Evans Blue: “The Pursuit of Greatness”
Aaron Willschick
The greater Toronto area of the province of Ontario in Canada has had some great success delivering prominent alternative rock bands over the last decade.  First there was Finger Eleven (formerly The Rainbow Butt Monkeys) from Burlington, Ontario who have gone onto big success scoring top forty hits even in the United States.
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The greater Toronto area of the province of Ontario in Canada has had some great success delivering prominent alternative rock bands over the last decade. First there was Finger Eleven (formerly The Rainbow Butt Monkeys) from Burlington, Ontario who have gone onto big success scoring top forty hits even in the United States. Then came Three Days Grace from Norwood, Ontario who exploded internationally in 2003 and haven’t looked back since. The next band to follow in these footsteps of monster success seems to be a five piece group called Evans Blue right out of the heart of Toronto. These guys have already scored a huge radio hit, hundreds of thousands of records sold and a prominent fan following around the world. Not too bad for a band that’s been together barely two years.

The members of Evans Blue initially connected with one another in a bit of an unusual way. It was early 2005 and all five members, only four of whom now remain in the group of five, were in three different local bands. By chance, the guys connected with one another through an online musician message board and they decided to get together and jam. These initial meetings proved promising and the five of them decided to form a band together. While most newly formed bands take years to even record a debut EP, Evans Blue were already hard at work on their debut full length album in the Spring of 2005 after seriously beginning to work together in March of the same year.

The same online message board that enabled the guys to meet also led to them getting in touch with producer Trevor Kustiak and his partner Mari Dew of Pocket Studios in Toronto. With Kustiak and Dew at the helm, Evans Blue wrote and recorded their debut album The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume which was completed in November of 2005. The record was then released in February, 2006 and became an almost instant hit for the group, largely thanks to the smash radio success of the disc’s first single “Cold (But I’m Still Here)” which found its way all over modern rock radio in the U.S. as well. The band followed up this chart smash with another popular single “Over” and before anyone knew it, Evans Blue had sold over two hundred thousand copies of The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume.

The promising success of Evans Blue’s debut album was accompanied by some relentless touring throughout 2006. Although it can be difficult for a Canadian based band to break through into the U.S. market, the band arguably made a larger impact in the United States than they did in their home land. Evans Blue landed on their first large scale U.S. tour in March, 2006 when they played as a supporting act on a Taproot tour. This was just the beginning of what ended up being eight months of solid touring throughout the United States which saw the band play with a wide variety of popular bands such as Staind, Flyleaf, the aforementioned Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin.

Coming off the road after an extended tour behind a popular debut record is never easy for any band and it often results in a several year gap in between albums and a significant drop in popularity. However, not all bands follow the same trends as evidenced by Evans Blue and their brand new sophomore release The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends. Determined to not lose the steam they built up with their debut, the band got right back into the studio after getting off the road and began writing and recording new material. The new disc features eleven new tracks and upon listening to it, it’s evident that there has been a slight evolution in the band’s music and sound.

The Pursuit… is more aggressive and darker than its predecessor and it also carries with it a loose concept. Like the title would indicate, the record is about a pursuit for happiness and meaning in one’s life. There is actually a three part storyline that goes along with the record which the band will portray in videos to go along with each track which will be on display on the Evans Blue website. In a way, this will bring every song on the record to life and it will enable fans to not only hear the songs but actually experience them to tap into their deeper meanings and interpretations.

To produce The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends, Evans Blue again enlisted the help of Trevor Kustiak who was so much apart of the success of the group’s debut disc. The band reached a certain level of comfort and a good chemistry working with Kustiak on the first record so staying true to the saying if it’s not broken don’t fix it, the band chose to work with him again right at home in Toronto. And just like any up and coming band releasing a brand new album, Evans Blue are about to literally hit the ground running with some very ambitious touring plans. The band kicked off its touring schedule in early July and will see them hit pretty much anywhere and everywhere in Middle America right up until the beginning of September. More touring is planned for the fall including a return to Canada. In two short years, Evans Blue has achieved more than most bands achieve in an entire decade and things seem to be just getting started. Look for this band to be a staple of the alternative rock scene in Canada and the U.S. for years to come. [ END ]