Radio-friendly country/pop with its aim firmly targeted at the mainstream.
After a number of years in California, Evan Honer found himself drawn to Nashville and everything that represents to young, hopeful musicians. Honer, didn’t however, come to Music City as a complete unknown seeking fame and fortune. Two years earlier his cover of Tyler Childer’s Jersey Giant had hit the viral jackpot, garnering Honer a mind-boggling 200 million streams. With that, and the confidence of two well-received albums behind him, Honer has now built his own recording studio in his garage and set up his own record label.
That mainstream Nashville influence is much in evidence on Honer’s third album, Everything I Wanted. If Honer’s roots as an acoustic americana act have brought him so far, then the move to Nashville sees a shift towards the commercial side of country. This is an album almost certain to attract a wide mainstream country-loving audience, jam-packed as it is with radio-friendly tunes, catchy choruses, and rousing ballads.
The country/pop thread is evident from the opening title track, with its strident electric notes and a repeated chorus that begs to be accompanied in joyous and raucous fashion by a young and devoted arena audience. For those chasing those big country sounds, there is plenty to enjoy here. Even on tracks such as Better Off Lonely, where Honer favours an acoustic backing that perhaps hints at a return to his roots, that big, bold chorus remains intact.
Honer has made clear that he has little interest in repeating the sound of previous albums. Actively embracing change was what helped fuel the move to Nashville and, in particular, Honer’s desire to work with other writers, to see where that might take him. That co-writing culture can be a double-edged sword, of course. On the one hand, it can open a myriad of doors and opportunities, and, for some, huge commercial recognition and success. On the other hand, those musical roots can end up diluted and lost somewhere on the Nashville conveyor belt.
Everything I Wanted is a thirteen-track album that has now been re-released in a deluxe format with five more tracks and an & More addendum to the title. The extended version features new renditions of album tracks featuring guest artists such as Sierra Carson, as well as new, unreleased songs. For those who are drawn to mainstream Nashville output, there is much to enjoy here, but for those who prefer their americana a little more raw and rootsy, then this may be just a little too formulaic for their liking.
