Born in 2004, Evan James Rotella was pre-destined to have music and sports in his life. From the Cowboys, Red Sox and Sabres baby clothing & fan items to the Bruce Springsteen framed photo that hung over his unused crib, there was a road laid out for him prior to his grand entrance into the world. His musical roots dated back to early in 2004 when his Dad (Dave) would sing Born To Run and Thunder Road to him while he was still in Mommy's tummy (Anna). Funny how it all worked out!

Evan was on-line before he was on-land :) That's right, Dad had set up www.evanrotella.com long before his arrival which included a blog, photo gallery, family tree and more. There were even baby clothes made with the web site address, a guitar and the site catch-line "Kids like us, Daddy, we were born to run". 

At the age of two, Evan was sitting in front of the TV watching Barney when he decided to take the DVD out and replace it with Bruce Springsteen: The Complete Video Anthology, 1978-2000. For hours he sat and watched it over and over again. His new found love for The Boss would eventually prompt him to perform his favorite Bruce songs for Mom and Dad in the living room with his plastic microphone doing his best Springsteen imitation. From Rosalita to Hungry Heart (see the video section), Evan had Bruce's moves down pat and would have a lot of fun hamming it up for anyone who would watch! Who knew that several years later he would meet Bruce and actually be on stage with him!

At age 4, Mom and Dad took Evan to his first concert to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the ACC in Toronto. Since then he's seen Bruce pver 20 times and attended over 50 concerts. He's been on stage with Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nile, Steve Earle, Joe Grushecky, Joe D'Urso, Southside Johnny, Bobby Mahoney, and more! Not bad for the first 14 years of his life. 

Ev participated in all of his school Talent Shows over the years, beginning with a version of Born In The USA back in 2010. He started taking piano, guitar and drum lessons with Anthony DiCarlo and eventually stuck with the guitar and currently attends the  Niagara Rock Academy where he is working on his first demo. At age 11, evan began writing his own songs and has a few he'll be showcasing here on his site!

Evan's first official gig was at the age of 11, playing in the lobby at Cory Cruise's CD release party. Since then he has opened for Willie Nile, Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers, Marty Stuart's "Man In Black",  has headlined the Java Cafe here in Niagara twice, has performed the last 2 years at the Niagara Falls International Marathon, has played acoustic sets at Light of Day Niagara 9 (Blue Rodeo), 10 (Steve Earle) and 11 (Southside Johnny), and just recently performed a set in Asbury Park at the infamous Stone Pony! Evan just loves to play, so if you are interested in a great opening act for your show, drop him an email at evan@evarotella.com. 

Enjoy the site, drop Evan a line, and don't forget to check him out his Social Media streams!
#niagarasrisingstar (lol)