Local Musicians Get Engaged on Belly Up Stage

On Valentine's Day, Casey Hensley got engaged to drummer/boyfriend Evan Caleb Yearsley on stage at the Belly Up

Everyone loves a romantic feel-good moment, and this one's hard to top.

On Valentine's Day, as 26-year-old blues singer and San Diego Music Award nominee Casey Hensley was taking the Belly Up stage on Feb. 14, drummer and boyfriend Evan Caleb Yearsley (son of the late, great Candye Kane) got down on one knee and popped the question. 

According to Hensley, she was in total shock at the proposal.

"I was having a really crazy, busy week and spent all week in the studio working on my new record. I was totally focused on that as well as the show at the Belly Up, so I was completely surprised!" Hensley said over email.

And of course, her answer was a resounding, "Yes!"

"Almost five years ago, he asked me to come sing at a jam he was running at the Pour House in Oceanside, and that's when we really got to know each other. We had so much in common and had such a great time together, we spent the next month dancing all night, listening to old records, going to amazing shows, going to the beach.... We fell in love so fast, and we never wanted to be apart, so we lived together almost immediately. We have so much fun together; he is really my best friend," she said.

With their engagement, the longtime band members have officially solidifed their place as one of the San Diego music scene's "it" couples, and we couldn't be happier for them.

"We have been playing music together as long as we have been together for about four and a half years. Music is something we both love and have done professionally our entire lives, so it has been amazing to share that with the person that you love," she said.

"It is so new we haven't made any plans yet, but we know that we would love to get married in the summer with an ocean view, and we KNOW there will be amazing music. Really we want to celebrate our love and then have a big party for everyone that we love," she added.

This year, Hensley is up for Best Blues at the SDMAs, where she'll be performing on March 11. Maybe it's time to cap it all off with an SDMA win as well?

Rutger Ansley Rosenborg has been with NBC SoundDiego since 2016. Find out more here.

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