Luke Bryan essentially told Evan Honer that he would never make it in music. He was very wrong.
The former collegiate diver made the American Idol judge eat his words!
And not only that, Honer is actually successful enough to mock Bryan for his corny country music hits. They take two very different approaches to their songwriting.
Who is Evan Honer?
If you are not yet familiar with Honer, it is my distinct honor to introduce you. He is one of the fastest-rising artists in the undefined genre of ‘Americana’ music — falling somewhere between indie, alt-country and folk with just a dash of pop. I would actually say that he already “made it” in terms of his popularity.
Honer boasts ~230,000 followers on Instagram and ~380,000 followers on TikTok. That is in addition to his more than three million monthly listeners on Spotify.
You might know him best from the viral hit ‘idk s— about cars’ or his cover of ‘Jersey Giant.’
His song ‘Take Me As I Come’ with Wyatt Flores is one of my personal favorites.
I also love his song ‘Mr. Meyers’ with Charles Wesley Godwin.
All of this goes to say that Evan Honer continues to make a name for himself within the country-adjacent space. He is going to open for Tyler Childers, The Head And The Heart, and Darius Rucker on their tours this summer. He is also booked for the Railbird and Laurel Cove music festivals, among others.
However, his background is not in music! Honer was actually named as the Western Athletic Conference Diver of the Year in 2021 with California Baptist.
The Arizona-native became less interested in his sport after he failed to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics. That led him to focus more on his singing and songwriting, which led him to American Idol.
Luke Bryan (and Katy Perry and Lionel Richie) told him NO on American Idol.
Evan Honer auditioned for American Idol in 2022. Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan told him no. The lattermost judge went even one step further.
Bryan, in so many words, told Honer to give up on music and to “stick to diving.” Unfortunately, the video of his audition is nowhere to be found. It’s not on YouTube. I can’t even find it on social media!
Honer later had this to say about what happened on The Thicket With Mike & Josh:
Fortunately for us, he did not yield Bryan’s advice. Evan Honer is crushing it. All of his lyrics hold a deeper meaning. His songs are original and unique to him.
The same cannot be said for Luke Bryan. His new song, titled ‘Fish Hunt Golf Drink,’ features the following chorus:
Wake up, coffee
Camo, climb tree
Wet line, eighteen
Fish, hunt, golf, drink
All fall, all spring, all summer long
I’ll be livin’ it up and livin’ it on
A country boy’s dream
Fish, hunt, golf, drink
To be fair, I think Bryan would be the first person to admit that he followed the money. That’s fine! But for him to tell an original artist to give up on music is rather ironic. Honer seems to agree.
He recently reposted the following video on TikTok:
Need more be said? I don’t think so!