It’s no secret, we are a huge fan of singer/songwriter/musician Caitlin Evanson. We’ve been following her for the last 8 years since we first spotted her on the Speak Now Tour with Taylor Swift. Evanson provided backing vocals, played violin and guitar. She was a band favorite as she always stayed connected with the fans and always went to say hi to everyone who wanted to meet the band. There’s always been a special connection for hardcore fans and an artist’s band members.
Since her last tour, Evanson has still been performing, whether it be an awards show with Keith Urban, her own solo gigs, or along with her husband who together forms The Red Weddings. Catching up with Evanson at her latest The Red Weddings Gig, where she revealed she was going to be touring with the one and only Shakira! Such exciting news, we had to catch up with her and talk about what’s ahead!
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH CAITLIN EVANSON
Variety Beat: Congratulations on going on another headlining tour! Tell us about your new gig!
Evanson: Thank you!! So stoked to be out adventuring again! Every tour has a different band, crew, designers of all kinds, visions, styles, and personalities. This is a completely different….beautiful….latin world. I adore my band mates, the crew, the designers. For 7 years, I showed up to tour rehearsals….10 minutes from my Nashville home. Because the rehearsals took place in my hometown. Because that was my boss’s hometown. Taylor. 😉 I haven’t had long-term rehearsals outside of the US since Ringo Starr and Dave Stewart in 2005. Crazy. I’m getting old.
My new head honcho (Shakira) is just lovely. She’s gone through an entire life of stardom and remains graceful and kind. And very approachable. As far as my band mates and the crew and designers? Sometimes I wonder if subconsciously, I just went on tour again because I needed to laugh until I fall on the ground. Because that’s already what is happening here. Musicians and creative people, in general, are just notoriously funny. The dynamic in every tour is priceless. At this point in my touring life, I love to just grab my popcorn and enjoy the show. I love it. So many personalities.
WATCH CAITLIN EVANSON AND THE BAND IN REHEARSALS WITH SHAKIRA
Evanson: In my eyes, a tour always reminds me of a traveling circus….on crack. ire, Water, light, dark and everything in between, that a concert connoisseur could dream up. (Me becoming a touring musician, has quite a long series of stories behind it all. But we’ll keep with this one for now). I just love being a part of it all. Being a part of the high energy fantasy and vision of an artist. Being a part of building something new and exciting.
Variety Beat: You last toured with Taylor Swift on the Red Tour, it’s been several years since a major tour, What made you decide to jump back in?
Evanson: Although the life of a touring musician has always been exhilarating to me, moments have caught up with me. For example…I would wake up day, in a bunk of a bus or a hotel. My mom would call me whenever I felt lost (because she’s clairvoyant like that) and say, “hi honey. Where are you? What time is it there?” and I gave her the same answer every time. “uh…I don’t know”. So much time flew by. So fast. And I couldn’t quite keep up with every magical moment that brought me to where I was. Anyway, fast forward…..my story of how I ended up in San Diego, is ALSO a long one. But ultimately, I moved to a beautiful beach, met the most beautiful human I could ever meet. I gathered some beautiful friends and family (my family, who have stuck by me through thick and thin and me being a major pain in the butt) and began returning to my roots. And then life just happened…”fast” again. When you love it, it goes fast. 4 years of not really wanting anything but love, life, the beach, and simplicity was all there was to it. I just forgot about my “alter ego”, I guess. 😉 I just missed it. I’ll always be the girl who loves to play dress up and sing into her hairbrush in the bedroom mirror. So, WARDROBE is a blast, singing is a blast. Traveling with great people is a blast. It’s exhausting sometimes but there’s just nothing like it. And as a musician, ya gotta keep your chops up. Stay in shape as a player. Nothing like a world tour to ignite that. I love to teach music. I would someday love to become a certified music therapist. There’s plenty of ways to work in music. Touring isn’t the only way. But it sure is FUN. So I went.
Variety Beat: What have you missed most about being on tour?
Evanson: There are things I miss and things I don’t. I never like missing my nieces and nephews grow up, or just being with my family in general. I miss the comforts of home. I miss making my own schedule and being able to call in sick if I need to. But I do miss the crowds. The stage. The rush of performance and travel and getting to know new people. It enriches your life in such a special way.
Variety Beat: How has it been different this time since being married?
Evanson: I have someone to miss! It’s beautiful, yet tough at the same time. He recently spent 2 weeks with me here in Barcelona and it was a magical time for us. I posted a bit of us having the time of our lives, biking the city. We’ve always wanted to travel together, and this was such a special way to be able to do that. But really, that’s all it has changed for me. I have a teammate now. A partner. Someone I know will be there for me no matter what, and likewise. We do have to make time every day to connect. But to me, it never seems like a chore when you’re in love.
Variety Beat: You are rehearsing in Barcelona, Spain. That has to be pretty amazing. Have you done a lot of sightseeing?
Evanson: At the beginning of a tour, SO much has to be worked out. From Choreo to visual, audio, production, musical arrangement, lighting, it’s endless. So there hasn’t been much time to see things. But on our days off, we would go to incredible places like the Sagrada Familia. Check it out. It brought me to tears when I walked through the doors. The story behind how that incredible church was designed is so so so moving. And the story of the crucifixion carved into statues in the stone.
Variety Beat: Right now, the tour has dates from Nov-Feb and starts off internationally. Are there places on the tour you haven’t been before?
Evanson: There are! Quite a few! Barcelona is one of them. With Taylor, I was so spoiled because she lived in Nashville. I would just drive 10 minutes to rehearsals. We rehearse in the hometown of the artist. My artist lives here. It only just occurred to me when I saw the schedule for the first time. And it made me laugh. Of course. Makes total sense. And this is the first time I’ve even able to be in a place like this for a whole month, and more! I feel like a local! Ok, maybe not but my Catalonian Spanish is getting better. Poco a poco.
Variety Beat: How do you think this tour will differ from previous tours?
Evanson: A million years ago, with Ringo Star and Dave Stewart, I traveled with people who were massive worldwide, but they’re total royalty in their home countries. I’ve never played for the Queen of Columbia and I can’t wait to see that insane crowd of hers.
I may have touched on this with you before in a previous interview, but if not, I wanted to say, every nationality is completely different. The crowd in Tokyo was screeching mania but somehow polite at the same time? And when they would run up to us, they were very cute and sweet and contained and their voices would be like little kittens, and always with their hands over their mouths like, “oooh hehehehe”. They’re just the sweetest. Australia’s fans were different from China’s and they were different than London’s and so on. But the one that stood out the most as far as crazy passionate was Brazil. And not just because I married one. 😉
They would run up and throw their arms around us and kiss us. Like, on the face. Hahaha. I loved them. Anyway, I have a feeling its gonna go something like that.
Variety Beat: Will you mostly be playing Violin on the tour?
Evanson: Remains to be seen! But keep your ears and eyes open for some crazy instrumentation and perhaps vocal fun and games…..in Spanish…AAAAAA!!! Study study study!
Variety Beat: How do you think this tour will differ from previous tours?
Evanson: Although I’m no stranger to tour life, this will be a completely different world for me! Rehearsing in the hometown of the artist means 6 weeks in Barcelona! It used to be, drive 10 minutes to rehearse at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. I’m learning so much. Although we are pretty insulated here in our rehearsal space, as far as a lot of Americans in this team, Catalonian Spanish is a welcomed challenge. I’ve been wanting to learn basic Spanish for years. I actually took a couple months of lessons before I came here. However, I had to take a cab all over town today and nothing but Google Translate kept me alive. The food, the city, the people on this team, all completely different but all wonderful. I realize I’ve never been able to spend this much time in one international city. It’s just incredible. I also have to be quite a different animal on stage. The musical style is completely different. I need to be a different kind of player. Almost like another language. Like playing an American pop song, as opposed to a classic Spanish love song.
Variety Beat: What are you most excited about??
Evanson: I’m most excited to feel that rush again. The one I wondered if I’d ever feel again. There’s nothing like the stage. Nothing.
