Kevin Bowe

Last updated

Kevin Bowe
Born (1961-02-27) February 27, 1961 (age 63)
Origin Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres Alternative rock, roots rock, blues
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, producer
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active1979–present

Kevin Bowe (born February 27, 1961) is an American songwriter, record producer and musician from Minneapolis. He is best known for his work with prominent rock and blues artists including Paul Westerberg [1] and the Replacements; [2] writing songs for hit albums by Jonny Lang [3] [4] and Kenny Wayne Shepherd; [5] as well as Etta James' Grammy-winning Let's Roll . [6] He has contributed to dozens of albums over his career, [7] including several of his own as a bandleader; he has appeared on many film and television soundtracks [8] including ESPN [9] and The Sopranos . [10] His songs have been covered by many prominent rock and blues artists, including Joe Cocker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Robben Ford, and John Mayall.

Contents

Career

After growing up in rural Minnesota, Bowe became part of the burgeoning rock scene in early 1980s Minneapolis which spawned Hüsker Dü and The Replacements, [11] fronting alternative rock and Americana bands including The Dads, [12] Summer of Love, [13] and The Revelators. [14] His career began when his Revelators song "Riverside" was covered by Kenny Wayne Shepherd on his platinum-selling album Ledbetter Heights [5] leading to a songwriting contract with rock legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1997. [15] Bowe discovered blues guitarist Jonny Lang, then still a teenager, at a blues jam in Fargo, North Dakota. [16] He contributed songs for Lang's breakthrough hit albums Lie To Me in 1997 [3] and the Grammy-nominated Wander This World in 1998. [4] The next year, Bowe made his debut as a producer with another teenage blues guitarist, Shannon Curfman's Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions . [17]

Bowe's most famous work has been as a songwriter for other artists. He co-wrote four songs on Etta James’ 2003 Grammy-winning album Let's Roll , [18] including "The Blues Is My Business," which was later covered by E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt on his solo record Soulfire . [19] Other notable songs include "Sault Ste. Marie", covered by Three Dog Night [20] as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Dead Man Walkin'" (co-written with the band) on the 2003 album Vicious Cycle. [21] [22]

Bowe has a longstanding friendship and working relationship with Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg, having begun as contemporaries starting out in the Minneapolis music scene. [23] Bowe's band The Dads were the headliners at the earliest known recorded live performance of the Replacements, at Minneapolis club Jay's Longhorn Bar in July 1980. [24] He played guitar in Westerberg's solo touring band His Only Friends in the early 2000s, [1] [2] [12] [25] and joined the Replacements in 2012 to record the six-song EP Songs for Slim. [26] The band also recorded at Bowe's home studio around that time, though none of the material from those sessions has yet been released. [27]

Besides Westerberg, Bowe (often with his band Okemah Prophets) has also frequently been a touring or live backing musician for Freedy Johnston [28] and the Jayhawks' Gary Louris. [29] Bowe has produced records by several notable Minneapolis bands, including indie-folk band Communist Daughter's 2016 album, The Cracks That Built the Wall, [30] [31] [32] and punk group Suicide Commandos' comeback album Time Bomb. [33] [34]

Work as a primary performer

Bowe has released five albums with his roots-rock band the Okemah Prophets, most recently Every Part of the Buffalo. 2012's Natchez Trace included a song co-written with Westerberg, "Everybody Lies," [23] and guest performances by Westerberg, the Meat Puppets, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline; Communist Daughter's Johnny Solomon and Molly Moore; Jayhawks drummer Tim O'Reagan, Freedy Johnston, Chuck Prophet, Phil Solem of the Rembrandts, and Bob Dylan violinist Scarlet Rivera [35] [28] [36] The band is named after folk singer Woody Guthrie's birthplace, Okemah, Oklahoma. [37] The band has received critical praise for Bowe's songwriting, which No Depression magazine says is "criminally catchy." [38]

Personal life

Bowe also taught music and audio production at Minneapolis' Institute of Production & Recording. [30] His wife, Ruth Whitney Bowe started Fine Line Music Cafe, a Minneapolis nightclub in 1987 and owned it until 1990. [39] The couple began dating shortly after Bowe performed at the club around the time of its opening. [9] Prince asked her later to help him open another club in downtown Minneapolis, Glam Slam. [40] [41]

Selected discography

As main performer

Kevin Bowe and the Okemah Prophets: [42]

The Revelators:

As writer, producer or backing musician

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  5. 1 2 3 Owens, Thom. Ledbetter Heights at AllMusic . Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  6. 1 2 Henderson, Alex. Etta James – Let's Roll at AllMusic . Retrieved 14 July 2018.
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  8. ↑ John Bowe; Marisa Bowe; Sabin Streeter (February 4, 2009). Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs. Crown/Archetype. pp. 327–. ISBN   978-0-307-56576-1. Archived from the original on July 14, 2018.
  9. 1 2 Bruch, Michelle (October 29, 2012). "An album of his own". Southwest Journal. Minneapolis. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
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  29. ↑ Riemenschneider, Chris (April 29, 2013). "Filling in, Gary Louris fits right in at Dakota debut". Star Tribune. Retrieved May 30, 2018.[ permanent dead link ]
  30. 1 2 Morgan, Richard (November 10, 2016). "How a Minneapolis producer coaxed Communist Daughter into recording one of the year's best albums". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
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  32. ↑ Geslanion, Michelle (September 27, 2016). "Communist Daughter struggle to 'Hold Back' their emotions on new song". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  33. 1 2 Raihala, Ross (May 4, 2017), "After nearly 40 years, Suicide Commandos release a second album", St. Paul Pioneer Press, archived from the original on May 11, 2017, retrieved May 16, 2018
  34. ↑ Time Bomb (PDF) (Liner notes). Suicide Commandos. Minneapolis: Twin/Tone. 2017. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 15, 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  35. ↑ Raihala, Ross (June 6, 2012), "Five years in the making, 'Natchez Trace' gives Kevin Bowe his own spotlight", St. Paul Pioneer Press, retrieved May 16, 2018
  36. ↑ Walsh, Jim (June 8, 2012). "Minneapolis musician/songwriter Kevin Bowe's got his own album to do". MinnPost . Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  37. ↑ Davis, Sandi (July 6, 2001). "Woody Guthrie Festival Folk music returns to Okemah this weekend". The Oklahoman . Archived from the original on July 14, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
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  39. ↑ Riemenschneider, Chris (July 30, 2013). "Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis sold to Aqua nightclub owners". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  40. ↑ "Glam Slam". Rochester Post-Bulletin. Rochester, Minnesota. October 20, 1990. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  41. ↑ Ronin Ro (October 25, 2011). Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks. St. Martin's Press. pp. 204–. ISBN   978-0-312-38300-8. Archived from the original on July 14, 2018.
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  43. ↑ Lie To Me at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  44. ↑ Wander This World at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  45. ↑ Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  46. ↑ Peter Case – Flying Saucer Blues at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  47. ↑ Where the Heart Is (Original Soundtrack) at AllMusic. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  48. ↑ John Mayall – Along For the Ride at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  49. ↑ Ana Popovic – Hush at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  50. ↑ Azpiri, Jon. The Procl;aimers – Persevere at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  51. ↑ Robben Ford – Blue Moon at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  52. ↑ Warren Brothers – Well Deserved Obscurity at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  53. ↑ Tommy Castro – Soul Shaker at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  54. ↑ Open Season (Original Soundtrack) at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  55. ↑ John Brannen – Twilight Tattoo at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  56. ↑ Tommy Castro – Painkiller at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  57. ↑ Meat Puppets – Sewn Together at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  58. ↑ Joe Cocker – Fire It Up at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  59. ↑ Tommy Castro – The Devil You Know at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  60. ↑ Mark Boone Jr. – Bang Bang at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  61. ↑ Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – Method to mMy Madness at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  62. ↑ Ana Popovic – Trilogy at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  63. ↑ Kaufman, Gil (May 12, 2017), "Little Steven Talks First Album in Two Decades, 'Soulfire,' Listen to 'Blues Is My Business'", Billboard, archived from the original on October 21, 2017, retrieved June 29, 2018
  64. ↑ Time Bomb (PDF) (Liner notes). Suicide Commandos. Minneapolis: Twin/Tone. 2017. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 15, 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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