Morgan Evans, the best is yet to come, video

The 28-year-old Lake Macquarie singer songwriter is a finalist for CMC Oz Artist of the Year, to be announced tomorrow night at Hope Estate to kick off the three-day CMC Rocks the Hunter country music festival.

But three years ago, the tall, handsome star walked away from his music career – it just wasn’t going to happen for him.

Evans picked up a guitar for the first time at the age of five. He was writing songs and putting together a rock’n’roll band by age 13. By 17, the band was winning music competitions and touring.

He had also entered the  Telstra Road to Tamworth new talent competition every year since its inception, making no apologies for his  love of country music.

In 2007 he won the Telstra competition at Tamworth, garnering prizemoney and studio recording time.

But it didn’t end up in stardom.

He went back to rock’n’roll, touring as hard rockin’ three-piece band Solver.

‘‘Three years ago I had a crisis at the end of an extremely relentless touring schedule,’’ Evans said. ‘‘Any money we were making went straight into the band. We were playing four nights a week, and we were broke as ... 

‘‘Most of my mates were finishing uni. I moved to Sydney to get a real job. It took me three months to realise, if I keep doing this, at 40 or 50, I’ll hate myself.’’ He quit the job – a music programmer for a firm that supplied background music to businesses like McDonald’s and Gloria Jeans.

And he wrote Live Each Day, in his own classic country rock style.

‘‘That helped when I went back,’’ he said. ‘‘So I focused on what I want to do, who I want to be. Now, I’m real comfortable.’’

 Making a U-turn on the road of life and driving back to something you love, in spite of its tough rules and sometimes wicked ways, has all the makings of a hit country song.

Veteran country music promoters Kerry Roberts and Rob Potts are Evans’s co-managers.

‘‘It has definitely been a long journey for Morgan – musically and emotionally – before he has finally arrived at this place called debut album release,’’ Roberts said. ‘‘He has learned a lot of life lessons along the way, takes nothing for granted, and is definitely a better person for it today.’’

The decision to return to making music looks for all money like the right one. Evans releases his first full-length album  tomorrow, featuring 12 songs, 10 of which bear his songwriting imprint.

The self-titled debut Morgan Evans was made in Nashville with expat Australian producer and guitar player Jedd Hughes.

You can’t take the rock out of Evans. This is not an album of twang – it’s got great melodies, powerful choruses and crackling electric guitar riffs.

From the opener Like a Tornado, to Love You Home, Childhood Heart, The Best of Me, Another Goodbye Kiss and Best I Never Had, it resonates with solid lyrics and catchy melodies.

Make You Feel Like a Woman heads towards jazzy blues, not your average Nashville country sound.

‘‘I’ll be forever grateful,’’ he said. ‘‘They really gave me creative control.’’

 Already the first video from the album, One Eye for an Eye (co-written with fellow Novocastrian Mark Wells) is No.2 on the CMC video charts.

The two covers on the album stand up exceptionally well, considering they were late inclusions.

Wide Open Road, a hit for The Triffids in the 1980s, was included after  Evans  recorded it  in December, thinking it would be a bonus track.

‘‘Everyone at the label loved it so much,’’ Evans said, ‘‘they suggested it go on the main album.’’

The other inclusion, The Cape, written by Guy Clark, was also a latecomer.

‘‘I wanted the 11th song to be acoustic [it ended up as the 12th when Wide Open Road was included]. I was driving to the studio to tell Jedd I didn’t have an 11th and that song came on my shuffle. It was a like a lightning bolt. I said we’ve got to record it.’’

Evans is also nominated for CMC Video of the Year (for Carry On) and CMC Male Oz Artist of the Year.

Morgan Evans plays on Saturday night at CMC Rocks the Hunter at Hope Estate. His album launch is on Thursday, March 20, at Lizotte’s Newcastle.