Interview with Laura Evans: ‘My best music is when I’m reflecting on a tough time’

Nashville-loving, Welsh-rooted country singer Laura Evans will release a cover of KT Tunstall’s ‘Black Horse & A Cherry Tree’ in January before bringing out another new single in March.

‘We’ve put a bluesy rocky vibe to ‘Black Horse & A Cherry Tree’,’ she said. ‘I struggle with covers a bit, I have to really want to do it.’

Last month, Evans, who lives in London but was born in Aberdare, South Wales, brought out her latest single, ‘Take Me Back Home’, which she co-wrote in Nashville with writers Tim Lee Jones and Leroy Powell of Americana band Whiskey Wolves of the West.

‘I was so excited to write with Tim,’ she said. ‘He had written one my favourite songs by Shelly Fairchild called  ‘Mississippi Turnpike’, so when we all got in a room together we started talking about my home town and where I grew up. We laughed as I explained I’m from a very, very small town in the South Wales valleys. I talked about what it was like growing up there and then a few hours later the song was written! It was very important that the song had a country, soulful feel about it and lyrics people could relate to. I’m so excited to incorporate my Welsh roots into a country song. I hope people will connect with it.’

Her love of Wales is evident from the chorus: ‘Take me back home where the green hills roll, the sweetest valley river flows. Take me back home where the love light shines on the lanes I used to roam. Take me back to Aberdare, my heart, my soul, my everywhere, Aberdare.’

Earlier this year, she brought out an EP, Running Back To You. The EP’s infectious, debut title track ‘Running Back to You’ went straight to Number One in the UK iTunes Blues chart.

‘I had the chorus spinning around in my head for so long, I co-wrote with my friend Ben,’ she said. ‘Running back to someone, that’s something everyone can relate to.’

‘It’s cathartic to write a song like that’

A big part of Evans’ charm is the warm, feel-good sound of her voice, which works so well with the compelling honesty of her storytelling. This is particularly evident on another track on the EP, ‘Mess of Me’, which is about the aftermath of a break-up: ‘I was really heartbroken for about two years,’ she said. ‘It was the big one, I kept talking about and my mum said “You have to do something”, so I went to visit my friend Jen in Nashville. I go every October, well, not this year. I co-wrote the song with Jen, we wrote it in about an hour, I think it’s powerful. It’s cathartic to write a song like that. By the time we wrote it, I was looking back on it all but you draw on those memories. My best music is when I’m reflecting on a tough time.’

That comes across in the chorus: ‘I can talk, talk about it talk for hours, tell everyone I’m better on my own. I can cry, I can scream, say we were never meant to be, oh but down here on my knees, I can’t undo the mess you made of me.’

She says that ‘Mess of Me’ is her favourite of her songs. ‘I’d do a whole album of ballads if I could,’ she laughed. ‘I love the combination of the vulnerable side and the tough, raw side.’

Evans is a big fan of soul singer James Day as well as JP Cooper, Jack Savoretti, Jessie Ware and Emeli Sandé. However, if she could tour with anyone, she goes with Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance. ‘He’s amazing, he’s inspiring as a songwriter.’