Sara Evans is Having the ‘Best Time’ on Tour With RaeLynn and Kalie Shorr

Sara Evans only has a few more weeks left on the CMT Next Women of Country Tour, which features Evans as the headliner, and RaeLynn and Kalie Shorr as the opening acts. While Evans is happy to take the two young singers under her wing, she admits she’s a bit baffled as to how to encourage them to pursue their careers after the tour wraps.

“We have had an amazing time on tour,” Evans tells Rare Country. “It’s been the best time having both of them out with me, and we truly all are friends now. I’m excited to see them succeed. I haven’t specifically had a talk to them with any advice or anything like that because, to be honest, it’s so tough these days. I don’t even know what to do to get on country radio, but I hope that they have the very best careers. They are both hard workers and really cool people.”

Evans’ tour has become a family affair, with her son, Avery (with ex-husband, Craig Shelske), playing guitar for his mom during her set.

“He was really scared,” Evans admits. “He has no interest in riding my coattails. He wants to succeed on his own merit as a guitarist and a songwriter, so he was super apprehensive. But after the first day of rehearsal, he really liked it. I myself wondered if I would be self-conscious about him being onstage with me, but it was like the most natural thing in the world.”

Avery might be one of three children Evans shares with Shelske, but the 18-year-old feels closest to Evans’ current husband, Jay Barker, who had three sons and a daughter when he and Evans wed.

“Avery changed his last name to Barker. It’s a bit of a running joke in our house,” says Evans. “Yet with Avery, maybe it’s a masculine thing or something, but Jay is his dad and he wanted his dad’s name, and also [to] then be associated with his brothers.”

Evans wrote a song, “Letting You Go,” about Avery, and his impending departure from the home he shares with his mother. The song is on Evans’ latest Words album, which is available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes.

A list of all of Evans’ upcoming shows can be found on her website.