Evan Felker Emerges Performing at Benefit with Teague Brothers
There was a big Evan Felker sighting on Saturday, February 27th, as the longtime frontman and songwriter of the Turnpike Troubadours turned up playing with The Teague Brothers at a benefit concert in Texas.
The Teague Brothers Band performed a socially distanced show at the Pipkin Ranch Lodge near Beaumont, TX on Saturday at about 1:30 in the afternoon, and surprised many when Evan Felker jumped up on stage to front the band. The location is not far from the Canada Ranch in Oak Island, TX that Evan Felker was photographed at in May of 2020.
Though the appearance was unexpected, music promoter Jennifer Redding was there with camera in hand to capture much of the set. With the Teague Brothers backing him up and while sporting a full-blown mustache, Evan Felker performed “7&7,” “Gin, Smoke, Lies,” “Good Lord, Lorrie,” and “Every Girl.”
The performance was to benefit Eric Neal, who was diagnosed with Sclerosing Epitheloid Fibrosarcoma in 2018, and had surgery to amputate his right leg. He’s also gone through multiple rounds of chemotherapy radiation, and had an additional surgery on his back. The husband, son, and brother is a Texas A&M alum, and a valued member of the community. Folks who want to donate to Eric Neal can do so via Paypal at “rehatcher16 at gmail dot com”.
The Turnpike Troubadours went on an indefinite hiatus on May 31st, 2019 after multiple cancellations of shows over a prolonged period. Though at the time, no specific reasons were cited for the cancellations beyond personal issues not attributed to any specific member of the band, it was believed Evan Felker was dealing with personal problems throughout the time.
Then in August of 2020, Evan Felker said, “The past year has been some of the best moments and best parts of my life. First and foremost, I found sobriety and recovery. And I stepped away from the road and got a clearer view of the world. I got back to just being me. I could not have ever done that while we were touring like we were. I had initially blamed everything on being on the road. But it’s only when you take the road out of the equation that you see you’ve still got problems. I was able to start fixing those.”
Meanwhile the Teague Brothers Band have been making their own waves in Texas, releasing their debut album Harvest Day in 2019. They also just released a new single called “American Folk Song.” Evan Felker and John Teague are said to be good friends.
Photos and video below by Ray Redding.
February 28, 2021 @ 8:49 am
That is promising news! Let’s hope to hear more.
February 28, 2021 @ 8:54 am
I don’t think we’ll ever get another Turnpike Troubadours album or tour, but an Evan Felker solo album … I’d place a bet on that happening.
February 28, 2021 @ 9:40 am
You can’t blame the band. Mean it may be a little harsh to say but your not gonna put your livelihood if you’re another member of that band with a guy who has routinely fallen off the waggon and de rail your own livelihood. Not to mention you still get the streaming money you still are part of any merch sales so you know what I don’t blame anyone who’s part of that Bang going in joining someone else that you can count on and it’s screwed up to say but it wasn’t like this was the 1st time that Evan had a real problem this was routinely brought up issue so I think you’re right this is probably never gonna happen again. Maybe once for some big time money we might see one more Tour but that would be about it.
February 28, 2021 @ 9:55 am
That was me when I was young. Stomped on every chance I had. No one to blame but myself. 20 years sober now though. He’ll figure it out.
February 28, 2021 @ 2:18 pm
“They all wanna be Hank Williams. They don’t wanna have to die.”
February 28, 2021 @ 12:06 pm
Nah, it’ll happen. Just a matter of “when.” TT is too big of a moneymaker to not get them back out on the road. Aside from Evan getting control of his life over the last couple years, there was also a lawsuit the band had to contend with, with their former management. Not sure if that’s been resolved yet. Who knows if they’ll ever record again but it’s a safe bet that we’ll see em live again. Probably will be an EF solo record, too, somewhere down the line.
February 28, 2021 @ 12:10 pm
Yep, it’s the Ship of Theseus dilemma. If you change everything but the name, is it still the same thing?
With Nixy, RC, and Engleman all doing their own thing, that lineup will probably never happen again.
But the Turnpike Troubadour name could go on with new members, depending on ownership rights.
Regardless, I’m happy to see Evan getting back into the scene healthy and happy.
February 28, 2021 @ 12:45 pm
Indeed!
Nixy has said in an interview that TT is “between records,” so who knows?
Pretty sure the band flies or dies with EF and RC’s involvement, though.
What’d be sweet is to have them regroup and do a dual-vocal thing with EF singing certain songs and Nix on others. A man can dream, right?
February 28, 2021 @ 2:46 pm
See: American Aquarium.
(On quite a few levels, honestly!)
March 1, 2021 @ 9:33 am
Very true.
But (completely personal opinion here) BJ will never be the caliber of writer and singer that Evan is. He’s a hard worker. Just doesn’t have as much natural ability.
March 1, 2021 @ 9:48 am
Oh for sure – I’m incredibly impressed with how far he’s improved over the last few albums (Lamentations is freaking amazing, in large part because the vocals are a level up from anything he’s done previously)…but Evan’s just on another level, in terms of God-given talent.
Lamentations’ tracks can go blow-for-blow with most Turnpike songs, but BJ’s never going to write Every Girl and 7&7.
February 28, 2021 @ 12:36 pm
I have wondered if we would ever see them back together. The things that jump out at me are Evan’s songs and Ryan’s guitar playing. No question they were a band that had synergy, but I think the songs stand.
February 28, 2021 @ 1:31 pm
I have no idea if the Turnpike Troubadours will get back together. And frankly, the situation is so emotional, I don’t think you can trust even if someone in the band says it will never happen again. There’s a reason The Eagles had to name an album and a tour “Hell Freezes Over.”
But what I do know is that seeing Evan Felker sober and able to perform would be the very first requisite to seeing the band getting back together, or to him emerging as a solo artist if he so chooses. That is why this is such positive news.
February 28, 2021 @ 2:03 pm
I thought about the Eagles situation and that album and tour(s), but they literally had millions upon millions to lose to not get back together. Still today they are holding that band together with scotch tape and spit to cash in every million on its legacy. Turnpike Troubadours didn’t make a fraction of what the Eagles made when they toured. Personally, I don’t think they made enough for the other (original) members to ever get back together. They grinded on broken down tour buses and outside the red dirt region, played small venues in front of small crowds.
February 28, 2021 @ 2:32 pm
Yeah, but if you’re a Turnpike Troubadour, playing in the band and not might be the difference between you making a decent living playing music, and not. It’s all relative. My deeper point is when you’re in the emotion of a moment (i.e. Felker just caused you to cancel yet another show), you may say things that when a cool mind prevails, you feel differently about.
February 28, 2021 @ 3:14 pm
Let’s not forget one might also wanna go back to playing in a band because it’s a great band with great chemistry and the people in it are your friends (of course people can also cool off on friendship – I don’t know how things stand on that front when it comes to TT).
February 28, 2021 @ 4:04 pm
I know I drifted apart from the two friends in my life that got sober. The one always made snide comments like, “I don’t know how you haven’t got a DUI yet” or preach at me about my lifestyle since he had to change his. People change especially after sobriety; things don’t go back to normal.
March 1, 2021 @ 6:35 am
Hopefully they manage to find their own “new normal”.
February 28, 2021 @ 5:19 pm
If there’s going to be a reunion in the short term, Mile 0 Fest is a perfect place for it. All of the guys except Evan are scheduled to perform there. Although I think Reckless Kelly dropped off the lineup recently. It’s an interesting prospect though…
March 1, 2021 @ 8:21 am
Man, great point. Makes me wanna rearrange my schedule and head on down for that. It seems like a great event regardless, but to see a TT reunion there would be truly special.
February 28, 2021 @ 9:41 pm
How do I find…that old familiar feeling?
One that carried me so many years ago..
February 28, 2021 @ 9:48 pm
I don’t comment much but I just wanted to say this made me really happy. I know lot of artists worry about getting sober and losing their creativity or je ne sais quoi. If Evan or Evan’s people see this, know this: you’ve still got it, man. If or when it’s a good or healthy time to get back out there, you’ve got fans out here waiting. Keep fighting the good fight.
March 1, 2021 @ 5:56 pm
Seeing Evan up there singing really just warmed my heart. If it’s a precursor to Turnpike getting back together, that would be fantastic. Either way, I hope he’s on a path that is fulfilling for him, and selfishly I hope to see him share more of his ridiculous talent with us in the future.
March 1, 2021 @ 6:00 pm
Really awesome to watch that video of Evan playing again. Idk the guy and I’ve never seen TT live (the only time they came to New Jersey that I remember I couldn’t make it), so this is all assumption here, but I’ve seen a bunch of videos of them live where he looks almost robotic, joyless and just trying to keep it together but here he’s smiling, moving around and having fun and it’s really good to see. Here’s to hoping for more music from Evan and the boys!
March 2, 2021 @ 1:14 pm
I’ll be there, amigo.
I hadn’t heard about Reckless Kelly dropping out.
They’re one of the main bands I have wanted to see.