MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT
Mother reopens studio in honor of her son
The man responsible for bringing hip-hop nights to San Marcos, Daniel DC Evans, has sadly passed away, but his mother Cindy Allison — also known as Mama EMP — and his son, Aydin Evans, are making sure that his legacy lives on by reopening his music studio, Empire Music and Media, and signing on Hays County artists in honor of his love for the San Marcos music scene.
“Daniel teamed up with [a] local rap artist Chase Keller, Chaseboy — back in 2007 — to bring Hip-Hop shows, which Daniel coordinated and hosted, to San Marcos at Gil's Broiler every Friday night, then Triple Crown and Nephews,” Allison said. “Chase is excited to be a part of this new venture with EMP and will step into the EMP studio this weekend to record some Christian country songs.”
Other Hays County artists that will be recording at the EMP studio soon are POET, Tim da Tool Man, Fynn D, Nymesis, Papi Cannon, Balla, TB (Truly Blessed), Mind Boggla, Pasky, Whiteside and Alex Jayne AKA Lexx. Evans first took to the stage himself when he was 16 years old. He was in a band called Hollow that garnered some success, touring all over the country. His roots were in rock and roll. However, with the emergence of hip-hop as one of the top genres, he noticed the need for good producers and good hype men and just “bulldozed his way through.”
“Daniel had a life-changing accident when he was 20. He was pronounced dead in the middle of the road. He had a severe traumatic brain injury, 28 broken bones, and they said he would never walk, talk or anything again, much less pick up a guitar,” Allison said. “Well, he beat those odds and got right back into it. He had a very good business sense. He could play any instrument. The first CD he recorded was in 1999 and Daniel played every instrument on the recording.”
Evans passed away on Dec. 20, 2020 from the subsequent effects of his brain injury. His mother decided to take over his legacy four years to the day after she lost him with a celebration of life and the grand re-opening of EMP. Allison said she always knew she wanted to reopen the studio once everything fell into place.
“I was waiting for Aydin. Daniel started teaching Aydin how to play drums before he could walk. He taught him guitar. Aydin can play guitar, drums and keyboards. And I was waiting for Aiden to get a little bit older and for me to get my act together,” Allison said. “Daniel was a magician at hiding things on his computer. I mean, to find all his unused beats that he had made was ridiculous. They were so hidden, but we found them. Finally, we got everything we needed, and he left us some amazing things to work with.”
EMP is located in Cedar Creek. The studio is open by appointment only right now, and interested parties can contact them at [email protected].
