The past 12 months have been hectic, but have seen the Hunter musician achieve a stunning career rise.

Earlier in the year he cleaned up at Foxtel’s Country Music Channel Awards, winning CMC Oz Artist Of The Year, CMC Australian Video Of The Year and CMC Male Oz Artist Of The Year.

The channel was so enamoured of the Hunter country rock star that they then made him an ambassador and presenter.

The release of Evans’ self-titled debut record through Warner catapulted the singer-songwriter to the national tour circuit.

“It’s been amazing, actually,” Evans says.

“It’s been the first year that I’ve had an album out and that’s changed everything.

“That one weekend in March, when the album and [single] Like A Tornado came out, which has been the best song we’ve had so far.

“Then we played CMC Rocks the Hunter, which really kicked off our whole year in terms of touring.

“We’ve been on the road around Australia ever since, with a couple of weeks here and there in the States.

“I couldn’t ask for any more, really.”

Evans recorded his debut album in Nashville in 2013, working with ex-pat Jedd Hughes who has performed in the bands of Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.

Evans’ brief return to Nashville this year included a performance at the city’s historic Grand Ole Opry country music showcase.

This saw the Hunter musician tread in the footsteps of Hank Williams, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and many others.

“That was a life highlight, that was pretty ridiculous,” Evans chuckles.

“It was a super buzz just to be in that dressing room, number four, which is the debut dressing room, then to stand on that circular stage that Johnny Cash and Elvis and those dudes stood on, that was a massive buzz.”

Despite playing the legendary Opry, Evans says the highlight of the year has been the response to his self-titled debut album.

“The best part has been just seeing the reaction, everywhere we’ve gone around Australia,” Evans says.

“People come out and sing the words and then come up after [the show] and say how much they’ve connected to the songs.”

Some of Evans’ fans have conveyed to him how his music has helped them through personal turmoil.

“They might be having a tough time or they’ve lost a loved one and they tell you that they’ve used your music to help them get through it,” Evans says.

“It’s pretty crazy, man, but it’s nice to know that you can do that for people.

“I met this girl in Tamworth a few weeks ago and she was telling me a similar story.

“I won’t go into the details, but she has two [of my] song titles tattooed on her wrist.

“To remind her of that time, and getting through it so [the songs] are always with her.”

Evans’ debut record is a dynamic mix of tracks that includes arena-sized rockers like One Eye For an Eye, co-written with friend and collaborator Mark Wells, and then moving ballads like The Cape, which features Kasey Chambers on backing vocals.

Having had a taste for big shows, from his main stage CMC Rocks the Hunter performance to supporting Taylor Swift, Alan Jackson and Glenn Frey, Evans knew his first album had to be a songbook that would engage big crowds.

“I think I’ve always got that in mind because playing live is my favourite thing, so there’s always going to have to be the rockin’ [songs], because they’re fun and the ones that people connect to,” Evans says.

“I was also pretty conscious of the fact that I’d never made an album.

“And I may never get to make another one, which is what I was thinking.

“So I thought ‘I’m going to try as much on here as possible’, which is why you hear everything from blues rock to piano ballads - everything I could possibly think to put on there.

“I’m glad I did that on the first record, because it was good to play all those songs this year and see which ones work and which ones feel great.

“It was a big experiment, but a creatively fulfilling one.”

Evans also experimented when he moved to Sydney, but soon realised his heart lay in Newcastle and has moved back.

“I’ve got a lot of friends and ­family here and I like the place,” Evans says.

“It’s got everything but you don’t have to fight other people for it all the time.”

The songwriter has a rich history in the Hunter, dating back to his time in rock trio Solver.

The group sounded closer to the Foo Fighters than the country-style Evans performs today.

For many who were more familiar with Evans as the charismatic singer in Solver, it was a surprise when the song Big Skies, also co-written with Wells, suddenly launched Morgan Evans as a ­country music star of the future.

But Evans had been plying his trade as a solo country singer behind-the-scenes.

“At that time the Newcastle music scene was so rockin’ and I loved being a part of it with Solver and playing with [bands] Supersonic and Cotton Sidewalk,” Evans says.

"But the whole time I always played solo as well, there was just nowhere to play it in Newcastle.

"I'd actually been going in the Telstra Road to Tamworth talent quest, it used to come to Jesmond and the Central Coast.

"I'd been going in that since it started in 2001, since I was 16.

"I was always playing that sort of [country] music and I guess, when you listen to the old Solver stuff, it's pretty melodic and they're all just songs [to me].

"I can see how it definitely looked like a left turn for all the rock bands [Solver] had been playing with, but it felt like a really natural thing for me to do at the time."

The diversity of Evans' songwriting can be attributed to the broad range of artists that his parents exposed him to.

"When you're a kid you don't get to choose do you, you just get what your parents have got," Evans laughs.

"My parents had Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, and they also had Led Zeppelin, Meat Loaf and Black Sabbath as well.

"It was a weird mix, especially when I started doing more of the country stuff than the rock band, but country music has come around in this strange way where it really is a mix of all those [styles] at the moment.

"Which really works for me and the way I write songs."

Evans has been working on new material throughout the year and "has been bunkered down with the guitar" now that he's home in Newcastle.

"It's an exciting time, to start writing a second album," Evans says.

"I'm getting together with Wellsy tomorrow to see what we can come up with.

"Keeping it local, man."

Morgan Evans performs at Cessnock Leagues Club on Saturday, December 6.

Alive has one double pass to give away to the show.

For your chance to win simply fill out the coupon in today's Maitland Mercury and return it to our office by noon on Wednesday.