Welcome back friends to the latest 311 fan spotlight! This week, let’s meet the lovely Evan Stover!
Evan took notice of 311 in the days of MTV, when their videos for “Down” and “All Mixed Up” were playing in rotation. “I thought it was such a unique sound and creative videos and just really took to them.” Then around 2002 when Evan was 18, she met a group of friends – Bruner, Elise, Carleen, Kristen, Nigel, Boy Evan, Ian, Brooks, and Kyle.
“My soulmates. A few of them were die hard fans and I began to be exposed to more 311 music and attended my first shows. The positivity of the lyrics and the beautiful community of fans just stole my heart. I was home. Finally, after so many years of searching for… Something.”
Evan has seen 311 around 40 times, in 5 different states and including one 311 Day event (New Orleans 2016). First show was in Tampa, Florida, in 2003. As for favorite shows, she chose that 311 Day she attended and then the show in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2014, where she met the band.
Songs that mean a lot to Evan include “Speak Easy” (which reminds her of Boy Evan) and “Do You Right” (which takes her home to the beach). As for favorite lyrics, some that she loves include: “You can’t be let down if you don’t expect the world,” “You make me think of a song that I did not write yet,” “At the end of the day the relentless always win” and “There’s nothing like the comfort of a silence that’s comfortable”
Evan grew up in Clearwater, Florida. Then when she was 18 she moved to Hawaii for a year, then Chicago for a year when she was married, and now she is back in Florida in Lakeland. ” I came here to put down roots and raise my daughter. Our days are long. We’re up at 5:15am. We don’t get home till about 7pm. I’m still close to my 311 homies from all those years ago. At least one of them will be with me as the boys keep bringing it live.”
Evan strives to be a kind and loving human. ” I think the meaning of life is love and I intend to fall in love with as many people, places and things as I can in this life. I’m a recovering addict. I have found so many lyrics that nod to recovery and that has gotten me through some pretty dark times. I even wrote an essay during treatment. I wrote a timeline of my life using nothing but 311 songs. I was supposed to choose one, it had to be 6. Lol.”
Evan is a single mother to a beautiful 4 year old girl. “She already chants 3 11, 3 3 11!” Evan also loves to hoop dance, she loves art and also traveling. Currently she works as a hospitality staffing manager. “This is recent after 20 years of bartending and waitressing.”
Interesting fact about Evan, she used to perform swing dancing shows and was in the cast of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. She is also terrified of heights. Something that makes her unique is that she can match pitch perfectly, in a whistle or by song. Guilty pleasure for Evan is watching the show “Married at First Sight.” “While eating ice cream in bed. Don’t you dare tell!”
Other artists that Evan loves include Virgins Merlot (she said Signs of a Vacant Soul is very special to her), Dirty Heads, G. Love and the Special Sauce, Ani Difranco, Portishead, and Korn. “I like all genres of music. I can appreciate the artistry in every bit of it. I like classical piano to relax. And mushroom jazz.”
Along the same topic of favorite bands, there was a band in the Tampa Bay area that she loves called Suburban Tragedy. “I met the lead singer when I was only 16 years old. I attended every show I could and watched Niks career evolve. He became a dear friend over the years. He went on to do a recurring show called Sharp Sings Sinatra, signed a contract writing songs in Nashville and created a music app called Audidio. Audidio is amazing. It reminds me of old school MTV. Nothing but music videos and all the artists are unsigned. It’s Niks legacy. Nik Sharp passed away in December of 2021. My fb cover photo is in remembrance of him.” You can check out Audidio wherever you download your apps!
As for words to 311, Evan has met them all but when she did, she hadn’t found recovery yet. “I managed to ask Nick for a hug. I shook P-nuts arm so hard I might have yanked it from the socket. I chit chatted what ever small talk I could muster in that state but what I forgot to say, what I NEEDED to say was thank you. That music..those lyrics and those friends kept me going when I truly felt I had nothing left in me. So, I thank them for keeping on keeping on.”
Now here are Evan’s words to all of the other fans out there:
“You are loved beyond measure. Keep on climbing the hill. Love with everything you’ve got, like your life depends on it.”
Thank you SO much to Evan for sharing her story! It was a great one to write. As always, muchos gracias to all of the readers each week. I hope you all have an amazing week as we inch closer to our beloved holiday, 311 Day!
Much Love – The Runt