Dean Owens

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Dean Owens is a Scottish singer songwriter, born and brought up in Leith, Edinburgh, UK. A proud Leither, many of his songs relate to his upbringing in the area, including Man From Leith.^[1]

Owens’ first serious band was Smile, formed with bass player Kevin McGuire, guitarist Calais Brown and drummer Dave Stewart around 1991/92. Their first single – Obvious – released on Different Class Records, reached no 20 in the Scottish Charts in 1992.^[2]

His next band, The Felsons, rose from the ashes of Smile. Built round the core of Owens and McGuire, developing their signature “Celtabilly”/americana sound, they released their first album – One Step Ahead Of The Posse – in 1996, followed up with a mini album, Lasso The Moon. They were then joined by Smile guitarist Calais Brown and released their third album Glad on G2, a subsidiary of Scottish label Greentrax. The Felsons toured widely in UK, including a tour as support for US band, The Mavericks, before Owens started working on his solo career, including tours in USA, Europe and Australia.

Owens has released seven official solo studio albums since 2001, mostly recorded in USA, including his two most recent (Into The Sea (2015) and Southern Wind (2018)) which were recorded in Nashville with Grammy nominated, award winning producer Neilson Hubbard. Reviews (from both sides of the Atlantic), were very positive, and highlighted a "unique Scottish, americana blend" in his music.^[3] The title track of Southern Wind (co-written with American musician Will Kimbrough) won the UK Song of the Year Award in 2019 at UK Americana Music Association Awards in London.^[4][5]

A “Best of” album – The Man From Leith (with sleeve notes by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh) – was released in March 2020 on London’s Eel Pie Records, also to very positive reviews.^[6]

His next album, Sinner’s Shrine, recorded in Tucson, Arizona, with members of “desert noir” band, Calexico, is scheduled for release in 2021.

Owens also tours occasionally with Scottish fiddle player Amy Geddes, under the name of Redwood Mountain, with lyrics taken from Alan Lomax’s The Book of American Folk Songs, reimagined with new melodies. A self titled album was released in 2017.

Other recent projects include the international music/film collaboration, Buffalo Blood (with producer/musician Neilson Hubbard, Audrey Spillman and Joshua Britt). Recorded outdoors, on location in the New Mexico desert (at Echo Canyon and Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch), the songs explore themes of migration and displacement of people, especially of Native Americans. A self titled double album was released on Eel Pie Records in 2019, and launched with a live performance at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.^[7]

In March 2020 Owens curated the inaugural Cash Back in Fife Festival, which celebrated the legacy of Johnny Cash, and his family connections to Fife.^[8]

Associated bands[]

• Dean Owens & The Southerners
• Dean Owens & The Whisky Hearts
• Dean Owens & The Celtabilly Allstars
• Buffalo Blood
• Redwood Mountain
• Deer Lake (2013–2014)
• The Felsons (1996–2000)
• Smile (1991–1995)

Discography[]

Solo

• The Man From Leith (The Best of Dean Owens) – Eel Pie Records (2020)
• Southern Wind – At The Helm Records (2018)
• Into The Sea – Drumfire Records (2015)
• New York Hummingbird – Songboy Records (2012)
• Cash Back (Songs I Learned From Johnny) – Drumfire Records (2012)
• Whisky Hearts – Navigator Records (2008)
• My Town – Vertical Records (2004)
• The Droma Tapes – Songboy Records (2001)

The Felsons

• Glad – G2 (1998)
• Lasso the Moon (1996)
• One Step Ahead Of The Posse (1996)

Other

• Buffalo Blood – Buffalo Blood – Eel Pie Records (2019)
• Redwood Mountain – Redwood Mountain – Drumfire Records (2017)

References[]