When it comes to the service of others, few civilians are as dedicated as Jason Wilder Evans. Born in Bear Lake, Michigan, the singer/songwriter began playing cover songs when he was about ten and wrote his first song when he was fifteen. “I started having a guitar and a harmonica with me ever since I was a little kid. I taught myself to play by renting videos from the library where I grew up. I grew up listening to country music. Bear Lake was pretty rural. I was also influenced by rock, oldies, and I do some pop/rock stuff, too. It just happens to be what I am. It just happens to come out country.”

As a young boy, Jason spent a lot of his time hiking and biking. “I was curious. I wasn’t too rambunctious or too rowdy, but my middle name is Wilder; I think my parents knew something when I came out,” he says, with a chuckle.

“My mother died of cancer when I was 20 years old, she was 48. My dad is a blue-collar factory worker in Michigan, drives a forklift. I’ve got two brothers and a sister. My brother is in Afghanistan. Once in a while, he calls at not to opportune times, but I see the number that pops up, it gets routed through Texas, when I’m at work, I’m like “Hey I gotta take this coz he doesn’t call too often!’” Jason works as a HIV health educator at a clinic in New York.

His path to altruism began with a simple school project. “When I was in school, one of the teachers I had made all the students set career goals. We did it from ninth grade to senior year; I had a conversation with my mom. She wanted to join the Peace Corps when she was younger, so maybe that had some kind of influence. At the time, I was going to go into nursing to be a nurse. I had done some science research, I actually started going to school for nursing, then, I decided I was going to be a physician’s assistant, but that just wasn’t fitting my mind frame at the time, my career goals, so I joined the Peace Corps. It was all conscious decisions, but it was also underlying career goals. I would say if anybody has any plans, write them down. It makes them more concrete. Years later, if you don’t remember the exact goal, subconsciously, its there. I think people are more apt to fulfill their goals that way.”

“I was in Africa in 2001 and 2002, then I went back to Michigan for a while. I met my wife in Africa; she was also a Peace Corp volunteer. She finished up her service and we stayed in Michigan for a while, then we moved to Rhode Island, stayed there for a few years. New York is a place where you walk out your door, and free is life. We always wanted to live here, check it out, now we’ve been here for two years. She is a supervisor for a program that deals with children and families for kids who are in trouble or have been abused.”

“Every musician is unique; everybody comes to the table with something. My background and experience has led me to a good writing approach. I’ve lived all over the world; I’ve lived in several states. I lived in Africa for over a year and a half. It was really a formidable experience at age 21 and 22. There was a lot of down time. No computers, no phone. You have a lot of time to process things. Where it might be more difficult to do, say in New York City, where I am now, where there’s so much stuff going on. I think, using that example, that experience, has let me develop my songwriting skills.”

Jason, who is not only a songwriter, but also a filmmaker and writer says, “I’ve never met a unique person who hasn’t overcome adversity. Try to meet people where they’re at. Everybody comes with different packages, bringing different things to the table. A lot of the songs that I write are Hemmingway-esque. They are autobiographical-fiction. There’s some truth, some fabrication. Listening to my music, you can get a good sense of who I am, my background, where I come from.”

Never one to rest on his laurels, Jason has high hopes for his new project. “I’m really excited about a project I’m working on called HIV USA. I just finished up a pilot program in New York City with HIV-positive people that is based on a video poetry model where participants do workshop in poetry and prose. Then, it’s video recorded if they want to participate. It puts a face to this pandemic that this world’s facing, it makes it more real. I’m working to replicate the project. Ideally, I’d like to do it in all 50 states, if AIDS service organizations want to collaborate with me. I finished up in New York and I’m working with non-profits in Rhode Island now to do the program there. From my experience in Africa, I’ve become more of an HIV activist.”

As for the future, Jason hopes to have the opportunity to meet and work with publishers, “I understand, in this world, there are lots of criteria and external factors that take place, but I would love the opportunity to have somebody record my songs. Maybe get on as a staff writer somewhere.”

“I’m not all serious. Life is too short to be serious all the time. I think that’s part of the life I live,” he says. “My job is stressful, so I take it out in other ways. People should just be themselves and do what comes naturally. Last year I was involved with this start up company as the host of their website. They went around town and would control my actions. They’d tell me to stand in the garbage can and act like Oscar the Grouch, so I’d stand in a trash can and ask people how to get to Sesame Street.”

“I love watching horror movies. There’s just something about the genre that gets your heart pumping. Here in the city, I live right next to the park. I’ll go hang out in the park. Bring a lawn chair and I’ll read. New York is a neat place to unwind. I love to watch people. My wife and I are walking every street in New York City. It’s become a pastime for us; it’s a way for us to connect with each other, talk about our life and our goals.”