The Turnpike Troubadours Go On Indefinite Hiatus – Cancel Shows
The breakup rumors are untrue, but the upcoming touring commitments by the Turnpike Troubadours will not be met, and the band has announced they are going on an indefinite hiatus as frontman Evan Felker continues to battle through personal issues that have resulted in numerous cancelled performances over the last nine months.
“We want to again apologize for the abrupt cancellations of our shows this past weekend. We can assure you that the situation was not in our control,” the band said in a statement released Friday (5-31) afternoon. “We want nothing more than the opportunity for to heal, and to not put all of you though this ever again. To have a chance for any of this, we need to cancel all of our remaining tour dates. Turnpike Troubadours will go on an indefinite hiatus until a time we feel that everyone is of strong mind, body and spirit and can deliver what our fans deserve.”
The cancellations affect nearly two dozen dates, including multiple festival headliner slots, not limited to the Comstock Windmill Festival on June 14th in Nebraska, The Jetty Jam on South Padre Island, TX, and the Turnpike-hosted Medicine Stone Festival in Oklahoma in September. Other major appearances at Red Rocks in Colorado on June 18th, and two nights at the Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, TX July 12th and 13th are also affected. Refunds are available for all shows at the point of purchase.
“To all of you who have given us so much, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” the band continued. “You believed in us, you raised us up, you stuck by us and you gave us more unconditional love than any band could ask for. We are humbled. We ask that you please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we work to support and encourage.”
Formed in 2007 between frontman and primary songwriter Evan Felker, and bassist and songwriter R.C. Edwards, the Turnpike Troubadours went from a group of guys getting together to play some music for fun, to one of the biggest and most successful independent country bands in history. Joining them along the way in the most long-lasting lineup of the band has been fiddle player Kyle Nix, guitarist Ryan Engleman, and drummer Gabriel Pearson. “Hammerin’ Hank Early” also joined the band in recent years on steel guitar, dobro, and accordion. Known for crafting sensible melodies underpinned by substantive lyrics, and imbuing traditional country with an energetic attitude, they are a band most everyone can enjoy, and did to the tune of becoming one of the biggest drawing and best-selling acts in Texas/Red Dirt of all time.
Named after the notoriously bumpy turnpikes that traverse Oklahoma’s rural areas and Indian reservations, the Turnpike Troubadours went from a regional band to scoring two Top 3 albums on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and drawing an impressive 66,715 attendees to their performance at Rodeo Houston in March. The band has released a total of five studio albums over their tenure, with their 2010 record Diamonds & Gasoline launching three bona fide Texas country standards—“Every Girl,” “7 & 7,” and a reworking of John Hartford’s “Long Hot Summer Day.”
Turnpike’s 2014 record Goodbye Normal Street sold over 66,000 copies, which put them on the map of the greater music industry, with Thirty Tigers releasing the band’s 2015 self-titled record, and 2017’s A Long Way From Your Heart. In 2017, the Turnpike Troubadours were named Saving Country Music’s Artist of the Year as their influence and fan base quickly spread from regional to national. A 2018 appearance on Austin City Limits also helped to cement their rising status.
But troubles with frontman Evan Felker led to a rash of cancellations that have made the band famous for reasons beyond their music. Major issues first appeared in January of 2016 when numerous fans spoke up about drunken performances from Felker at a New Years Day show, and a performance at the Music Fest in Colorado. Spotty cancellations for sometimes undisclosed reasons would dog the band and their fans for the next couple of years, but the cancellations turned most concerning starting in the summer of 2018.
The Turnpike Troubadours pulled out of an opening spot on Miranda Lambert’s Bandwagon Tour in August of last year after a personal relationship that had developed between Lambert and Felker fell apart. Over the next nine months, the Turnpike Troubadours would cancel just as many live performances as they would play, including last minute cancellations in Chicago and in Bossier City, leaving many fans who had traveled to see the performances angry and frustrated. But at other times Turnpike and Evan Felker appeared to be back on track, including for their mammoth performance at Rodeo Houston in March of this year.
READ: The Ongoing Concern for Evan Felker of the Turnpike Troubadours
On May 7th, Evan Felker was clearly inebriated during a 4-song benefit performance, which started the concerns anew. The final straw was the last minute cancellation two hours before they were scheduled to take the stage at the White Oak Music Hall in Houston, Texas on May 24th. Accounts say that Evan Felker told the band, “I just can’t do it anymore,” and the band canceled the rest of the weekend’s shows, and threw the future of the band into uncertainty in a statement that read,
This weekends shows are unfortunately not going to happen for Turnpike Troubadours. On behalf of the band we apologize for all the cancellations previously and this weekend. We are saddened by the situation and want you all to know we tried our best to stay positive during this stressful time. However, we have been standing at the crossroads, optimistically in hopes of healing, but it was not to be. We ask for your prayers and support as it is our hope that our brother receives the encouragement and help he needs.
Thank you all for the sold out shows, the memories and support. Refunds for the show tonight will be made at point of purchase. Please keep us in your prayers.
An indefinite hiatus by the Turnpike Troubadours leaves a gaping hole in independent country as one of the top bands that could easily convert fans from the mainstream, and find a wide audience of appeal. However it also opens the possibility for frontman Evan Felker to finally seek long-term treatment—something that has eluded the band previously as they continued to try and make rigorous touring commitments, and the band’s management continued to book new shows despite Evan Felker’s troubles. Even many fans had been calling on a longer break for the band.
May 31, 2019 @ 1:34 pm
This sucks, however this hiatus is long overdue. These guys have to stop playing until Evan can get in his right mind. I personally doubt this band will ever break up, and will ultimately come out of this rut their in. Fingers crossed.
May 31, 2019 @ 1:47 pm
I think a lot of people were buying into the idea that they were breaking up, and there were most certainly some strong rumors in that direction. But it is quite normal for bands to take months, if not years off between touring, and this was the remedy that was long, long overdue for the Turnpike Troubadours. Hiatuses are healthy for bands and individuals. Of course there’s the possibility Turnpike will never play a show again. But I think that’s a decision best left to a cool mind with months of reflection. Or, they could emerge much stronger than before.
June 1, 2019 @ 12:40 am
Just reading the line, “there’s a possibility Turnpike will never play a show again” gave me a sinking feeling in my gut for a second. With that said, hopefully Evan pulls an Isbell and gets clean, then releases one of the best albums of the decade.
June 1, 2019 @ 12:58 pm
Given that some of the sources of the break up rumors were/are quite close to the band, I think it’s more likely that people are buying into the idea of a hiatus under a false pretense that the bands management does good, honest PR.
This same management has lied and mislead countless times on their social media about the state of the band and reasons for cancellations, attempting to uphold the facade while the building collapsed in the background.
I’d be very surprised if I ever get a chance to see another turnpike show.
June 1, 2019 @ 8:30 pm
There’s a lot of varying opinions and perspectives on the issues with the Turnpike Troubadours. But I think we can all agree that management has not been conducting good, honest PR, and everyone should (and probably does) understand that when reading any public statement from the band. That said, unless someone is willing or able to provide a direct quote from one of the band members verifying they have indeed broken up, it’s still secondhand news at best. Also, just because one or even multiple band members at this moment in time say they will never play together, this doesn’t mean others in the band don’t feel differently, or won’t feel differently in the future.
Let me put it like this: If on Monday I had ran with the secondhand news that the band was officially broken up and would never play music together again, and cited an unnamed source that was in direct contact with the band, I’d be eating crow right now due to this official statement, and people would be heavily criticizing me for being presumptive and alarmist. Again, that doesn’t mean that rumor is not true. But all we can go with what is official. If members of the band feel otherwise, that’s fine. But unless they’re willing to say so on record, and can speak for everyone, it’s basically rumor.
June 3, 2019 @ 1:02 pm
Glad I caught them up here in Philly last year. Sucks for everyone. Evan , his band and the fans.
May 31, 2019 @ 1:48 pm
For the best an I hope Evan can go into a proper rehab program or else it will just be more of the same.
May 31, 2019 @ 1:51 pm
I wish the best for him.
May 31, 2019 @ 1:55 pm
Good, use the hiatus to get some much needed help for Evan. Come back some day in the future for a fresh start and show everyone what the Turnpike Troubadours are capable of. Wishing everyone in the band the best during their time away from the road and the studio.
May 31, 2019 @ 2:05 pm
“I just can’t do it anymore” is pretty vague. I’ve seen them about 5 times and the only time I ever saw Felker look enthusiastic was when they opened for AA at their road trip to Raleigh deal. Hopefully a year or two off and they come back with their best album to date.
May 31, 2019 @ 2:10 pm
Evan isn’t going to rehab. They’re done. This release is nothing but PR.
May 31, 2019 @ 3:05 pm
‘At a boy, Ben. Who’s your source— Shane Morris?
May 31, 2019 @ 5:15 pm
Anyone and everyone that personally knows Evan knows that he’s not going to rehab.
May 31, 2019 @ 7:09 pm
I was once that guy… and I sought help eventually. People change.
You must be young.
May 31, 2019 @ 8:12 pm
And it’s quite possible to get yourself fixed without having to go to rehab. I was addicted to heavy painkillers for three plus years and when everything came to light I asked for things to be done my way, and if that didn’t suffice then I would check myself in. Spoiler alert, I did it my way, and right the first time.
June 1, 2019 @ 3:42 pm
Lorrie, do you personally know Evan? Also, are you the Lorrie from the songs?
May 31, 2019 @ 5:54 pm
Okay well first off, Evan Felker going to rehab was not mentioned in their statement. People can draw that conclusion from their statement if they choose, but saying they’re lying about Evan going to rehab is putting words into their mouth.
Second, of course this release is PR. That’s what a press release is. The full story will come out eventually. But I’m not sure why we should be so fatalistic about this situation, whether it’s about the band, or especially Evan Felker. I am sure there are some members of the band that are saying they will never play music together again at the moment. Maybe Evan is telling people they can kiss his ass and he will never go to rehab, ever. But time is a strange animal, and nobody knows what the future holds. That’s the reason The Eagles had to name their 1994 album and tour “Hell Freezes Over.”
I also think there were some folks who put their money down on a full breakup, and now they feel undercut. Let’s give this thing time. There’s a good chance that the Turnpike Troubadours may never play music together again. There’s also a good chance that those saying they will never play together again in the heated moment of today will have to eat those words in the future when cooler heads prevail.
A lot is still to be determined. I think the band is very smart to call this a hiatus as opposed to a breakup.
May 31, 2019 @ 7:10 pm
Thank you, Trigger.
May 31, 2019 @ 2:21 pm
I hope I can finally not see fans getting off on Evan’s personal struggles and saying shit like, “but think of the songs that’ll come out of this!!” He’s a human being, maybe keep that shit in mind. I love Turnpike as much as anyone, I hope they don’t break up and get back out there, but I’ll never put my personal music preferences over the well being of another person’s entire life. It’s our music, yes, but it’s his entire fucking life. Keep some perspective.
May 31, 2019 @ 3:02 pm
This is so true, JB. I’ve seen several people make comments like that and I had the same reaction as you. He’s not some method actor who’s just searching for inspiration for future material. He’s actually, realistically, literally having a tough go at it right now and isn’t doing it for the sake of the music or the fans. Music is clearly not the top priority here and some people need to do a better job of understanding that, even if they don’t mean any harm by those kinds of comments.
Recovery and health need to come first, not songs about recovery.
May 31, 2019 @ 8:06 pm
Well may be selfish by some, sure, but this might also be a great thing for him to slowly write and get some of those demons out of his head. It’s a fine balance of working too hard and burning yourself out and then laying in bed for days at a time with no goals or hope. Him writing some lyrics here and there during his resting time may help him to remember who’s he is and what he loves to do- not for our sake.
June 1, 2019 @ 12:00 am
Yes, writing lyrics and songs may help him. I hope it does! My point was fans selfishly wanting him to suffer through this shit is utter bullshit. Nothing he’s ever written in his entire career shows he absolutely has to hit rock bottom to write a spectacular song. The dude can write songs, period.
May 31, 2019 @ 4:31 pm
Long overdue – Wish the man the best.
May 31, 2019 @ 4:52 pm
We all have are struggles in life ! Life is hard especially for the life that they Live!!! Praying for all .. Take all the time you need, health is more important!!! ❤❤❤
May 31, 2019 @ 5:03 pm
Very sad to hear this but it’s for the best. Good luck to all of these guys.????
May 31, 2019 @ 5:04 pm
I hope Evan can use Jason Isbell as an influence in his getting his life together and coming back stronger than before. Even if it takes a few years.
May 31, 2019 @ 5:21 pm
Given the circumstances, this is the best news possible.
May 31, 2019 @ 5:21 pm
Well praise God, and Hallelujah! They’ll come back stronger than ever, and the true fans will be waiting.
May 31, 2019 @ 7:17 pm
Considering the fact that the livelihoods of the band and crew are at stake for what appear to be one members legitimate and difficult issues, and considering the longtime songwriting relationship. I’m surprised John Fulbright is not being tapped (if he were willing/schedules permitting) to fill in on some of the higher profile commitments. I hate to see what Felker is going through, but a softer landing might have been possible. Total speculation. Crucify me gently if you must.
May 31, 2019 @ 7:39 pm
I’d be lying if I said that thought didn’t cascade through my head as well, though I think it’s a bit of fantasy, and an easy thing to prescribe from the outside looking in, but hard to implement. Nobody can replace Evan Felker, but if there was anyone who could try, it would be John Fullbright. He did a fine job singing a Turnpike Troubadours song at Mile 0 Fest this year, and obviously keeps a good rapport with the band. Who knows, maybe he becomes the Sammy Hagar down the road, but I think there’s a few more steps to take before you even consider it. Besides, folks who paid good money to see the Turnpike Troubadours at Red Rocks aren’t going to want to see them with a replacement singer. Best to hit the reset button at this point.
June 1, 2019 @ 7:26 am
I paid to see them at Red Rocks. I was a little disappointed the whole show was pulled. Pat Green, American Aquarium and Parker McCollum were also on the bill. I was hoping for a Hail Mary and Wade/Randy doing HMBWT would fill in, similar to in Austin last weekend. Alas, ‘twas not meant to be.
I just hope Evan can get it together, and live. Yea, like everyone here I would love some more music, sure. Another live show. But I’d hate to see another human gone too soon.
June 4, 2019 @ 11:50 am
I paid to see them at Red Rocks as well. We are from Missouri and I booked the trip because I really like both AA and Parker, so I thought even if Turnpike cancelled due to problems, we would still get to see a couple bands I like at an awesome place. So the whole thing getting cancelled really sucks. Parker’s song Galveston Bay sounds just like a Turnpike song, so I thought maybe Parker and AA may step in a sing a couple songs. But that was just wishful thinking. Good luck Turnpike.
May 31, 2019 @ 7:25 pm
this is the best Turnpike news i have seen lately. Get better Evan! if y’all decide to come back and make more music once you’re good for it, us fans will be good for it too! much love to those fellas and here’s to hoping for a thorough recovery! ✊
May 31, 2019 @ 8:51 pm
I’m obviously not the first to notice this, but some of the lyrics that Evan has penned over the years almost serve as self fulfilling prophecies. I was reminded by a friend today that it seems as if he has come full circle, complaining about not having a place to play in the song “Solid Ground”, and if the “I can’t do it anymore” comment is true, now he doesn’t feel as if he can play anymore. All I know for sure is, there’s NOBODY better than Felker when it comes to writing relatable lyrics. A lot of the characters in his songs could have been my next door neighbors or classmates in school. I hope that he can deal with whatever it is that’s for ahold of him. And yes, I hope some good music comes out of it, but I hope more that he doesn’t end up like Townes or Hank and that his legacy will be long lasting because his career was long lasting.
May 31, 2019 @ 11:07 pm
Wish them well. Life happens and Country is revealing. When you have your bandmates rooting for you there be back and stronget then ever. At least they didn’t just show up and put on shitty shows just for the money. See you when you get there.
May 31, 2019 @ 11:11 pm
Good Luck guys
June 1, 2019 @ 8:57 am
“We want to again apologize for the abrupt cancellations of our shows this past weekend. We can assure you that the situation was not in our control,” the band said in a statement released Friday (5-31) afternoon.
Actually, wasn’t it ALL in their control since it was THEIR band? I’m not sure if they have some pushy PR/management behind them trying to get them out there to tour so money can be made, but someone involved with them did not handle this correctly and it’s been going on for a long time. Apologies don’t cut anymore it in my opinion.
June 2, 2019 @ 1:34 pm
Apologies don’t cut it? The shows have been refunded. They don’t owe you anything.
June 1, 2019 @ 11:26 am
I just wanted to say THANK YOU to the band. For the great music, the memories and everything they do to making my day better by listening to their music and drifting away about the fun, the sad, the bad and wild times about living especially about Oklahoma in a lot of cases. I know the bands coming back, anybody who doubts that is just full of shit! Good luck and see ya soon Troubadours.
June 1, 2019 @ 9:31 pm
Man this sucks so bad! Diamonds And Gasoline, and GoodbyeNormal Street are both in the top country albums of all time imo and Evan Felker is for sure one of the best songwriters of the last couple of generations. i just hate to read stuff like this. i wish all the best to the band and Evan. My whole family is literally jamming Turnpike Troubadours, my wife and kids are cleaning the house, while i read bad news from around the world….this is among the saddest
June 3, 2019 @ 10:21 am
I think it would be great for The Band to get JAMIE LIN WILSON to be their lead singer. She travels by car, let her ride the bus with the guys. I do know she is a great singer/songwriter and writes with Evan from time to time. Just ones opinion. Some have mentioned JOHN FULBRIGHT….I, think she and EVAN both out sing FULBRIGHT.
June 3, 2019 @ 12:49 pm
Trigger is right only time will tell what the bands musical future is or isn’t going to be. I just hope Evan as a human being can find himself in a healthy place that brings him personal peace. Ultimately he is a human full of human frailties like all of us.
August 3, 2023 @ 10:58 am
Well, it all worked out.