Evan Honer Sets Off On His “It’s A Long Road” Tour

Josie Page
2 days ago
3 min read

Evan Honer’s “It’s A Long Road” tour has started, and I had the opportunity to experience his Atlanta, GA show at the Variety Playhouse. Honer is a 25-year-old, Nashville-based singer-songwriter, combining elements of folk, country, and indie rock.

He recently released the deluxe version of his third album, Everything I Wanted (& more), showcasing a new sound as he navigates away from folk and country to indie rock. It has

three new songs, including “Lying To Your Face” with Sierra Carson, and two new versions of previous songs featuring flipturn and Winyah.

Honer always has an incredible stage presence, with backflips, slides on stage, and guitar solos; he has a show that is one to remember. As this new tour starts, he sets the stage with house lamps, stuffed animals (representing his dogs, Leroy and Bruno), and a flag from his home state of Arizona.

Honer has a unique storytelling ability, sharing vulnerable experiences through his music. Many of his songs share very specific moments in his life, such as his 8-year-old Evan’s experience when his dad lost his job during the 2008 recession (“It’s A Home”), his early journey as an aspiring musician (“Nowhere Fast”), and feelings of isolation, loneliness and losing himself when he’s on the road (“Place I Hate”). Despite many songs being deeply personal, the crowd is brought into his world through the set design, representing his identities, and his intentional interactions with audience members, making it easy to experience these situations through his eyes.

During a small acoustic set, Honer describes the stories behind a couple of his songs, including “Brother”, a song about his brother who deals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This song shares the experience of loving someone dealing with mental health struggles and trying to put yourself into their shoes. This tour, he is donating a portion of ticket sales to Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance, an organization that supports people with schizophrenia.

Honer founded and runs Cloverdale Records, an artist-driven label prioritizing independent musicians’ access to studio space and owning their own music. This label has expanded significantly in the last few years and includes artists like Winyah, George William Thomas, and Sierra Carson, as well as Honer’s openers, harf. and Abigail and Jonathan Peyton.

Honer thanks the crowd for supporting him as an independent artist and helping make this all possible by listening and showing up to shows, a message shared through “Curtain”, a song about his experience performing and making music.

“You guys bother showing up to hear me scream about my feelings. I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m the one who really needs it.”

Honer’s band includes Shane Travis (electric guitar), Brian Kabala (keys), Tyson Rodgers (drums), Ian Malinowski (bass), Conner West (pedal steel, banjo, and guitar), and (in his words) “the most important member”, his bulldog, Leroy. While singing Jim Croce’s “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, Leroy makes an appearance- fitted with headphones and his tongue sticking out.

Evan and his band will continue the tour throughout the US throughout the next six weeks, including dates in the PNW– Bozeman, MT on 3/28, Seattle, WA on 3/31, and Portland, OR on 4/1.