MATT EVANS

Matt Evans plays guitar in Old Flings, a rock band from Asheville, NC.

What was the food highlight of your year?

My food highlight of 2014 was discovering this great Pho place in Asheville, PHO R US. I mean, it has a horribly great name. The pho itself is quite extraordinary. I've been there about 20 times after discovering it in late 2014.

What was the music highlight of your year?

My music highlight of 2014 was probably playing FEST in Florida. Fest is such a good time with the right ingredients: people, music. I got to see a lot of folks that I hold dear to my heart.

Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?

We played a sushi place in Toronto. It was my first time in Canada, so that made it memorable. The meal that I had was pretty good too.

@mattbbqevans

CHRISTOPHER CHAISSON

Christopher Chaisson lives in Holliston, MA and has been writing songs under the name The Young Leaves for over 8 years.

What was the food highlight of your year?

This year my band, The Young Leaves, went on a 30-day summer tour and I set out on a quest to find the BEST donuts ever. We passed through a lot of different cities with all sorts of "gourmet/artisan" donut shops and I tried them all. However, I found the greatest donuts in the entire world in Pittsburgh at a place called Better-Maid Donut Co. It's essentially this hole in the wall, ran by some huge Steelers fan who lives for nothing but donuts and football. There's nothing fancy about it, and admittedly the place looks like it hasn't been cleaned or decorated since the 1960's, but it's hands-down the best donut experience you'll ever have. It's old-fashioned, meaning he makes nothing but cake donuts, and he only makes a limited run per day. But again, I can't stress how incredible they are in their craft and deliciousness. I did the 13 for $5 deal and crushed all 13 donuts in about an hour. I felt sick, but in that horribly good foodie way. So worth it.

What was the music highlight of your year?

The musical highlight of my year was most definitely The Young Leaves summer tour. We went out for 30 days in June and played from Boston out to Minneapolis, down to Orlando, and back up (like a gigantic triangle spanning half the country.) For some, touring can be an absolute nightmare, but I adore it. If I had to chose a specific moment on tour that made my year it would be when we visited Springfield, IL for Dumb Fest 2. I had no expectations heading into it, but the whole thing ended up being a beautiful arrangement of music, skateboarding, and DIY culture. I had never been to Springfield before, but everyone was so ridiculously friendly and the bands were all fantastic; it was everything I love about "punk" or "independent" music or whatever. I hope they continue on with making it an annual thing, and maybe we'll play it again! Also, the band Looming from that area were great. I hope they're still doing their thing as well!

Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?

One of the best dudes I've ever met through music is a guy by the name of Matt Evans. He plays guitar in an awesome band called Old Flings and, in addition to being a great guy and songwriter, he also LOVES barbecue with a serious passion. He set us up a show in Asheville, North Carolina and when we arrived he had us hop in the bed of his truck and took us to a gas station. This was no ordinary gas station, though. It had a built-in BBQ dive with some of the most serious pulled pork and hush-puppies that I'd ever eaten. As with most barbecue, it's all in the sauce and that place delivered. Later on that night we ended up seeing Jim Wilbur of Superchunk at our show trying to help a band fix their broken down van. It was great. Just great.

@youngleavesma

MATT EVANS

Matt Evans plays guitar and sings in the band Old Flings.

What was the food highlight of your year?

This is such a hard question, because I’ve eaten so much great food this year. Being from Asheville, NC, the food game is on a new level, and it takes a lot for other places to meet the bar.  Even after mentioning that though, my food highlight of the year was homemade.  

I recently had to cut dairy out of my diet which meant that I couldn’t eat pizza like a college slob anymore (because what is pizza without pounds of cheese). My girlfriend helped me in the woe process by convincing me that we could make homemade pizza.  It ended up being delicious!  We crammed so much stuff on there.  I never would have thought that chorizo on pizza would be amazing! 

What was the music highlight of your year?

I would say the music highlight of my year would be around the release of our new singles.  My band worked really hard to write a string of songs that we would release on 3 different 7”s.  It meant that we had to push ourselves and I was nervous about where our music would land after our first LP.  Getting to play FEST 12 was a close 2nd though.  It was quite possibly the best show I’ve ever played in my life.  

Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?

I once did an acoustic show at Cook Out, a local fast food chain in the south - kind of like IN-N-OUT. It was myself and the glorious PJ BOND. If you’ve never eaten at Cook Out then you should and if you’ve never listened to PJ BOND then you definitely should. 

@oldflings