*In 2012, inspirational singer Anthony Evans hit the mainstream when he appeared on the second season of the “The Voice” on Team Aguilera.
As the son of a pastor and a recording artist, the show solidified his commitment to his faith, craft, and opened new doors for his career.
However, as his star shined brighter over the years with his music successfully hitting both Gospel and Christian music charts, darkness started to take control and he had to find his way back.
On his latest single, the title track from his number one album “Back To Life,” Anthony Evans discusses what many people go through in life but may be afraid to voice.
“The lyrics are just real honest,” Anthony Evans told the EUR in a recent interview. “The bridge is, ‘Resentment, depression, addiction and all anxiety – they have no power over me.’ I wanted to say words like addiction and depression and stuff like that because that’s what people are really going through.”
Personally, Evans went through self-doubt and depression and with the help of his faith, along with counseling and medication, he was able to see his way through. He shares his experience in his upcoming book, “Unexpected Places.”
“There came a point in my life where there was this knot inside of me that I couldn’t untie,” said Evans. “I feel like we carry those knots especially in our culture. It’s almost considered weird if you want to untie the knot. It really doesn’t make sense to me looking at it now in experiencing what it felt like getting the knot untied and why we would not do that.”
He continued, “I have a friend of mine who earlier in life got injured on a motorcycle. He ended up breaking his hip but didn’t tell anybody and turned his limp into swag. I believe that in our culture we have a lot of broken people who have turned that into swag. They turn it into reality TV situations, into being hard and I’m like, ‘Yo, you’re broken and it’s okay to acknowledge it and when you do you can show other people how to get out of that place.’”
Evans’ father, the well-known Dr. Tony Evans, founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, is also a large topic in “Unexpected Places.” In fact, his dad set the ground rules for success in the recording business when he first jumped in the game.
“My dad defined my whole career when he told me from the very beginning that my success should be based on what I’ve been called to do and how I will be at peace. It’s not about getting big checks and does everybody know my name.”
When Evan made his debut on “The Voice” in 2012, he was already a successful Gospel recording artist as early as 2004. Nevertheless, the competition show was able to do something for him that years of recording could not.
“That was the first time stepping outside of what I knew,” said Evans. “There’s a verse in the bible that says, ‘You are salt of the earth,’ and in that moment I was like the salt of the shaker and not salt of the earth. I was just in my little church bubble my whole life. So, it made me want to be connected to people. It changed my faith and career trajectory in a major way.”
While he did not win “The Voice,” Evans walked away with something greater – advice from his mentor on the show Christina Aguilera.
“She’s a confident woman who knows exactly what she wants,” said Evans. “She started off as this pop princess and then she told me with her second album she was scared to death because it was the ‘raw’ Christina. She said, ‘I made a decision to keep moving forward. I knew what I wanted to do in spite of what people around me were saying and became a trailblazer.’”
He added, “I immediately translated that into my life with people wanting me to sound this way or that way. I was going to do me. She made me more confident in moving toward my individual calling.”
Anthony Evans was also called back to “The Voice” after leaving the show to work as a vocal producer. Meanwhile, “Back To Life,” is Evans’ eighth album and there will be many more to come.
Look out for his book “Unexpected Places” to hit stores in August. Additionally, you may also see him on Broadway one day soon. At the end of May, Evans starred as the beast in Disney’s one-off performance of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Hollywood Bowl. For more information on Anthony Evans, go here.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
