Who is Evan Felker?
Evan Duane Felker was born on March 24, 1984 in Okemah, Oklahoma, USA. He is a singer, musician and songwriter, best known for his work with the country band Turnpike Troubadours, in which he is the lead singer of the group. His band has been releasing albums since 2007, with their most successful being their 2015 self-titled album.
The net worth of Evan Felker
As of mid 2020, Evan Felker’s net worth is estimated to be over $1 million earned through a successful career in the music industry. Most of his wealth and success has come from his work with the Turnpike Troubadours. He has also worked as an electrician and did other jobs, though his salary was nowhere near what his contracts in music did.
The beginning of early life and music
While Evan was born in Okemah, he and his family later settled in the small rural area of Wright City, also located in Okemah. The population is small and even steadily declining, but his parents wanted to be there. His father was a cowboy while his mother worked in health care. He grew up with a younger sister, and the family often engaged in various outdoor activities in their spare time; he spent a lot of time fishing and hunting.
During his childhood he developed a love for creative writing and poems, and reading short stories. This later progressed to songwriting when he started learning to play the guitar during his teenage years.
Lessons were not accessible in his environment, so he had to take lessons from friends and from reading books. He didn’t like country music at first and wanted to become a rock musician like his uncle.
Start career
Felker often traveled to Tulsa to see his uncle perform in a band. In the meantime, he continued his education and after completing his electrician training at a local engineering school, he moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he worked in a paper mill. He then went on to work in a food factory, before joining Mercury Marine, which is known for manufacturing engines for marine craft.
During his stay in Stillwater, he came into contact with country music, which was very popular in the area.
He started leaning more towards making country music songs, listening to Jason Boland and Cross Canadian Ragweed songs. He eventually befriended guitarist Ryan Engleman, and the two began performing locally, mostly an acoustic act until after a few months Evan was recruited by RC Edwards to be their bass player. The last members of the group were Kyle Nix who played violin, and Nooch Carnuccio who became their drummer. He helped name the group Turnpike Troubadours, and they then moved to Tahlequah, Oklahoma to find better opportunities in the music industry.
Turnpike Troubadours
After two years of performing locally and looking for band members, the group has finally decided on their lineup. In 2007, they self-recorded the album “Bossier City”, with the intention of selling the record to interested parties at their various shows. However, they were newcomers to production and songwriting at the time, with their arrangement all over the place. With the creation of their first album, they created their imprint with Bossier City Records, which became a means for them to release with complete creative control.
They honed their production skills over the years, releasing “Diamonds & Gasoline” and “Goodbye Normal Street” in five years.
The latter album was their first album to chart, reaching #3 on the US Folk charts and #7 on the US Indie charts. They sold over 66,000 albums, which encouraged them to continue recording. In 2015, they released their self-titled album, which was critically acclaimed, helping the band achieve mainstream status. The album reached number 3 on the US country charts and although it did not sell as well as their previous release, they began to receive more attention from the media, among others. Their success continues with their latest album “A Long Way From Our Heart”, which reached the top of both the US Indie and US Folk charts.
Hiatus and other projects
Turnpike Troubadours were on their way to continuing their string of successful albums, potentially making them the genre’s newest and hottest act. However, in 2019, the band suddenly announced that they were taking an indefinite hiatus due to some issues Felker was experiencing. They suddenly canceled their shows when the band announced he was in a healing phase – the incident coincided with the time he broke up with country singer Miranda Lambert.
Although the band has yet to release more music as a group, Evan resurfaced about a year later and collaborated with singer Carrie Rodriguez for the single “Whiskey in Your Water”.
The song was created with the help of house band Robinson’s Next Waltz and was reportedly recorded before his band went on hiatus, although it appears there was an agreement to release the single publicly. Since then there have been no reports of Felker or the Troubadours. Their last posts on Instagram were very vague, they didn’t address the issues, they just thanked and apologized to the fans. Some of their fans believe the group may not be coming back, and if they do, they may not be able to replicate their past successes.
Private life
Evans’ first public relationship was with accountant Staci Nelson, whom he began dating in the early 2010s. They announced their engagement in 2015 and got married a year later, traveling to Barcelona, Spain for the ceremony. However, their marriage only lasted until 2018 when he filed for divorce. Soon after, he began dating Miranda Lambert, and many believed he had left his wife for the country singer. However, that relationship was short-lived, lasting only six months. Many believe his series of bad decisions may have led to his breakdown, which left him unable to work with his band.
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