Just in time for the holidays, ENVY brings you a fantastic band that mixes their unique style of music with the spirt of giving-the Will Evans Project. The Austin-based band is comprised of frontman Will Evans on vocals and guitar, Jason Pollan on lead guitar and effects, Jeff Hartsough’s lively drums and the band’s latest addition Joe Fledger on bass.

Besides playing energetic live shows and producing a vast array of songs that touch on every point of the musical spectrum, the band gives back to the Austin community that continues to support them.

WEP’s music is a medley of genres-it takes soul and blues and even electronica and weaves them into something entirely new, resulting in a vast repertoire to produce truly experimental work.

Through the different facets the band displays with songs like “Mysteries,” “Like Suicide” and “Maya,” the unifying factor is Evans’ raw vocals, which is where the real feeling is transmitted. A mix between Paolo Nutini and Gavin DeGraw with a sort of country kick and soul feel, Evans adds his own twist for a vary distinctive voice.

While most songs, also be Evans, seem to deal with love and women, they vary from telling stories to more bitter lyrics, such as, “Your love is like a suicide/But in the right frame of mind.”

The drums are a very important part of this band in particular, perhaps more than others. Along with the vocals, they seem to set the tone of each song-ranging from resigned at the begining of “Like Suicide” to angry, t alive and cheerful in other songs on the album, “Dead Wrong,” brings to mind a toned-down STP feel laced with the band’s own energetic approach, and Evans’ vocals stretch in a playful way that is reminiscent of Kings of Leon.

What does the band think of their music? “ It’s like Thanksgiving,” Will Evans says. “Our music is a reflection of our own backgrounds and influences, which cover the spectrum from Jeff Buckley to Pink Floyd to Radiohead. We go where the musical ideas take us and try not to limit ourselves. Music can be found everywhere, we draw from what we know and what we which to experience.”

This all-encompassing approach enables them to appeal to a broad audience, evident in the band’s success with their first album, which was nominated be the Independent Music Awards as “Best Live Album of the Year” in 2007.

To promote their follow-up, Planténga, WEP will be heading out on a series of small tours in the spring, traveling through the Midwest and West. The band’s ultimate goal? To reach the world, of course. But no matter the scale of their success, WEP is committed to giving back. In October 2008 they played an event to raise funds for a single Austin mother of five in a car accident, helping raise close to $20,000.

The band even donated a portion of the proceeds from their launch party to Grounded in Music, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing children with the opportunity to take lessons from local musicians and the ability to obtain instruments to develop their musical talents.

Will Evans Project represent a breed of unique music that is unafraid to experiment and push further in what they dare to do. Most importantly, they never forget their fans and always give back, something all artist can learn from.

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