Evan Honer has a lot on his mind. Fortunately, he has no shortage of creative outlets.
“When I have a song or a project in my head, I’m going to release it,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I think the audience appreciates that. I’m trying to release stuff that is real, and the music industry is so delayed as far as releasing songs, that I feel like I’ve given myself a little bit of an edge. I don’t have to go through months of convincing a label to release a song.”
Thus far, Honer, 23, has shunned label deals, opting instead to launch his career via independent releases on his own label, Cloverdale Records, at a near-frantic pace. He’s fresh off Annabelle, the five-song EP he dropped in December, but he’s already back in the studio recording a full-length album, his third. He’ll kick off a headlining tour on Feb. 23 too — the largest of his career.
Cloverdale Records serves as his publisher and recording studio, and the setup gives Honer complete ownership of his music. “There’s not so many opinions or people telling you what to do,” he says. “But it’s also way more on me to succeed, and that’s something I’m still trying to balance.”
Last June, he released a 15-track album, Fighting For, which he preceded with an EP of the same name. In September, he issued the four-song Different Life EP, before capping the year with Annabelle. The five songs on his latest project are personal — born of a relationship that did not last. Part of the rush in releasing it, Honer says, was to put a period on his 2024 catalog.
“I want to get closure from that whole part of my life. It’s necessary that these songs are out, but I’m so excited to move past these types of songs. It’s about a relationship that I’ve written a lot about already,” he says of the EP. “And this one is the final five songs to it.”
Honer wears the fallout from that relationship on his sleeve throughout Annabelle, but maybe no place more than on the song “High School Reunion.” The lyrics reveal a sense of near-dread over the mere idea of meeting an ex at a reunion. Honer delivers the refrain of “I get caught up in everything I wish I said/I lost trust in myself a long time ago” with angst and uncertainty.
“This relationship that I had, it was basically four years, off-and-on, after we met in high school,” he says, “and this song came about from me going to these places that I probably shouldn’t have gone — thinking about how we would be in certain situations. I was genuinely curious about what it would be like if I actually attended my high school reunion, and there are all these songs I have written about this girl who is there as well.”
That vulnerability has already endeared Honer to a generation of young fans who have latched on to the “emo country” wave sweeping music. A native of Surprise, Arizona, Honer grew up listening to his father’s CD collection, which was heavy on the Beatles, Little River Band, Eagles, and James Taylor. In high school, he got into hip-hop. It wasn’t until he graduated, and a friend turned him on to Tyler Childers, that Honer spent much time with country music. “Whatever it was with him and his lyrics and melodies, it connected with me,” Honer says.
While attending California Baptist University as a member of the diving team — earning WAC Diver of the Year honors in 2021 — he began dabbling in music on the side. A 2022 audition for American Idol went badly, but a cover of Childers’ “Jersey Giant” went very well. Honer’s version, with an assist from musician Julia DiGrazia, amassed more than 100 million streams and received RIAA gold certification last month. But the cover also introduced the world to his original songs. Honer released his debut album, West on I-10, on the same day he graduated college in 2022.
In the nearly three years since, Honer has been rubbing elbows with some of music’s most promising stars. He has sung with Liam St. John, Wyatt Flores, Vincent Mason, Hailey Whitters, and Charles Wesley Godwin. One of his 2024 singles, “Take Me As I Come,” was with Flores; another, “Mr. Meyers,” was with Godwin.
“I found Charles Wesley’s music in 2020, and I’ve been listening to him for so long since,” Honer says. “I cannot believe that he was just in my garage recording ‘Mr. Meyers.’ I didn’t even have a studio then. I just hung a tent of furniture blankets in my garage and called it a studio. He goes, ‘This is awesome!’ and we just recorded it right then.”
Honer closed out 2024 opening for Flores, culminating in a December sold-out show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. During his set, Honer showed off his skills from his diving days, using Flores as a springboard to complete a full back flip onstage.
“I always have fun onstage,” Honer says. “I can say that I gave it my all, and the band put everything into it. I’m happy with that, and I’m happy knowing that at least a couple of people connected with my music in some way.”
Honer’s recorded music often leans toward the stripped-down, letting the emotion in his voice to set a tone. But in a live setting, he pulls no punches, showcasing his five-piece band as much as himself, usually building to the catchy “IDK Shit About Cars,” which fans routinely request.
Of the album he’s recording right now, Honer says the only certainty is that he’s working through a lot of songs. “I just want my sound to always be evolving,” he says. “Wherever it goes, I want it to sound different.”
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose third book, Red Dirt Unplugged, was released on December 13, 2024, via Back Lounge Publishing.