By Joe Hyde
Publisher
May 12, 2007

“I don’t have any crazy prison experiences to write about,” admitted Texas country recording star Wade Bowen as he sat in front of his black Apple iBook, scrolling through play lists on his iTunes on his tour bus on May 3rd, just before performing that evening at Blaine’s Pub (10 W Harris St, San Angelo). Bowen is a 21st century country star: a musician with formal training in marketing and public relations who is leveraging both skills to build and maintain a fan base, and earn a decent living.

“The underground music scene is more popular in so many ways,” Bowen, a 2001 graduate of Texas Tech University, explained “You can have a hit without it really being a hit at all,” he explained. In building a grass roots fan base, Bowen says he plays over 200 shows per year. And he measures his success in gaining popularity, in part, with hooks on the Internet. “We track online song sales via our own Web site and [Apple] iTunes. We also track our friend count on MySpace [the top social networking Web site on the Internet],” Bowen said. And of course, Bowen loves large crowds at his live events. Large crowds are what Bowen considers to be the ultimate gage of how well he is doing. Blaine’s was packed that Thursday evening in May with standing room only for Bowen’s performance, even with Kevin Fowler playing across town at the same time.

Another reason for Bowen’s popularity is from recently being featured on Country Music Television (CMT) and Great American Country (GAC) cable networks with his video of his hit he co-wrote with Mikey Cox, “God Bless This Town” (from his current CD Lost Hotel, Sustain Records, 2006). The video provided national exposure, and is a result of Bowen’s growing Nashville connection.

Bowen has been a frequent visitor to Nashville over the past several months. “In January, we started recording our new album there,” Bowen said. His rising star status with the Nashville scene has given Bowen a new perspective on the future of country music, particularly the sound changes that may come out of Nashville soon.

“Within the next few years, I believe Nashville will be different,” Bowen explained. “It will be a more hip town,” he said. According to Bowen, the Nashville music scene isn’t booming right now. It enjoyed huge success throughout the 1990s with the emergence of Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain. But those acts have matured, “and everyone in Nashville today is looking for the next big thing,” Bowen said. “I think something with a lot more edge will be introduced out of Nashville that will change the country music scene forever,” Bowen said.

Along the idea of adding an edge to country music, Bowen admires the success of his friend Miranda Lambert with her latest hit singles “Kerosene” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” “Miranda is one of those female outlaws, part of the newer face of country music,” Bowen explained. “We’ve become friends in this business. It is neat to see her do so well. She is smart and a great songwriter,” Bowen said.

Bowen’s sand gravel singing voice is made for the Texas country sound, and his voice has a fairly good range too. But Bowen attributes his passion to his music as the main ingredient for success. “If I did this because I wanted to make lots of money, I would have quit a long time ago,” Bowen said. Writing poetry is Bowen’s passion. He learned the guitar as a freshman at Texas Tech to provide an outlet for his lyrical creations. Then he formed his first band there to express his creativity to larger audiences. Bowen gets his ideas from thoughts of every day life. “Relationships are easier to write about,” he said. “But my life is pretty boring so I have to look around for ideas,” he continued. Scouring iTunes and keeping up with the hard rock and alternative genres is one way Bowen finds ideas. “I grew up on Aerosmith and Audioslave,” Bowen said.

Today rock music of the 1980s and 1990s are moving towards country radio while the even more “far out” music like Hip Hop and extreme metal have gone mainstream pop. “John Melancamp is playing on country radio now. Heck even Bon Jovi is, too. Meanwhile the older country artists are moving towards bluegrass and gospel,” he said. Somewhere in the middle is where Bowen intends to be.

Bowen’s most current single release from his 2006 album, Lost Hotel is “One Step Closer.” It follows two previous singles from the same album, “Lay it all on you” and “God Bless This Town.”

Bowen lives in New Braunfels, Texas with his wife Shelby, and son Bruce (approaching two-years-old). Shelby is the sister-in-law of Cross Canadian Ragweed’s Cody Canada. “Perfect Silence (Shelby’s Song)” on Lost Hotel is Bowen’s tribute to his wife.

“I love playing here in San Angelo,” Bowen said. “We quit playing out here for like two or three years and I really missed it. West Texas has really been good to us. We came back in January [to Blaine’s in San Angelo]. It was sold out. We had a great time. I am glad Blaine’s is still going strong and I am really happy the new people here [owner Steve Brown and manager Leon Roach] are building on the tradition,” Bowen said.

Wade Bowen returns to San Angelo to kick off an acoustic tour with singer Randy Rogers at Blaine’s Pub on Sunday, June 3.

Official Web site: http://www.wadebowen.com/

MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/wadebowen

Wade Bowen (right) on acoustic guitar and lead vocals. Garry Wooten, guitar (left). At Blaine's Pub, San Angelo, Texas, May 3, 2007. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

Wade Bowen up close at Blaine's Pub, San Angelo, Texas on May 3, 2007. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

The warm-up show before Wade Bowen took the stage was The Zack Walther Band. Zack is center, on stage with the band’s lead guitarist Luke Leverette (left). They were joined by recording star Josh Grider (right) for an impromptu jam session.  Grider’s published CD is Josh Grider Band, with the singles “City of Crosses” and “Drive You Off My Mind.” Luke stole the show with his rendition of the 1970s group Abba’s “Dancing Queen.” (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)