Courtesy - Sarah Evans

Guitarist, singer, songwriter Sarah Evans plays with bass guitarist Greg Gaines at a recent show.

Local talent hopes to take show on the road

Janelle Silverman - Entertainment Beat

Sarah Evans, local singer and songwriter, is slowly breaking through the music scene around the areas of Boone, Banner Elk and Blowing Rock with her three-member band and duet guitar performances.

Evans, 26, is an Appalachian State University alumna who graduated from the School of Music with majors in music industry and guitar.
She has lived in Blowing Rock for the past seven years, where she and her band perform most often.

Evans is the singer, songwriter and guitar player in the band along with bass guitarist Greg Gaines and percussionist Sean Stover.

Not only does the trio frequently perform at Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub, Caribbean Cafe and The Loft (in Banner Elk), but also Evans and Gaines perform a duet every other Wednesday evening at Twigs in Blowing Rock, and Saturday evenings at The Corner Palate in Banner Elk.

The duo is also in entertainment rotation at Canyons in Blowing Rock.

Gaines, an old friend of Evans, owns his own recording studio where he is currently co-producing Evans’ first album, which should be available to the public within the next four months. Evans said she and Gaines work well together as a team. “We are good buddies,” she said.

It was in Gaines’ studio where Stover was first introduced to the band while he was performing sessions. They soon began to rehearse together.

Evans said the band’s style of music is often hard to describe. She calls it “folk-rock.”

“We cover all the bases,” said Evans, since their music is influenced by a lot of different styles and performers.

Although Evans does not like to be compared to those musicians who inspire her, she says her inspirations for her own music come from Ani DiFranco, Dave Mathews, Bonnie Raitt, Bill Withers and various other jazz and blues artists.

Evans said their style of music often switches back and forth between jazz and folk, so there is no real label to put on their music. Everything the band plays is original material, which Evans has composed herself.

Evans is currently working on a new project, which would add depth to the duet between her and Gaines. In the near future, she would like to add a percussionist and maybe a saxophone player to the performance.

Although Evans says she does not want to look too far ahead into the future when thinking about her music career, she says she is in the business for the long haul. “I would like to spend my life on the road,” said Evans. “I want to try and find my audience.”

Evan’s goals for the near future are to get the new CD ready to sell and to promote her music. She would also like to travel to new places to perform, within a good distance of Boone, such as Charlotte or Greensboro.

Evans said she wants a band for the road and maybe some independent label attention.

Evans and Gaines will perform their duo act tonight at 8:30 p.m. at Canyons in Blowing Rock.

For more information about Sarah Evans or the band, write to sarahevans@boone.net.