Evanscapps

[66 mustang]

EVANSCAPPS Release new Single "INNOCENCE"

 

EC Entertainment LLC

6/28/2005 3:29:05 PM

 

EVANSCAPPS will be debut it's cd "Last Time" July 2nd on The Classic Metal

Show with the release of the single INNOCENCE scheduled for the first week

of July.

 

Columbus, MS - June 28, 2005 - EVANSCAPPS will be the guest for this week's

installment of the syndicated radio show "The Classic Metal Show", Saturday

July 2nd. The Classic Metal Show will host a listening party of their new

CD "Last Time". Ean Evans bass player for Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bobby Capps

keyboardist for 38 Special will be on hand to discuss their latest

collaboration which has both Evans and Capps showcasing their talents on a

different level than they are accustomed to in the bands they currently

tour with. Evans plays all Lead guitar parts while Capps handles the lead

vocals adding into the mix some special guest appearances on "Last Time"

for a few tracks, Rickey Medlocke (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Todd Harrell (3 Doors

Down), Todde Lawton (Toby Mac), and Tim Cabe (Outlaws) you get one HARD

rocking CD.

 

The track "INNOCENCE" will be released nationwide July 5th, as they embark

an independent campaign to promote "Last Time". Since both Evans and Capps

are currently on tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special time isn't

something either have a lot of these days. "It's a challenge, says Evans,

finding the necessary time to get our music on the airwaves, but we hope to

have it available in most major markets in the coming weeks." Currently

several tracks off "Last Time" can be heard in various markets across the

US and abroad.

 

To learn more about EVANSCAPPS and view video clips including the single

"INNOCENCE" visit their website www.evanscapps.com

 

For times and stations to hear the "Last Time" listening party this

Saturday go to the ClassicMetal Show's website

[66 mustang]

EVANSCAPPS

 

Interviewed by Andy Herron

 

 

 

 

?History would suggest that the EVANSCAPPS project would have that southern ?Lynyrd Skynyrd-.38 Special? flavor to it. Not necessarily true, though deep within the roots it can be found. With .38 Special?s keyboardist Bobby Capps moving to lead vocals and Skynyrd?s bassist Ean Evans jumping to lead guitar, similarities to their primary bands cease. More S.A.M. than same. Southern Alternative Metal. The guys were gracious enough to put some time aside to give Rhythm, Art & Groove an exclusive interview just as it was being released. Let?s check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

Rhythm, Art & Groove: Having just been released, what would be the early prognosis on the feedback you?re receiving so far?

 

Bobby Capps: It?s been great so far! Really hasn?t had a bad response from anybody. It?s not just one song; it?s every one of them. It?s a great feeling. I mean, the people are pumping us up pretty good right now. It?s unbelievable, the response, and I?m just as proud as I can be.

 

Ean Evans: It?s only been out just a couple of weeks. We did some tests, ya know, radio marketing of it, just a few weeks before that. It?s growing branches every day.

 

RAG: How did the idea for you two to get together and do this come to be?

 

EE: It began when we hooked up thru the .38 (Special) / (Lynyrd) Skynyrd tour, ya know. Because of the unfortunate passing of Leon (Wilkeson- Editor?s note: Leon Wilkeson was Lynyrd Skynyrd?s original bassist, who passed away in July of 2001of natural causes. Though being maimed in one arm from the infamous 1977 plane crash, he had continued to play on), he was my mentor, and he kinda passed the flame to me. That?s when I realized that Skynyrd and 38 kinda go together like salt and pepper. You know, they?re on a lot of the tours together. One of the crew guys let me hear Bobby?s disc, and I was blown away with his voice. Therefore, I approached him with a bunch of instrumentals and we kind of hooked up from there. We kind of teamed up, and we just launched at that moment.

 

BC: I had gotten a CD from Ean in a roundabout way. He had hooked up with our drummer (38?s Gary Moffatt) on a plane, and as soon as he got off the plane he called me and said ?Man, have you heard this stuff? Ean has got this music that you would be perfect for?. So I got it and listened to it and I was blown away. The music was just unbelievable. So I called Ean and asked if he wanted me to write some stuff on it, and he was like ?Go for it, man?. So we got together, and I had written, what was it Ean, like twelve songs in two weeks?

 

EE: Aw man, it was an incredible feat. He did a smokin? job!

 

BC: The funny thing is, Ean is?I call him the analogy man, he?s got a million of?em, but I get more from him, just talkin? to him on the phone. He?d come up with an analogy or say something over the phone, and I?d say ?dude, write it down, write it down?. Every time I?d talk to him, I?d have a pen and a piece of paper, because I knew that something was gonna come out of his mouth that would be perfect for the song. Sure enough, every time I talked to him I had another idea or a way to go on a song. He basically had concepts or titles for the songs, and what the concepts were on them. It was really?it wasn?t as hard as you?d think. It was sort of fill-in-the-blank. A lot of times I would have Ean just hum a melody along with his music. I think he was joshin? me a little bit, I think he already had all of it. He just made me feel good.

 

EE: No, not necessarily. I mean, no, not really. The music really dictated what the?as I?d come up with a rhythm riff or somethin?, you know, it?d kind of give it its own color. It would kind of give it it?s own picture, and whatever picture that was, and that?s how a lot of the hooks came about, just ?cause the music dictated what they were gonna be.

 

BC: We had a lot of conversations on the phone where we?d hold the phone up to the speakers and say ?What do you think about that??, and there was a lot of ?Holy crap!, that?s killer?, ya know? (Laughing)

 

EE: Yeah, at the very beginning, and still is to some degree, it?s kind of a long distance relationship, because we?re on different tours, then we?d merge and then we?re not. We started out, him doin? parts and me hearin? it over the phone, and me doin? the same thing.

 

BC: A lot of Fed-ex.

 

EE: Yeah, a lot of Fed-ex. Then we kind of got out of that (learned of)?I?m caveman and he?s spaceman as far as technology goes. I?m kind of your old-school ?hand on the fader? and he?s into the pro tools, high-tech, computer recording. We started out by sending the CD?s, then he?s taught me to?where we?re now internet active, being able to send (to one another) a lot of the tracks. I?d say about the last 10% of the tracks were sent via email. He brought me up to where I kind of feel like I?m a ?Wright brother? now. (Both laugh)

 

BC: There?s another analogy, write that down! (More laughs)

 

EE: You know, I may not fly the space shuttle, ever, but at least I?m learnin? about it to where I can run a music program, but I?m still havin? a hard time emailin? someone.

 

BC: You can change the tires.

 

EE: Yeah, but it?s a relationship that?s definitely set in stone and we have compiled between the two of us over 100 more songs that are based upon, let?s face it, different eras of music. Whether that music was before it?s time, after it?s time, or right on time. You?re talkin? a span of about 15 years of writing. You know, different styles have come and gone. You showcase your original material and they say ?well I?m sorry, it?s too late, it?s already happened?, or ?I don?t get it?. And when they don?t get it, that means that it?s just 6 months away from people likin? it. I mean, who?s to determine that kind of stuff?

 

RAG: Now, bringing in guest musicians on recordings such as this is always an interesting concept. Can you give the details as to how you came to choose such players as, well, Ricky Medlocke (Skynyrd guitarist) is obvious, but for Todd Harrell (3 Doors Down) and Todde Lawton (Toby Mac)?

 

EE: Well, all of them came to be in a meant-to-be fashion. Myself and some other members of Skynyrd went to Biloxi, of my home state of Mississippi, to do a benefit with 3 Doors Down for the ?Better Life Foundation? that they have. I had never met them before, you know? I knew they were from my home state, and so there was a little bit of kin-ship there already. So when they found out that, we had bonded already on that fact alone. That led to Brad (Arnold, lead vocalist and songwriter for 3 Doors Down) and I getting? in the hotel room and him hearin? some tracks, that were still with the drum machine at the time, and he went nuts over it. By the time it got to track 6, I had the entire band in the room! They were all into it! Then Todd ( Harrell ) and I hit it off, I guess I could say he?s like my little brother, and Bobby?s as well. Bass guitar, of course! You know, for one. He and I did the double basses on stage, and will continue to do so when we play together. The only time I?d ever done that before was with Leon himself in 1983. It was a good memorable thing for me. I was kind of Leon?s little brother, and now I?ve got mine, from that same little double-bass thing. I knew right then, and got the news back to Bobby, that when we got back to Nashville to get the drums put on, that Todd was gonna come up. It was a done deal.

 

?Now, Todde Lawton, I had went with my daughter to Tupelo (Mississippi), north of Columbus, where I?m from, where Third Day was playing, and Toby Mac was opening up. And when I watched them (Toby Mac), they?re an energetic band! Very high intensity! They?re a Christian band, but they?re very intense. There was somethin? about this bass player, he was just ?nailin? it home?, man! So I went backstage and said ?dude, where do you live? I?d like for you to record on a song for us?. He said ?I live in Nashville?. I said ?that?s perfect, that?s where we?re recording?. So it was great! You know?

 

RAG: All in all, did the final product turn out the way you envisioned it to?

 

EE: Yes, it did. It?s minus a few songs that we wanted to have on it, but we?ll eventually get to those. One of them is a re-make we won?t disclose from a?one of the biggest re-makes?you could ask yourself, ?what would be one of the biggest re-makes you?d wanna do? and just kind of leave it at that. And hopefully have the original lead singer do some work with us on it. Kind of like with what?s goin? on nowadays, you?ve got a classic performer doing something with a modern artist. But we?ve got us one, and Bobby knows it?s a good one.

 

BC: Oh yeah.

 

EE: If it develops, it?ll sure make a mark, I?ll give you that.

 

RAG: You guys recently took some time to spend with Delta State University students from the ?History of Rock and Roll? class. What were your impressions from that experience?

 

EE: Go ahead, Bobby.

 

BC: We were invited to give a lecture for the class there, and we decided that while we were doing that, that we would have the students fill out a piece of paper that we had made up and listen to the CD to get their thoughts on what might be the first single we would release. Which songs they liked, and which ones they didn?t.

 

EE: How many students would you say were there, Bobby? About 50?

 

BC: About 50. 50 or 60. Yeah. Out of all of them, they all stayed, and they all listened to the CD. They had all filled out these forms we?d passed out, and not one of them had a bad thing to say, or that they didn?t like it.

 

EE: No, and the only one that was, was a guy that liked jazz. (All laugh) He said it was still done on industry levels, and blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., but ?I?m into jazz?. (With a somewhat upper-class type accent) ?I?m into Miles, man?. (More laughing) You know, like nothing compares. I?m like, ?way to give your opinion?.

 

BC: Overall, it was a great opinion (from the class).

 

EE: Yeah! It was good for Bobby and me too, ya know, because it was the first time I had ever done a ?lecture?. When you know their there, and they?re starin? ya in the face, and you?re gonna deliver a message to them. You just come from the hip,?from the heart, is all you really do. The dos and don?ts of the business, you know? The possibilities, the probabilities, but no guarantees. Everything on that level to try to keep them with a positive outlook that?s dependent on discipline and things like that. Skills instead of how much weed you?ve got in your pocket. Base it upon the musical integrity instead of just the party?the social thing that kinda goes along with it. Keep that ?out?. Keep that out of it. You know, succeed in the ?music? department. That?s what I do, that?s why I have a 20 year marriage and everything. It?s been 24/7 for me since the age of five.

 

BC: Tell him about your mistress.

 

EE: Well, I have about 6 or 7 of?em. They?ve got six strings on?em, and they?ve got nice jack inputs. All of that good stuff.

 

BC: Ean?s said before, ?I do have a mistress, and it?s my guitar?. I think that?s a great analogy.

 

RAG: So did you see any of yourselves in the listening audience?

 

EE: Yeah!

 

BC: Absolutely!

 

EE: Aw man, yeah.

 

BC: Absolutely.

 

EE: I mean, they?re there. They?re eager. You?ve got the ones that just?that do not know. They?re intrigued, they?re curious, about music in general, not counting us! I think the first question you?ve gotta ask yourself is ?is this what you really, really, really want to do?? You know? Before you even go any further! You?ve gotta ask yourself if you?ve got enough talent or accolades in your ?own mind?, not cuttin? yourself any slack in the mirror, that you can achieve these goals. If your answer is yes to both, ?then?, here ya go. ?Fire?s hot, don?t touch fire!? Then go from there. Try to get as much as you can into somebody?s brain until they cut you off. (All laugh)

 

RAG: Bobby, it seems that until now, you?ve had only limited opportunities to showcase your vocal abilities. Though you sing .38 Special?s ?Second Chance? now, you weren?t there for the original recording.

 

BC: No. A guy named Max Carl wrote and sang that. Don Barnes (Editor?s note: Original and founding member of .38 Special. See last year?s interview with him at This Link) had left the band for a few years. I met Max right before the ?Rock & Roll Strategy? tour (1988). They were rehearsing in Jacksonville(Fla.) to go out on that tour. Max was the keyboard player and lead singer at the time. He had written that song (Second Chance). When I first met Max, I hadn?t even heard that song because the record wasn?t out yet. Max and I had hit it off, I was playing a club in Jacksonville and he came in. I was in a band there, and I had a pretty extensive?I?ve always been a tech-head, and I?ve always had some pretty elaborate keyboard stuff on stage. He saw it and said, ?Man, I?m goin? out on tour and everything?s a mess, and I don?t think I can pull this off? and ?Can you come over and show me what to do?? So, you know, I helped him buy the right equipment and hooked him up, and he came back and said ?Well now I don?t know how to run it, what am I gonna do out on tour?? So I said, ?Well, how much does a keyboard tech make?? and he said, ?You?re a player, you?re not a keyboard tech, you would just hate it.? I said ?Well, you?re right.? So we parted ways, and about two weeks later he called me up and says ?Dude, things are rough out here, we?re in rehearsals and none of this stuff?s workin?? and he says ?I?ll tell ya what, I?ll make it so that within a year you?ll be on stage playin? with .38 Special as a second keyboard player.? He said if I came out to be his keyboard tech now, I could play off the stage. So, you know, I went and did that. About two years later, I got to go out and play on stage with them as the second keyboard player, and then he quit. (Both laugh)

 

?Then Don came back, and said, ?Well, we need a keyboard player?, and I already knew all of the parts and had the equipment, so they added me to do that. Then eventually, you know, Don was singing ?Second Chance? for a while, and then one night, he came up to me right before the show and said ?Hey, you?re singin? Second Chance tonight.? So I went out and did it. I don?t remember how many years ago that was, but I?ve been doin? it ever since.

 

EE: I?ve gotta interject this about Bobby?s voice. A lot of people are unknown to it until now, and they?re fixin? to get a load of it. I have showcased different lead vocalists since all through the eighties. I know what a singer?s capabilities should be, and I have not found ANYONE until this boy right here that?s got everything that it takes.

 

BC: (Sheepishly) Awww.

 

EE: I mean it! I?ve had major deals come in front of me, bands that rehearse 8 days a week, have had their wives pay the bills while they?ve rehearsed all day long. It still doesn?t compare to what Bobby and I have done.

 

BC: You know, goin? back to the thing about showcasing my voice. I feel like, with .38 Special, Don Barnes, there is no other. Don Barnes and Donnie Van Zant are the voice of .38 Special. As a fan of .38 Special, first and foremost, I grew up listening to their music. I think a band that has had that many hits and that much success should stick to what they?re doin?, I think that Don and Donnie should be singing most of the stuff. I?ve learned so much from them as far as fronting a band. Sometimes it?s a relief to go back to those keyboards, so I enjoy what I do there.

 

RAG: Ean, what is some of your background with Lynyrd Skynyrd?

 

EE: I was here as Leon?s assistant in 1999, and then he passed in 2001, but my relationship with Leon goes back to 1983. I was in a cover band when they were first getting ready for the Rossington Collins tour, their very first tour. He had, maybe a block or two from their rehearsal facility, this club. ?The Whippin? Post? in Augusta, Ga., I?ll never forget it. He would come in and hang out, you know, party with us. Then on the fourth set of the night, he would always come up (on stage) and he and I would do double-bass. On whatever song it may be, AC/DC, you name it. We had big jams, you know, and he loved it! He did it all week long, we knew Leon was comin?. We were fixin? to head out of town to do other gigs, and they were fixin? to go out on the road anyway, I said, ?Man, I hope I get to see you again?. ?I really had a great time!? Well, 7 years pass, and I?m with The Outlaws, and we open up for Lynyrd Skynyrd. I was like, ?alright, I get to see Leon again?. So I hook up with him, he remembers me, and he says ?Come on to the back of the (tour) bus?. And lo and behold, there?s a picture, oh, about 20?x 40?, of him playing wearing my cover band?s T-shirt I gave him 7 years earlier. After that, around the ?97, ?98, ?99 area?you know, the (plane) crash left his arm really mangled. He was a trooper for playin? all of those years with the way his arm was, all of his muscle was pretty much gone. (It came to be) that he had an unorthodox way of playing, to where he would kind of fold his arm in, and kind of rest it on his body. It would counter-weight the bass to make the neck stick up, to where it was easier to play. Because, you know, holdin? the guitar up with his arm was hard to do. He?d get excruciating pain sometimes, he lived with pain all of his life after that crash. By doin? this, he kind of created a stylistic way of playing. That gave him his own sound, and his own domain. The only way of recreating that is what he gave me on a two week tour in Canada. He insisted that I come with him. I had helped him out on a tour a time or two, when his arm would get to hurtin? and he would need to rest it, and I?d go play. But this particular time, we would both be together. I was like, that?s not?that?s not the right way. You know, I?m not out for a job. I?m not a vulture, I?m not a bird of prey, or nothin? like that. But he insisted, it was really like, I had to stay, whether I wanted to go home or not. We spent the two weeks together, and had the greatest time. He started showing me the recipe for the style (he had developed), and I was like, ?Dude, do not do that, that is not?allowed?.

 

You don?t do that, but he insisted. Once again, I had no choice! Well, God bless the man, he passed away five weeks after that run.

 

RAG: wow.

 

EE: Yeah, and I?at that moment, I was very upset, I?d lost a great friend that I?d only known on about three occasions, you know?

 

RAG: Yeah.

 

EE: But I felt so connected to him. When he passed away, it took a few days to get past the impact, for one. Then when the guys called me up and asked, ?In his honor, do you wanna go?? I realized what he had done.

 

RAG: So where do you see yourselves going from here, as far as future plans?

 

EE: Skynyrd and .38 is the top plan, we want success for them. Who knows when they?re gonna decide to stop. I would like to think it is years away. They?ve made it known they feel the same way, so, Lord willin? and help us, we?ll keep on goin?. At the same time, the Van Zant brothers are really gonna have themselves a great achievement, with their record they?ve got out. The good thing about Bobby and me, we get to step in different shoes and be different too.

 

BC: I think I can speak on both of our behalf?s, and we?ve talked about this a lot. Our goal, more than anything, is to be on stage when Lynyrd Skynyrd hits the last note, and when .38 Special hits the last note. Whatever comes of our success with this project, those involved will have to understand that we have a number one, that which is our primary bands.

 

EE: Yeah, they?ve allowed us the outlet to do what we?re doin? now! Let?s face it, if we were just tryin? to start out from scratch?

 

BC: Well, we might not even be talkin? to Andy right now!

 

EE: No, well we wouldn?t be. There ya go, we wouldn?t be, my friend. Therefore, there are a lot of thanks to go with that, and a lot of dedication to come with it.????????????? ?????????????????????????????????

 

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For more on EVANSCAPPS, visit their website at www.evanscapps.com.

 

Their new release, ?Last Time?, is available at record stores, or can be ordered through their website.

 

http://www.rhythmartgroove.com/Frameset.htm

[66 mustang]

http://www.myspace.com/evanscapps

check out the sound clips. sound nothing like Skynyrd or 38. much more of a hard rock band. Great guitars and I did not know that Bobby Capps could sing with that kind of aggression.

[Bubbasmama]

I really like the song "Anything Goes".......big much!!!

[66 mustang]

has anyone picked this up?

what is the opinion on the CD?

[66 mustang]

bump

[Doksdad]

I LOVE this disk!!! Like a modern day Southern Rock band.

[66 mustang]

first song on the disc is the best, hands down

[66 mustang]

[Stefan]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stefan]