A cross-country move to Nashville. An international touring schedule. A record label with 25 artists and more than 100 releases, all operating out of his living room. A recording studio built into his four-car garage. Evan Honer spent 2024 in a blur of momentum, expanding his life in all directions, playing nearly 100 shows in support of his second album, Fighting For, while writing new songs for its follow-up.
Only two years earlier, his cover of Tyler Childers’ “Jersey Giant” had become a viral juggernaut, earning more than 200 million streams and launching his music career. He was busy then, too, balancing his college classes with nighttime gigs as a solo act and daily practices with the school’s Division 1 swimming team. Things only intensified as school came to a close. Honer released the debut album West On I-10 on graduation day and quickly remade himself into a road warrior, balancing the challenges of early adulthood with an unbending commitment to music.
Then, one day, he learned to look around him and take stock of the present. Everything I Wanted finds Honer planting new roots in Nashville, his adopted hometown after a multi-year stint in Southern California. Recorded over 18 days in a garage studio that he built himself, it’s a homemade record with big-studio sparkle, its 13 songs emphasizing the indie and alternative-pop influences that have always lingered on the outskirts of his sound. Here, they’re moved to the forefront, pushing Honer beyond his roots as an acoustic Americana act and into something more eclectic and electrifying. There are string arrangements courtesy of a talented neighbor, Kate Stephenson. There are horn arrangements, pedal steel swells, and contributions from his roommates, too. At the center of that sound is Evan Honer himself: an acclaimed songwriter, storyteller, and bleeding-heart vocalist who, after years on the move, has learned to slow down a bit and appreciate the moment.
“My life completely changed this past year,” he says. “I’m learning to be happy with where I’m at. I’m grateful that I get to stand onstage and sing songs I wrote in my bedroom, and people know the words and sing them back to me. How can you be upset about that?”
It’s true; there’s a lot to be grateful for. 500 million streams, for starters. An RIAA gold certification for his “Jersey Giant” cover. Sold-out shows alongside headliners like Wyatt Flores. The ongoing success of his own label, Cloverdale Records. With Everything I Wanted, though, Honer turns his gaze inward, writing autobiographical songs about romance, resilience, roots, and his relationship with his audience.
“When the going gets tough, I’ll stick through the season,” he promises during “Maybe For Once.” On the surface, it’s a love song to a woman he met on the road, her memory lingering in the rear-review mirror every time his van pulls away. For someone who’s used to living life at 80 miles per hour, though, the song is something more: a self-made promise to focus not only upon the destination, but on the journey itself. “These songs are about me not getting in my own way,” he clarifies. “I’ve stopped looking for reasons not to commit. I’m pushing myself to just let things happen.” The rest of the record is similarly personal. On the cinematic piano ballad “It’s a Home,” Honer whisks himself back to childhood to unpack some traumatic family baggage. On “Place I Hate,” he sings about a career filled with astral highs and bottomed-out lows. With the short-and-sweet “Waiting Room,” he delivers a genuine love song in less than two minutes, showcasing just how concise his craft has become over the past three years. And with “Curtain,” he sings directly to the fans who’ve supported him over the years, singing, “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 previous album, Fighting For, was recorded during his first national tour, slowly pieced together in the studio spaces, living rooms, and AirBNBs he encountered while driving from show to show. Everything I Wanted, on the other hand, was recorded at home with producers Garrett Hall, Shane Travis and a small handful of guests. From the start, Honer embraced those differences. “The last thing I ever want to do is make something I’ve already made,” he says, naming artists like Andy Shauf, Medium Build, and Pinegrove as the album’s touchstones. He sought outside opinions, too, by embracing Nashville’s co-writing culture. “Writing with other people was exciting,” he adds, “because some of these songs wound up going to places I wouldn’t normally go.”
Longtime fans will notice those changes and more. There’s the Beatles-inspired bridge of “Finally Commit.” The noisy, full-band freakout that brings the final track, “Wonder,” to a close. The drums kickstart “Lose a Friend,” one of Honer’s only tracks to begin with percussion. Now three albums into his career, Evan Honer has more than a signature sound — he has the guts to expand and evolve that sound, as well. There will be more shows to play… more horizons to chase down in a 15-passenger van… but as long as Everything I Wanted is playing, you can find Evan Honer at home, coaxing new sounds out of the garage, thankful for the moment even as it passes by.
