Owsley

Instantly endearing and serenely self-assured, the music of Owsley harks back to the fundamental appeal of melodic rock ‘n’ roll, even as it heralds a hopeful resurgence of pure pop craftsmanship.

The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s eponymously titled Giant/Warner Bros. Records debut was written, performed and largely produced by the artist in his home studio. The resulting eleven original tracks of Owsley are, simply put, instant classics.

Hardly surprising when one considers the in-born talent and lifetime of dedication that has brought the Anniston, Alabama native to this critical creative juncture. Distantly related to the chemist of underground renown, Owsley was raised in a richly musical family, his father a one-time drum major for the famed Million Dollar Marching Band at the University of Alabama, his mother a singer and vocal coach, his brother and sister a rock guitarist and classical pianist respectively.

Owsley’s own musical apprenticeship revolved around working as an unpaid roadie for his brother and listening to the quintessentially crafted pop of such pre-disco ’70s practitioners as Wings, 10CC and Todd Rundgren.

By age ten, Owsley was ready to make his next move, joining the KISS army and playing guitar with the dedication of the truly obsessed. By the time he reached high school he was playing in the snare line of the school marching band, under the direction of his dad, and honing his chops in both a local jazz and Top 40 cover band.

It was also during this period that Owsley began his earliest experimentation with writing and recording, buying a rudimentary four-track machine and perfecting the art of overdubbing. It was obvious that music was to be his first and only career choice, with questions of actually making a living coming in a distant second. His first summer out of high school, Owsley roamed the length and breadth of the Southeast, playing frat parties and road houses with a rough and tumble road band, while acquiring an addictive attachment to the life of an itinerant axeman.

Like all good things, however, Owsley’s freewheeling days drew to a close in the late ’80s when opportunity knocked. This came in the form of an introduction to funk-pop pioneer Judson Spence, with whom he played around the world, both literally and virtually, by appearing on MTV in Spence’s videos. Owsley next crossed paths with legendary producer Mutt Lang, who hired the young musician to play guitar and sing a duet with his [Lang’s] wife Shania Twain on such nationally broadcast showcases as the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Live With Regis & Kathie Lee and the American Country Music Awards.

After landing a publishing deal with his remarkable original songwriting, Owsley founded and fronted his own band, which included in the lineup another richly talented young artist named Ben Folds. The group would eventually dissolve, with each member going his own way to pursue his musical destiny.

More determined than ever to discover that destiny, Owsley returned to Anniston where he was promptly offered a job playing in Amy Grant’s touring band. Looking far enough ahead to realize that the impressive money he was being offered would allow him the freedom to pursue his own muse, Owsley accepted, acquitted himself admirably over the next eighteen months, and invested the proceeds in a home studio.

It was here that he began to pull together the disparate strands of his life and music into a cohesive whole. Recalls Owsley, “I had heard the story of Tom Scholz of the band Boston recording his first album and taking it into the record company, where he told them that it was finished and they could take it our leave it. And I thought, ‘What a cool idea!’ I didn’t want anyone else coming between me and what I was trying to accomplish. I had all the gear I needed and all the time I wanted, and I was determined to make the record I wanted to make.”

Two years later, Owsley emerged with the record he wanted to make, complete and unadulterated, take it or leave it. Working with production and writing collaborators that included former bandmate Millard Powers, Mutt Lang associate Jeff Balding and bassist Trevor Morgan, Owsley brought a lifetime of experience, energy and enthusiasm to bear on a selection of songs spotlighting a sound that sacrifices none of its joyous spontaneity in the pursuit of superb craftsmanship.

Completing the tracks in late 1997, Owsley next did what came naturally: he went on the road. Assembling a new band under his own name, he toured widely, with well-received stopovers in New Orleans, Los Angeles and at the prestigious music showcase, SXSW (South by Southwest). In the meantime, his take-it-or-leave-it mandate to record companies brought out only those labels willing to put their money behind their convictions of artistic freedom. The winner, not surprisingly, was Giant.

Now, with the release of Owsley, featuring such instantly unforgettable selections as “Coming Up Roses, ” “The Sky Is Falling,” “I’m Alright” and “Oh No, The Radio,” a kind of creative and personal full circle has been completed. Owsley is back where he began, making great music for the simple reason that nothing else will ever be quite as satisfying as a good song, well played.