Stevens and country superstar Sara Evans. The single will be released on all major streaming platforms via Melody Place on February 21st, with the duo debuting the song live at The Grand Ole Opry on February 22nd.
Shane Stevens is a NSAI and BMI award winning, ACM and Grammy nominated songwriter to the stars with #1 charting smash hits for artists including Lady A (“American Honey’), Ariana Grande (“Step On Up’), Walker Hayes (“Fancy Like”), Carrie Underwood (“Do You Think About Me”), Selena Gomez (“Nobody”), Naomi Scott (“She’s So Gone”) and Meghan Trainor (“Woman Up”) among numerous others.
Stevens says about the song: “When I co-wrote this (with Nash Overstreet, Nikki Williams and Jimmy Robbins) in 2016, we all imagined Tim McGraw and Faith Hill singing it. When that didn’t come to fruition, it sat on my laptop for a few years on what I call ‘Song Mountain’ until I finally decided to make a go at recording my own music. Sara Evans was the first person I thought of as my duet partner for it. I made the call, and she graciously said yes.” He confesses, “I want to tell my stories, and sing my stories, I mean, my whole life has been a country song — it literally has! I write country songs for country stars, so maybe I should just be one already!” he concludes with a hearty laugh.
“When Shane played me this song, I instantly loved it!” Evans remarks. “I was so honored to sing on such a well-crafted song. We have written a lot of songs together and have sung together a lot, but more precious to me is our long friendship. We sound great together, and I can’t wait for the world to hear this duet!”
Stevens concludes, “There’s a powerful manifestation that comes when you just write things down and let them go. For me, it’s a connection to the divine, and I know that’s where my songs come from. I just faithfully believe that God’s going to come through for me. I always have. When I write something, I always imagine the creator of the universe sitting up there, wherever it is, and saying, ‘Look at my kid go. Look at him making something out of his imagination.’ When you realize that everything was imagination first, it changes the way you think about creation, you know?” In addition, Stevens co produced “I Can’t Quit” with Grammy and Dove Award winning producer Tedd T.
Stevens and Evans will be performing “I Can’t Quit” together at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on February 22, 2025, as part of the Opry’s 100th anniversary celebration, and he is quite humbled by the invitation. “I’m going to stand in that circle with Sara, and sing my own song,” Stevens says while
sporting a big ol’ grin on his face. “It’s wild! It’s the biggest honor — and my mom and my sister are coming too, so they’ll both be there to see it!”
The time is now for Shane Stevens to step up to the microphone and take charge of his destiny. Hear it for yourself and find out why “I Can’t Quit” is a song you’ll be playing, and singing along to, on repeat long after you too get all the demons off your back.
