Phamie Gow - accoustic lever harp, electric harp, piano, accordion, voice, whistle
Influences
Sting, J.S Bach, Toumani Diabate, Louis Armstrong, Tori Amos, Carlos Núñez, Astor Piazolla, Chris Armstrong, David Gray, Dido, Djivan Gasparyan, Gotan Project, Cheb Mami, Paco de Lucia, Silvio Rodriguez, Skydance, Solas, Violetta Parra
Apart from those direct musical influences, the things that influence me most are people, nature, art, cycling, flying, travelling, poetry, words, languages, meditation...........the good and bad things that happen in the world.
Sounds Like
"In Gow's capable hands, her electrified harp easily shifts between heavy metal and ethereal celestial music." 14th October. 2007. The Globe and Mail. Canada.
"Award-winning harpist Phamie Gow was astounding to listen to as she
created sounds with the harp one would swear was three or four
different instruments." SooToday.com 24th October. Canada. 2007
"Rackwick Bay" taken from Moments of Time CD. '' a definate rising Brittish star". Classc FM
Guesting with The Band of Horses, ABC, Glasgow. 21st February. 2008
Dancing Hands - Phamie Gow
Hi there! Thanks for checking me out on myspace. Let me introduce myself. My name is Phamie (that sounds like Jamie with an F) Gow and I am a musician, composer, recording artist that plays the lever harp, electric harp, piano, accordion, whistle and sing. I always love to work with new, and exciting musicians, dancers, actors, poets, writers and performers.
I also like the idea of breaking boundaries with the harp and changing preconcept ideas people tend to have about this instrument.
I have really enjoyed working with artists such as Philip Glass, Band of Horses, Ray Davies, Marisa Monte, Carlos Nunez, Kepa Junkera, Alan Stivell, Ashley MacIsaac, Eddie Reader, Alisdair Fraser, Tom Richardson, Mattie Foulds, Fraser Fifield, Karine Polwart, James Graham, and many more. I had the great pleasure being invited by Philip Glass to perform in The Tibet Concert in The Carnegie Hall in New York City this year. That was totally awesome!
I love working with musical souls where music is the language no matter what mother tongue you have. For example I will never forget doing a lovely collaboration with the African kora player and Griot from the Gambia, Bajaly Suso. When we got together, he hardly spoke any English however his kora and my harp were the tools in which we could exchange our language, which was music.
I think my musical education started really in mothers womb!! My mother used to always listen to harp music while she was pregnant with me, and I am sure that is why as a child I always wanted to play the harp! However I started with the piano at the age of 8 and that gave me a great musical grounding and understanding (it still does). I then taught myself to play the clarsach/ scottish small harp (thanks to my parents for renting it!) with the aid of a cassette tape and tutor book and listening to an old record my parents had of Robin Williamson from The Incredible String Band. 6 months later, at the age of 12, I gave my first public appearance. It was at that point, that I knew I had realised my dream! The dream that I still am living today which is to communicate emotions, experiences, stories through music.
I wrote my first musical composition at the age of 15 called A Japanese Water Garden which I later recorded on my first album, Winged Spirit. It was at this point where I set up my record label Wildfire Records and Publishing. This was the first of my 4 self produced and self penned albums to this date.
By the age of 19 I was given my first major musical commission which was to write an hours worth of music. This was part of an award (one of the first 'Danny awards') I won in the worlds biggest celtic music festival, Celtic Connections. I also had the fantastic opportunity to have a wish list of musicians which meant I could choose whoever I wanted to work with (within reason of course)! I wrote Lammermuir, my 2nd album featuring Alasdair Fraser, Eric Rigler, Patsy Seddon, Mairi Campbell and a few other fantastic musicians.
My third CD Dancing Hands was studio recorded in 2005 thanks also to the SAC for their support. I had a number of my favourite musicians on board with me too, Karine Polwart, Fraser Fifield to name but a few.
2007 finally had the release of my first piano solo album, Moments of Time. This cd is dedicated to Ronald Stevenson, my mentor and great friend. He taught me the piano and many things about life. You can see a video here called 'Rackwick Bay' which is a track taken from the album.
This year, 2008, will have the release of La Vida Buena, The Good Life, which is a purely electric modern harp CD, with a few added vocals. This time I will be offering a very modern slant on harp music. Some tracks have a mediterranean feeling which has naturally come through having lived in Barcelona the last 2 years.
I love creating and encourage creativity in whatever form it may be. I also love sharing music with everybody, especially when people do listen and enjoy. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to travel the world and meet amazing people and learn about different cultures and share my own creativity.
Concert tour in Brazil and Chile, May 2008.
The Tibet Concert. 13th February 2008. The Carnegie Hall. NYC.
Directed by Philip Glass, Ray Davies, Band of Horses, Marisa Monte, Nawang Khechog, Ashley MacIsaac, Sufjan Stevens, and Tom Verlaine. (photos here by James Salzano). Phamie was sponsored by Lyon and Healy Harps, Chicago.
Je vois que tu es connectée alors j'en profite pour te faire un bisou. J'espère que tout va bien pour toi et je garde un souvenir très heureux de notre rencontre musicale et bientôt j'espère que nous nous reverrons. Bisou
You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act. The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark.
Un jour de Caroline - ce'st magnifique!I saw her in Paris last month - first time in 7 years. She has probably had the bairn by now! She spoke so highly of you Phamie, good to meet you sometime. Hope you are well! Bethan x
