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In the world of rock and roll, as in life,
the ones who become successful are the ones who were either lucky
or photogenic to be marketable, regardless the quality of the
product or the talent. Such can be said in this era of American
Idol where anybody can be packaged and brokered as "stars."
This leaves the many other musicians who spent most of their
lives playing and gigging and paying their dues out in the dust.
The latter assessment applies to singer/guitarist/producer Will
Owsley. And he has the resume that should have made him a star.
To a few of his hardcore fans, Owsley (his
professional moniker) is a household name, while to the public
at large, he is perceived as a newcomer. Owsley made his debut
in 1999 with the brilliant self-titled album. It was potpourri
of power pop blended with the influences of the Beatles, Electric
Light Orchestra, Todd Rundgren, Big Star, and the Beach Boys.
Melodious tracks such as "Coming Up Roses" and "Oh
No the Radio," still linger in the mind after the CD is
over. Owsley played nearly all the instruments himself as well
as producing and engineering it (the record was also nominated
for a Grammy for best engineered album). The album was so critically
received. It looked like things were on the upswing for a guy
who spent his time knocking on the door to be heard.
But just the door was about to be open,
as it was before he was in the group the Semantics about ten
years earlier, it suddenly slammed shut. Giant Records, his then-record
label, was bought out by Warner Bros. The lack of label backing
delayed the release of his follow-up record. So he went back
to square one by continuing to record in his home studio, touring
and playing as a sideman, and hooking up with a smaller label.
After four years, he finally released his latest album The
Hard Way this past December.
"My record was pretty much the first
11 songs [that ended up on The Hard Way] I turned in to Warner
Brothers," remembered the affable musician during a phone
interview. "I made that record right away."
Those familiar with his first album might
notice that The Hard Way sounds a little bit more rockier
and stripped down, but no less catchy and fervent as its predecessor.
The album title The Hard Way it conveyed several meanings
that was close to Owsley's own experiences both musically and
personally. "Musically I feel like it's harder rock than
my first record. Here's Owsley: The Hard Way," Owsley said.
"You had him the pop way not here is the harder edge of
Owsley. It has a lot to do with how I got to where I am today."
The Hard Way
is full of brimming, upbeat power pop like the previous album
but there are also some reflective tunes harking back to Burt
Bacharach and Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys. One of those songs is
"Matriarch," written about Owsley's grandmother. "She
was just a wonderful person. I've been kind of working on that
song and I never intended to put it on this record until my friend
Millard Powers heard me playing from the piano and said You are
an idiot if you don't put it on the record. I recorded it and
man it was an absolute labor of love."
And like Owsley, there is not one real
clunker in the new album as one engaging hook follows another.
Even the artist himself has a hard time picking his absolute
favorites.
"They're all like my children," he said. "I think
"She's the One" is definitely a fave. But I would have
to say "Dude" is my favorite song on the record. I
like the way it came out. I'm proud of it."
If you listen to The Hard Way all
the way through (and how could you not with those hooks and melodies),
you're likely to hear the hidden track, which is a cover of Paul
McCartney and Wings' 1973 hit "Band on the Run." It
was earlier recorded for a McCartney tribute album. "We
had a ball doing it," Owsley reminisced. "I can't tell
you how many people wrote in to my web site and saying Where
in the hell can I find this Paul McCartney tribute record? That's
the reason why I put it on there."
But as mentioned earlier, The Hard Way
might have never seen the light of day after the split with Giant/Warner
Bros. This experience was emblematic of previous disappointments
when he started out in the biz. He was in a band called the Semantics
(which also included drummer turned future pianist/singer Ben
Folds) who was dropped from the Geffen label in 1994 and their
album was never released. And then the band broke up. But this
latest entanglement with another major record label in Warner
Bros. really left him bitter and cynical, leaving him to ponder
his career plans. "I looked at my wife one day and I was
in tears," said Owsley. "I don't know what to do. I
don't think they will ever let me make this second record. I
could just die on the vine for another ten years. My only option
was to get off the label and go and do this the hard way."
Afterwards, the artist got his songs back,
and retreated into his studio pondering his next move. In the
meanwhile, Owsley kept himself busy by penning songs and playing
and touring with artists such as Michael McDonald, Charlotte
Church, Amy Grant, and Shania Twain. "Mutt Lange called
me and said, 'I want you to come and play for Shania and I heard
you can do a funny imitation of Dwight Yokam.' And I went down
and sang for Mutt Lange and he died laughing. Would you like
to sing on seven television shows with Shania Twain. And I said
'Absolutely.'" And Owsley ended up playing with Twain on
shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live with Regis and
Kathie Lee, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and the American Country
Music Awards.
But Owsley wasn't resting on the money
he made as a songwriter and session player. His publishing deal
enabled him to build a world class recording studio in his basement.
Nor did he forget about the songs he wrote but were rejected
by Warner Bros. He remixed them to wrinkle off the dust. Then
he came into contact with Lakeview Entertainment's Scott McCracken,
who was impressed on what he heard from the masters and signed
Owsley to his record company. "When I record a song, I usually
do a master," he said. "Not only am I selling a song
to a record company I'm selling my production, engineering, and
my entire sound. All the songs were recorded all along the way."
Will Owsley doesn't see himself like other
artists whose album typically contains one or two good songs
while the rest is filler. Like the greats before him, he recognizes
the album as a medium of not just tunes but art. It probably
explains why his sound is both ambitious and smoothly crafted,
almost mistake-free. "You can't make a record thinking that
you're gonna just put nothing but singles because then there
is not artistic depth," he said. "As a listener, I
want to hear a body of work-the B-sides and everything. Being
an engineer and producer, I've always been a student of those
classic rock records. That's why I'm so meticulous about that."
Many people immediately draw comparisons
of Owsley's music directly to Revolver/Sgt. Pepper era Beatles,
but might surprise some that the Fab Four was not an immediate
influence early on. "As I got out of school, people went
and said, 'Oh, the Beatles. You have a really huge Beatles influence.'
I got into the Beatles late when I was 19 or 20. When I was 9
years old , ELO was on the radio that's where I learned the Beatles.
From ELO, Todd Rundgren, Badfinger groups like that were imitating
the Beatles. Later on, I figured Oh the Beatles made up that
style." I kind of learned second generation Beatles."
Growing up in the small town of Anniston,
Alabama, this Southern boy grew up exposed to a variety of rock
music, which might explain the eclectic nature of his own sound.
"At ten years old in 1978, I was like freaking out over
Kiss, Kansas, Boston, Peter Frampton, Lynyrd Skynyrd-all that
'70s rock was killing. In high school, people were turning me
on to Pink Floyd and Zeppelin-huge Zeppelin fanatic, Clapton,
and Hendrix."
To this day Owsley's love for classic rock
can be found onstage when he and his band performs. He sometimes
throw in a cover song in his set. On one occasion at a gig at
New York's Mercury Lounge, he did a letter-perfect version of
Steely Dan's "My Old School," complete with the Jeff
Skunk Baxter guitar solos. "I've always been a fan of it,"
he said. :We always try to do one cover in the set. I thought
My Old School would be a fun, upbeat number with great guitar
playing and play a song that everybody kind of knows. It was
fun for me too, I love playing it."
Now that he had just released The Hard
Way and is the middle of a tour to support the album, Owsley
hadn't had the time to pen new songs. "It's so hard when
you are schlepping your bags and trying to do the show. I wish
I can lie and say I've been writing like a maniac. I've just
been jamming and having a great time playing onstage."
However he promised that the next record won't take as long to
record and release as was the case with The Hard Way.
And he really can't afford to because making music is the only
thing he really knows. "I've never ever done any other job
but play guitar and sang for my supper," Owsley explained.
"I don't know how to do anything else."
Like many music purists, Owsley is dismayed
at the way at how media outlets like American Idol pick kids
off the streets with nothing more than photogenic looks and a
modicum of talent and package them as pop stars. And in the process,
the musicians who spend their lives working their way up and
pay their dues don't even get a second look. Don't interpret
what he says in the following as hubris. "Hopefully the
fans where, in a world of American Idol, fans can look at me
and say that I am a real American Idol---like someone who played
in a million shows, who has been playing guitar since he was
ten years old," said Owsley with genuine passion rather
than hubris. "That's what I think what an American Idol
is somebody like Springsteen. Hopefully that will encourage young
kids to play music. I don't have an over inflated view of myself-I
learn every day. And I have plenty to learn."
A residue of the bitterness and cynicism
remain from the experience with Warner Bros. records, but he
now acknowledges that the bad time was also beneficial in some
ways. "Everything happens in this life for a reason. I believe
God put me through that to teach me to make this record a good
one. Maybe it was the sacrifice I had to make to make a great
second record. Maybe it was what I had to do to get from A to
B."
In turn, Will Owsley hopes to impart that
same message of optimism of overcoming obstacles onto his listeners.
"I hope that music gives my fan hope," he said earnestly.
"That's the biggest compliment I can get is for a fan to
come up and go, I love "Coming Up Roses" and it helped
me get through a bad relationship. I helped somebody get through
a bad experience with my song. That is absolutely the rewarding
thing. I've done what God has put me on this earth to do."
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