{"id":1374,"date":"2014-05-07T02:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T06:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2014-05-07T15:26:47","modified_gmt":"2014-05-07T19:26:47","slug":"a-conversation-with-recording-artist-and-the-voice-contestant-anthony-evans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/2014\/05\/a-conversation-with-recording-artist-and-the-voice-contestant-anthony-evans.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with recording artist and The Voice contestant Anthony Evans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AEvans1\"<\/a>Sustaining an eight-year music career under the radar is quite the impressive feat these days. It\u2019s difficult to last in a cutthroat business where, even within the Christian industry, longevity is always hard to come by. But somehow, Anthony Evans managed to record six albums between 2004 and 2011 without the help of a major breakout hit.<\/p>\n

For some, Evans might be known as the son of nationally recognized pastor Dr. Tony Evans. But until his appearance on season two of The Voice <\/i>in 2012, he was an incredibly gifted singer-songwriter whose time to shine was just over the horizon. When Evans sang \u201cIf I Ain\u2019t Got You\u201d in a battle round with Jesse Campbell, not only did it go down as one of the show\u2019s greatest performances, his part in the duet also launched his career into unchartered waters.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Evans released his seventh album and first project since that fateful national television appearance. According to the soulful vocalist, Real Life, Real Worship <\/i>is a testimony of God’s work in his life over the past two years.<\/p>\n

In this Whole Notes interview, Evans talks about how he landed on The Voice<\/i>, how a conversation with Grammy-Award winning artist Christina Aguilera changed his perspective and how he hopes both the Church and the general market embrace his latest collection of songs:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: How has having a well-known minister for a father impacted your music career?<\/p>\n

Anthony Evans: To me, he was always just my dad. I had to figure out my own faith. That was something I figured out a while ago when I was 18. But I can always stand on the fact that he\u2019s been a great example for me. Beyond that, building my career hasn\u2019t been attached to my dad. It\u2019s been me figuring things out for myself.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What was the process that led you to participate in The Voice<\/i>?<\/p>\n

Evans: Some friends of mine encouraged me to send a video way before the show even debuted. I got a phone call to meet with the production team. At that point, I had people telling me I should try it. I had my own thing going but they encouraged me that I was only going to achieve things if I took chances. I wasn\u2019t trying to do something broader at that time, but there was something in my heart saying, \u201cThere\u2019s got to be more.\u201d It\u2019s not like I was discontent with what I was doing, but I felt like God was calling me to step outside of the four church walls and do something different. The Voice <\/i>was obviously that opportunity for me. I didn\u2019t make it the first season, but then they called me back to do the second season. That\u2019s how the doors were opened to all the opportunities I have right now. Being in LA inspired me to do this new record. I\u2019ve been in sessions with some monster artists that I never thought I\u2019d ever be around. It\u2019s also shown me that you\u2019ve always got to be on it. The best people in the world are in LA. You have to step it up.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Did your battle round song with Jesse Campbell feel like a game changer for your career?<\/p>\n

Evans: That was a game changer for me. That performance opened up the door for everything I\u2019m doing now. That 90-second song with Jesse did that for me. I\u2019ll be forever grateful to The Voice <\/i>for giving me the opportunity. They called me after that battle and told me they were having a new thing called \u201cThe Steal\u201d or what they called \u201cThe Anthony Evans Rule\u201d because they were sorry I wasn\u2019t there anymore. They had rules that they couldn\u2019t change for my situation, but they changed them for the next season.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are you currently doing with the show?<\/p>\n

Evans: I\u2019m going on the road with the show. I\u2019m on a team of talent producers and we whittle down this monstrous number of people to the ones that are going to be on the blind auditions. It\u2019s fun to be a part of that. A lot of the contestants recognize me from the show so I get to coach them through the process.<\/p>\n

Bonham: It seems like the new album is a combination of songs that reflect your upbringing and songs that convey some of the new things you\u2019ve experienced in the last couple of years. Is that an accurate description?<\/p>\n

Evans: That\u2019s a hundred percent accurate.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How did you balance the two concepts considering the fact that some people in the Church get nervous when Christian artists delve into topics outside of the traditional messages of faith and worship?<\/p>\n

\"AEvans_Cover\"<\/a>Evans: There\u2019s nothing to get nervous about. All I\u2019m doing is being authentic and real and singing about the emotions I go through as a human being. I don\u2019t think we should be nervous about expressing who we really are when it comes to being a believer but also when it comes to being someone who goes through real life. You have to experience real life before you can understand what it means to really worship. That\u2019s it. This whole concept started at Christina Aguilera\u2019s house. She asked what a worship leader was. She wanted me to explain that to her. And I thought, \u201cIf I start talking to this girl in church terms, it\u2019s going to freak her out.\u201d If I wasn\u2019t a Christian and I didn\u2019t know about church and I started using worship terminology\u2014if I started talking about \u201cthe Lamb that was slain\u201d to Christina, she would think, \u201cYou\u2019re in a cult.\u201d It\u2019s a weird thought. So in that moment, I knew I had to connect to her through real life issues. I told her about me going through a broken engagement. Then she talked about how she went through some hard things in her life. That was real life. But then when she started to talk about how I handled it, and I was able to talk about real worship. That\u2019s how this record came together. It\u2019s just me being honest about my emotions and writing songs that people outside of church can connect to. The creative director for the video was Cher\u2019s creative director. I want those kind of people involved. I want them to hear the song and go get the record and hear the worship songs and go, \u201cOh this is what Anthony is all about.\u201d That is the objective of this whole project. I\u2019m not nervous about the church being anxious. I just want Christians to embrace the fact that music is made not just for the church, but it\u2019s also for the people that need to hear about the love of God.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How would you describe the evolution of your music since 2004?<\/p>\n

Evans: Over the last 10 years, stylistically I\u2019ve gotten to the point where I want to explore and do things with excellence. I want to write songs that resonate with me and will resonate with a live audience. I\u2019m exploring fresh sounds. This is the first Christian record that my producer (Max Stark) has ever done. He naturally brought sounds that were not normal for Christian music. On the show, Christina Aguilera and Jewel taught me something important. They both told me that I didn\u2019t have to fit into a mold. You make the mold. People can smell a rat. If you\u2019re doing thing for marketing and for a record label, you\u2019re going to set yourself up to be called a phony. As long as it\u2019s true to you, you do it. If you make great music, you can become a mold breaker or a trailblazer. It\u2019s a little scary to do that because you can\u2019t always see what\u2019s in front of you, but you\u2019re clearing out a path for people behind you to follow.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Do you feel like your experience on The Voice <\/i>and the subsequent successes have breathed new life into your career?<\/p>\n

Evans: I know artists that have tried for a long time in the Christian industry and then they were on a TV show and all of the sudden the doors swing wide open. Christians want to connect with things that are mainstream. So for me, people see that Christina Aguilera thinks I\u2019ve got something to offer and all of the sudden they think maybe they should give my music a shot. I have a producer friend from the show who came to me and said, \u201cHow is it that you\u2019re 28 years old and I\u2019ve never heard of you before?\u201d It made no sense to her that she had didn\u2019t know anything about my music. That changed my mindset. I realized that I had been operating within a box. So now, there is no box. If you want to do it, you can do it.<\/p>\n

Stay up on Anthony\u2019s latest news and tour dates by visiting his official website HERE<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. 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