Matt's Acoustic Artist of the Week - GuitarZone.com FORUM

Note

I am going to try to do this once a week, on Sundays or Saturdays. I have quite a few reasons for doing this.

1.) I am trying to get into a career in writing (not sure what type yet) and as I'm not in school, I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to write, therefor I'm getting rather rusty. In doing a weekly piece on something I enjoy, I hope to at least maintain my level or writing skill. Also, these could perhaps form a type of portfolio for myself.

2.) Boredom. I fired this piece off in about 45 minutes while standing at work (so please forgive any errors, I hope to actually craft subsequent pieces)

3.) I figure that there are lots of people on this board that are into acoustic and semi-acoustic music. Many of them are not in a place where they can be exposed to this type of music. I have made it a personal mission of mine to find as many artists of this ilk that I can, and I'd like to spread them to many other people if possible.

I'd like feedback with this from anyone and everyone. So PM me or post it here, doesn't matter.

The first bunch of artists that I do are going to be artists that I'm very familiar with and I will generally have a fair bit of music on my computer. If you would like to sample a song or two, let me know and I can probably find it in my heart to e-mail you one or two of the best tunes by the said artist.

Also, if anyone has a suggestion for an artist, PM me. I'll check the artist out and do some research and perhaps write up a piece about them.

I'm also going to create an index post for these. I will paste a link for everyone that I do onto a thread and link to that thread from my signature. So, if you want to find one that has gone past, you need only look in my sig.

Lastly, I don't know if this is something that could be pinned or not, but if one of the mods thinks is pinnable, please pin the index thread.

To start off with I thought it would be appropriate to do one of my favorite acoustic artists who also happens to be one of the most quitely influential acoustic folk/bluegrass/country type artists still around.

Peter Rowan

Yes, I know he looks like Bilbo Baggins in that shot.

Peter Rowan is one of the many country artists who never really was picked up on the mainstream. With his various groups and as a solo artist he has developed something of a cult following among the festival going acoustic music fans. He sings, yodels and plays a variety of stringed intruments.

Born Peter Hamilton Rowan on July 4, 1942 in Boston. Rowan was born into a musical family, both his parent's played piano and sung, and he learned guitar from his uncle. As a youth he frequented the Hillbilly Ranch in Boston. Here he learned an appreciation for old-time music and bluegrass. He also gained an appreciation for the blues.

In 1961, Rowan attended Colgate University, but left after three years to pursue a music career. After he dropped out in 1963, Rowan made his way to Washington, trying to find the musicians he had fallen in love with. He made it to the Shamrock Bar where the Country Gentlemen were playing:

QUOTE

Before I even went inside, I looked through the window and I saw Charlie Waller lifting up his guitar to the microphone to accent a phrase. I'd been listening to the records and I loved the dynamics, but I wasn't sure how they did it. Now here it was; I could see how it was done. I realized you didn't have to drive way out in the hills to hear the Stanley Brothers and then try to decipher their formal demeanor. Here were guys doing it in the middle of a big city seven nights a week with a visual flair and an enthusiasm that let you in on the secret a bit. I was converted on the spot; I thought bluegrass was it for me.

Rowan remebers.

From 1964 to 1967 Rowan honed his bluegrass chops with Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys. He parted ways with Bill and his Boys to join David Grisman with Earth Opera, a Folk-rock band. The band released a few albums and toured until the early 1970's. Rowan claims that the band fell "victim to their own eclecticism." They broke up as they brought more people in and tried to take the band in too many directions.

Throughout the formative years of his career, Rowan was experimenting with the singer/songwriter vibe and co-wrote many of the Bluegrass Boy's tunes with Monroe.

After Earth Opera, Rowan joined a band called Seatrain. They lasted until 1972 when Rowan left to form The Rowan Brothers with his brothers Chris and Lorin. Rowan recorded one album with his brothers. The album featured Jerry Garcia and was produced by David Grisman. This laid the foundation for his next band, Old and In the Way.

Old and In the Way was a very influential bluegrass band that released an album in 1975 that was compiled from the various live shows they had done since 1973. The band featured Jerry Garcia (banjo/vocals), Rowan (guitar/vocals), Grisman (Mandolin/vocals), Vassar Clements (fiddle) and John Kahn (bass). Though they would not release another album until after Garcia's death, the band continued to gig togeather occasionally for the next several decades. Two other albums were released in the late 1990's, though they were put togeather from shows that they had done in the 70's.

Throughout the 70's and 80's Rowan played with a plethora of bluegrass/folk acts, including Muleskinner, the Rowans, The Free Mexican Airforce, and Wild Stallions. He also released many solo albums for Sugar Hill.

In 1990 he released his most intimate album, Dust Bowl Children. On this album he accompanied himself on guitar and mandola. The album harkens back to the traditions of Woodie Guthrie.

Throughout his career, Rowan has been a festival favorite appearing in bluegrass and folk festivals all over the country.

I personally saw him in Telluride this past summer. I have also been downloading lots of good live shows of his from bluegrassbox.com. If you would like some show recommendations, send me a PM.

Songs to check out: Panama Red, Land of the Navajo, Tumbleweed, Midnight Moonlight.

Albums: Old and in the Way, Dust Bowl Children, various live shows.

sources for this post came from peterrowan.com and allmusic.com

Next week, John Butler Trio.

This post has been edited by matt_theripper: 23 January 2006 - 01:00 AM