Evan Felker Says He’s Sober, Thinking About Writing Songs & Touring Again

A man holding a banana
Calvin Shofner

Evan Felker has finally broken his silence.

Back in May of last year, Turnpike Troubadours announced their indefinite hiatus after a series of canceled shows and a heartbreaking display on-stage intoxication from lead singer Evan Felker during a show in Oklahoma.

It was clear the Evan needed some help. And the band put everything on hold to get him some.

Evan was recently photographed by Calvin Shofner looking rather happy and healthy down on a Texas ranch, however since the hiatus, he has yet speak on the matter and has successfully managed to stay out of the spotlight… until now.

According to author Josh Crutchmer via Rolling Stonethe book Red Dirt: Roots Music, Born in Oklahoma, Raised in Texas, at Home Anywhereis set to be released in September. It chronicles the history of the Red Dirt scene to present day, and includes various artist interviews such as Garth Brooks, Cody Canada, Jason Boland and the Turnpike Troubadours.

It was Turnpike’s last interview before the hiatus…

However before it’s upcoming release, Evan, through his wife Staci (yes, they are back together) reached out to add some additional comments in light of the band’s hiatus. And if you’re a Turnpike fan, you’re going to LOVE what you hear.

“The past year has been some of the best moments and best parts of my life.”

“First and foremost, I found sobriety and recovery. And I stepped away from the road and got a clearer view of the world. I got back to just being me. I could not have ever done that while we were touring like we were. I had initially blamed everything on being on the road. But it’s only when you take the road out of the equation that you see you’ve still got problems. I was able to start fixing those.”

He went on to add that he’s begun to think about music again, the idea of writing songs, and even touring.

“I’ve been thinking so much about music lately. How maybe I want to tour again. I’m trying to write songs again. I’ve taken a full, almost a year away from that. Music was the only thing I thought about for most of my adult life, or some version of it, whether it’s actually creating or touring or having a relationship with the band or who I was perceived to be versus who I actually was. All of these things, I needed to sort out.”

Man…

You LOVE to hear that.

Evan genuinely seems to be doing good. He seems happy and healthy, he has managed to reconcile things with his wife Staci, and appears to be looking out at a horizon with new music somewhere on it.

The best news of 2020? No doubt about it.

And save the world, it just might.

So for old time’s sake, let’s cue up this solo performance of “Good Lord Lorrie” from Evan out in the back pasture.

Read the full story here.

But to read Evan’s update in its entirety, and learn a helluva a lot about Red Dirt country music, pick up a copy of Red Dirt: Roots Music, Born in Oklahoma, Raised in Texas, at Home Anywhere on September 19th.

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