For many years, Jade Stone was content just outside of the spotlight. Every weekend, she was on stage, but instead of center stage, she was slightly more stage left or right, sawing on fiddle and singing background vocals for 90s country legend Doug Stone, to whom she has been married for over a decade.
The fire to create never fully went out, though. It lay dormant until the opportunity to create a new EP, with her husband manning production duties, came forward. The time was right, and Stone found herself back in the studio.
After combing through Doug’s vast catalog of songs to comprise her self-titled EP, releasing January 4th, she also hand-selected two stone-cold country classics: Steve Wariner’s “Some Fools Never Learn” and Wesley Dennis’s “Don’t Make Me Feel at Home” to complete the EP. With those two songs now out into the world, Stone is ready to unveil the rest of her 90s-inspired EP in less than a month.
We chatted with Stone all about stepping forward, working with her husband, each of the songs on her EP and more!
Pro Country: Back in June, when you mentioned you had begun work on your new, self-titled EP, you mentioned that your husband, 90s country legend Doug Stone, had been insistent on you recording music. Why was it time right now to get back in the studio and record new music?
Jade Stone: Last year, Doug was doing solo acoustic shows. When he and I met, I started playing fiddle in his band and singing backgrounds. When he was doing a lot of full-band shows, I was still able to perform. I would even open the shows and play a few songs with the band. Last year, when he was doing all of the acoustic shows, I was hanging out backstage, doing the road manager thing. He had one weekend of full-band dates last year, so when I was playing with the band, they were saying they loved my voice and they asked why I wasn’t doing anything. Doug’s always been supportive and wanted me to get out there. The guys said I needed to get in the studio because of the 90s country sound resurging and said I should jump in on it.
This past February, Doug had neck surgery, and he’s taking the whole year off. That gave me a push. He said I wasn’t on the road, so I didn’t have an excuse [laughs]. It was the perfect time to walk through the door that had been opened.
PC: As far as we can tell, your EP is set to be your first release in over a decade. What was it like being in the studio again and cutting the EP?
JS: Gosh, has it been ten years?! [laughs]. I grew up on traditional country music like George Jones and Ray Price. The album I made ten years ago was in that same vein. It sounded like it was recorded in the 70s; it was very old-timey. This time, it was fun doing a more modern take on things. It’s still very country, but at the same time, it’s different from anything I’ve done. It felt really good and organic. It felt like nothing had changed, even though everything has changed.
PC: The first song you released from your forthcoming EP is a cover of Steve Wariner’s “Some Fools Never Learn.” Can you talk about what you love about the song and why it was the right introduction for the EP?
JS: Steve is one of my favorites! Ever since I jumped into 90s country, Steve has been at the top of my list. I’ve made Doug drag me out to several of his shows [laughs]. I’ve gotten to meet him, too, and he’s a great guy.
I’ve never been a girl that’s been interested in doing your typical “girl covers.” I’ve always been more about the “guy songs,” because you don’t really hear the girls singing them. I’m always on the hunt for them and I’m looking to put a fresh spin on them. “Some Fools Never Learn” is a song that I’ve been singing for years.
As a matter of fact, during the last show Doug did last year, he was starting to have a lot of numbness in his hands from the neck injury. He struggled through the whole night. My stepdad had come along to play acoustic with him to help him get through. Towards the end of the night, he couldn’t finish the show, and he walked off stage. I’ve never seen him do that before; he never leaves. When he walked off, I was looking around backstage, trying to figure out what to do. I walked out on stage, looked at my stepdad like “let’s do something, let’s do anything!” We played “Some Fools Never Learn,” and you could’ve heard a pin drop. Somebody got it on video and put it online, and I couldn’t believe the response it got. A friend of mine, Kevin Moon, who’s a great artist, texted me the next day and said I had to get in the studio and cut the song. To me, it was a shoe in to record it.
Funny enough, Doug is very big on recording originals and not doing covers. I insisted that I wanted to do the song. We went toe-to-toe on it, but now that we’ve done it, he agrees it was the right choice.
PC: The second single release from your EP was “Don’t Make Me Feel at Home,” which is a massively underrated song by Wesley Dennis that has also been recorded by Tim McGraw. You told a great story of hearing it for the first time on social media. Can you run us through hearing the song and what struck you about it?
JS: I was driving home from a gig one night, and it came on FM radio. I’d never heard it before, so I pulled out my phone and tried to Shazam it. Doug had a copy of it and thought it was a demo. He didn’t realize the history of it and that it had been released. I fell in love with it. That is the kind of song that made me fall in love with country music; songs that hit you in the gut when you hear them. I got my phone out and recorded a voice memo of myself singing it so I could go back and record it at some point. When it came time to select songs, that was at the very top of the list.
Of all of the people that have heard the EP, that one is coming in as their favorites. It was an honor to record that song.
PC: Doug has amassed quite the catalog of songs in his career. On your EP, you recorded “She Used to Love Me a Lot,” which was featured on his More Love album. Of all of the songs in his catalog, what was it about that song, which you’ve made “I Used to Love Him a Lot,” that was right for this EP?
JS: We listen to Doug’s catalog a lot, and that was one where a few years back when we were looking for songs to do in the live show, he said could be a good one for me to record. When I was recording the scratch vocals, I was singing it as “he used to love me a lot, but he quit.” I went in, did the demo, and as we kept listening to it, Doug didn’t feel it was right yet. In jest, it became “I used to love him a lot, but I quit,” and immediately, we knew we had to re-write it from the girl’s perspective. He wrote it with Dean Dillon back in the day, and the tweaks came together in about ten minutes. Looking back, I’m glad we changed it. It’s a fun, sassy song.
PC: “Little Hearts” is another song of Doug’s that he solo-wrote and is a heartbreaker from the perspective of a child missing a parent. What do you remember about hearing the song for the first time and how quickly did you know you wanted to record it?
JS: I think the first time I heard it was when he would sing it live in his acoustic shows. It was always a tear-jerker. I can’t tell you how many times grown men would come through the autograph line and cry. It hit them that hard. You hear a lot about what women go through, but not a lot of people touch on the bond between the father and the children. Doug’s been married multiple times and has kids, and life on the road is very hard. Seeing the way it touched people made it a no-brainer. I think it’s one of Doug’s favorites that we did. It hits people where they live.
PC: “Back When Country Was Country” is one of our favorite songs on your EP, and talks about country music’s glory days. That said, we’ll put you on the spot. Can you tell us a few of your favorite, quintessential, never-skip country songs?
JS: Gosh, that’s hard! I’ve been on a big Lee Ann Womack kick lately. There’s More Where That Came From is one of my favorite albums. There’s a song on there called “Happiness,” and that one has been on repeat. Zach Top is also doing great stuff right now, and we listen to a lot of his music. Anything George Jones and Keith Whitley, too. The good stuff!
PC: Doug served as producer on your EP. Though you’ve been married for ten years, what was it like collaborating with him in that way?
JS: It’s very different stepping into that world. When I was in the vocal booth, I was looking through the glass, and Doug was sitting there. I thought to myself how lucky I am that he’s been so supportive and willing to help me in any way he can.
When we first got together, I had just put out my album and was playing fiddle in other bands. Doug always said I should play fiddle and sing backgrounds with him. I was reluctant, because I thought people would think that I was using him, and I didn’t want to give them any ammo. For a few years, I didn’t play in his band. I was content with being a supportive wife. Eventually, he badgered me enough [laughs]. He’s always been so willing to share his stage.
When it came time to do this project, it was great to go through his catalog of songs that he’s written with so many amazing people. I was very fortunate that I had a plethora of resources at my fingertips. And he made me feel good about all of it.
PC: What do you hope listeners take away from your EP after listening all the way through?
JS: I hope that they enjoy it. It was important to us to stay true to country’s roots. One of the reasons, especially for the last five years, that I haven’t been interested in recording is the direction country music was heading. To me, it wasn’t really country. And that’s not a dig, at all. I’ll be the first one to get in the car and play Morgan Wallen. But thanks to so many new artists coming around, like Mae Estes, Zach Top and Emily Ann Roberts, making the country that we know and love, it showed us that people are ready for real country music again. When we went to record this EP, we wanted to pay homage to that and put out a country record that makes people feel something.
PC: With your EP releasing on January 4th, what do you have planned for the rest of 2025 and throughout 2026?
JS: We’re getting ready for this release! We haven’t announced it yet, but we’re going to be doing a big CD release in Nashville. We’re nailing down dates with the venue, so that will be coming soon. We’re looking to get out there to play some shows, too. There have been some offers that have come in for some opening slots. We’re gonna see where this takes us!
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