Rob Owen
PAST SHOWS:
Red Victorian-San Francisco
Barefoot Coffee-Santa Clara
Kuumbwa-Santa Cruz
Palo Alto Festival of the Arts
Foster City Art and Wine Festival
MARS Songwriter symposium
Mission Ale -San Jose
Defense Language Institute- Monterey
Vivas- Monterey
Black box Cabaret -Monterey
Santana Row-San Jose
UCSC AAR Benefit-Santa Cruz
Santa Clara Songwriter's Showcase
Santa Cruz Songwriter's Showcase
Club Octane-Monterey
Earth Wave Records-Rohnert Park
Santa Clara Art and Wine Festival
Red Victorian-San Francisco
Zelda’s-Santa Cruz
North Light Books-Rohnert Park
Barefoot Coffee Roasters-Santa Clara
Coffee Catz-Sebastopol
KMBY-Monterey
Blakes on Telegraph-Berkeley
Great Bear-Los Gatos
Ugly Mug-Soquel
Rosie McCann’s-Santa Cruz
Studio Z- San Francisco
Bocci’s Cellar-Santa Cruz
Red Rock Café-Mountain View
KJCC –San Jose
DanvilleArt and Wine
Borders-Los Gatos
KDVS-Davis
Northwest Pizza-Ashland, OR
Ashland Beanery-Ashland, OR
Mt.Tabor Theatre-Portland, OR
Green Frog Acoustic Tavern-Bellingham, WA
C&P-Seattle, WA
Luckey's-Eugene, OR
Fair Grounds-Santa Clara
Recently featured /reviews-bayareabands.com,indieezine.com,starliners.net,Jr'scave
Current Radio play: CJMQ88.9FM(Quebec), starliners.net(top 5 requested)wgad.net, jodashradio.co.uk, awesomeradio.net(austrailia),daimacsrockstaion.com, soulclassic247.com,talentshowcaseradio.com
whatamusic.com(featured)
http://wgad.net/promote.html.
View Rob Owen's EPK
Influences
Peter Gabriel, Live, Pat Metheny, Youssou N' Dour, Omar Faruk,
Dead Can Dance, Sting, Rob Thomas, Lucky Dube, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Krishnamirti, Hui Neng, Ken Weber, Thomas Merton, Pythagorus, Lao tzu, Plato, Martin Johnson Heade, Leonardo, Beethoven, Pliny, Wordsworth, Siddhartha Gautama, Joseph Campbell
One thing is guaranteed when you pick up singer-songwriter Rob Owen’s CD: you know that you’ll be feeling a little bit better once you hit “play.” Owen’s songs are simple, intimate gems: equally at home over a cup of morning coffee or a glass of wine well past midnight they celebrate all the wonderful—and not so wonderful—things we each go through everyday. And with his smooth but soulful baritone; pared-down, interesting arrangements and the incredibly visual element running through all of his songs, the melodies stay with you long after his CD runs out. And for that reason, Rob Owen is one of the top up-and-coming singers in Northern California. However, these same songs almost never saw the light of day.
For five years, Rob was the lead singer with Oka Road, a progressive rock outfit that toured California pretty heavily, released three critically-acclaimed independent albums and afforded Owen something of a rock-star lifestyle. The band received a short feature on MTV Real World, and before he knew it, they were offered a contract and a chance to be included on the Jenny Lopez swimsuit tour. And it was exactly at that point that the whole thing became a drag: the company, a subsidiary of a major label, wanted all rights to Oka’s current songs and all creative rights to their next CD. “At that point,” recalls Owen, “it turned into a business, and that’s when we all started to get burnt out.” And this is exactly when Owen had his own personal catharsis: he wasn’t looking to be a rock star; instead, he wanted to write honest music, and connect with listeners. The result was Barefoot in the Rain, his 2007 debut—and Owen hasn’t looked back since.
Owen’s realizations about himself, music and creative integrity have completely opened up his music. For the first time in a long time, he is perfectly happy to be exactly where he is, as he states in his new single, “Clear Day in July”: “I don’t pray for tomorrow, I give thanks for today.” That celebration of the ‘here and now’ gives his songs a sense of immediacy and they become living, breathing creatures in their own right. It also helps that Owen has an incredibly visual style of writing, as shown later in “Clear Day,” when he sings, “My eye caught light as the shadows splattered, against my faded gray paint job; And all I knew that the tank was full, and the road went past the state line.”
Musically, Owen draws on a wide range of colors to paint his songs. Whether it’s a driving indie pop number, laidback ballad, or a more up-tempo John Mayer-esque pop song, there’s always something in his songs to differentiate them: unusual chord progressions and voicings, an unexpected break, or some change in feel or time signature. But nothing is done for effect—only to better tell the story at hand. Anchoring all of these songs is Owen’s voice, which can be achingly beautiful on an acoustic number, and soulful and rocking on his harder numbers. Imagine Jack Johnson’s clear, laidback vibe mixed in with some of the range and tones of Peter Gabriel, and you can appreciate what a singular, compelling vocal sound Owen has developed.
Rob Owen is currently finishing up his new cd "Common Ground." He is continually expanding his fan base: he has gotten considerable airplay on 105.1 KVMR in Nevada City/Tahoe, was featured on the 2008 Yamaha Cubase DVD and has been garnering buzz online at www.myspace.com/robowenmusic and www.robowenmusic.com. This summer he’ll be performing at a number of shows across the Bay Area, including the Foster City Art and Wine Festival, Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, Santa Clara Art and Wine Festival, Kuumbwa’s Songwriter’s Showcase, and Santa Clara Songwriter’s Showcase—as well as a west coast tour from Santa Cruz to Seattle in June to support his new singles. Most recently, “Clear Day in July” was selected for Versailles Records’ compilation Surf Rock 1 & 2, to be released this summer. The CD will be distributed nationwide at Wal-Mart, Target and Virgin Mega Store.
Cannot wait to see and hear the rest.. I bet the views of fall are fabulous over there!! Sometimes, I really miss the beauty of fall and all its colors. How are ya?
I see you met my Aunt Jodi... you better be good to her! How is life over there. You music has REALLY been playing over and over right now. Very comforting! Miss ya!
I'm hitting the road in a couple of weeks to raise money for War Child, Coast-to-coast – 50 cities – ALL PROCEEDS TO WARCHILD. Why? 66% of all war victims are CHILDREN. Shocked like me? War Child helps these children that have been affected by war. Check out the new blog – the whole story is up there. Love to have you be a part of it.
You’ll find a Blog, Tour page and a Bio page. I’ll be blogging daily from the road.
Rob ~ It's the little things like your voice and words that make my days good and the world better. I often think of ways how someone would leave their mark in the world today.... It's someone like you Rob, that inspire others and make our hearts swell and our spirits sing! By far my favorite so far!! Can't wait to hear more this summer!!
We wanted to stop in and say hi. We have a few updates for you. We have been working on our new album. Our first single off of it is on our myspace page. It is called "Your Body", go check it out and let us know what you think. We love hearing the feedback. We hope your year is going well so far. As for us, we have been keeping busy. We are getting ready to take off on our first tour. We are crossing Canada. Never forget that it is people like you who allow us to continue on the road we are on. You can check out our latest blog to see how you can get some FREE Makeshift Innocence shirts and cd's....Anyways, hope the rest of 2009 treats your right. Don't be shy, we would love to hear back from you.
How funny that you would ask! I JUST changed my mood to "enlightened" about 5 seconds ago....and I only felt that way for a fleeting moment. :) It was cool while it lasted. I'm confused again. :D Peace, Kat
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