Honer is wrapping up his second headline tour, Nowhere Fast, with just two more stops after the Huntington show. Originally from Surprise, Arizona, Honer could be known for his diving success at California Baptist University, being named the WAC Diver of the Year in 2021. Shortly after, he began making music within the acoustic folk and indie-Americana genre taking heavy influence from artists like Tyler Childers.
I began listening to Evan Honer about a year and a half ago. My love for Americana music began with Tyler Childers and I loved his song Jersey Giant. A gripe of many Childers fans is that this song is unreleased on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. Honer, however, would fulfill that need for it to be in my playlist, releasing it with Julia DiGrazia on December 16, 2022. Honer has since popped up in my playlist more and I knew I had to attend this show when he announced he was coming.
I arrived at The Loud for the first time about 20 minutes after the doors opened, with Richmond singer-songwriter Jack Wharff and his band, Tobacco Flatts, opening for Honer at 8:00 PM. Wharff’s music is a blend of bluegrass and country with notes of rock and roll. He stated that it was his dad’s love for bluegrass that influenced him to write this style of music. I was not familiar with Wharff when I bought my ticket, but it was not hard to find something to look forward to at the show.
Wharff and Tobacco Flatts certainly helped The Loud live up to its name, instantly bringing high energy to the venue. At one point his bass player, Ryan Atchison, played the bass behind his head while electric guitarist Evan Novoa allegedly started playing with his tongue. Wharff’s top tracks in my opinion were “Messed Up Kid,” a cover of another unreleased Tyler Childers song, and “Richmond City Jail,” his song that he released this year. He ended his set by giving a strong testimony for his faith and covering Christian song, “Graves Into Gardens.”
Wharff gave his thanks to Honer for the opportunity saying he was excited for Honer’s performance and that “he’s the best dude ever.”
Around 9:15 PM, Honer took the stage with fiddler and backup vocalist Julia DiGrazia, keyboard player Stephen Myers, drummer Tyson Rodgers, electric guitarist Shane Travis and bassist Jake Asolas. What better way to kick off the Nowhere Fast show than with his song “Nowhere Fast.” The song alludes well to its title, as the verses are sung quickly and gets slow right as it hits the chorus.
In addition to Honer, I was genuinely happy to see that DiGrazia had joined him on his tour. The two have released some great songs together, with “The Bartender” being one they performed. I like to joke that the two are soulmates because even though they do not date, their connection on vocals is truly something special. While I wish they would have performed “Someone You Don’t Know,” I was still happy to see that their chemistry goes beyond the studio.
DiGrazia was not the only person to duet with Honer during the show. He needed someone to sing Wyatt Flores’ part in “Take Me As I Come,” so he pulled a guy named Mason from the crowd to sing it with him. Mason put on a surprisingly satisfactory performance despite being put on the spot, however he was spotted getting some help with the lyrics on his phone. I can’t judge too much; the song was No. 5 on my Spotify Wrapped this year and I probably would have done the same.
Honer also put on a chilling 4-track acoustic performance including “me, without you, ”“Brother,” “annabelle” and “A Thousand Times.” “Brother” is a song that has a deep meaning to Honer, as it was written for his brother who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He said his brother is the nicest person he knows and will call him often to give him lots of compliments. It was also nice to get an early glimpse of “annabelle,” a song he released three days after the show.
“Jersey Giant” isn’t the only song that Honer covered perfectly, as “Linger” by The Cranberries is another hit he blessed the audience with. The crowd loved it and Honer even stepped away from the mic to let us scream our hearts out as well. Honer even added in the last time the chorus was sung, “You know I’m such as fool for you Huntington, West Virginia.” It was nice to know Honer appreciated us, as he had previously mentioned it was his first time in West Virginia.
To close the show, Honer sang his song “Fighting For,” which truly tackles the difficulties of loving someone even when they do not show that same love for you back. However, the audience knew there was more and stayed put for Honer to return with an encore. He performed one last song by himself, “Mr. Meyers” before bringing the band back out for “idk sh*t about cars,” a fan favorite for sure.
This show truly elevated Evan Honer as one of my favorite artists, as there was not a single song, he performed that I disliked. He is a strong live performer, and I would love to see him again one day. Honer will finish the Nowhere Fast Tour Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee, but already has plans for a spring tour with the first show beginning on February 23rd in Little Rock, Arkansas.