What Judith Owen's new album Ebb and Flow evokes the spirit of the halcyon days of the great 1970s troubadours is not accidental.
In a set of potent songs about love and loss, pain and joy, dreams and despair, the Welsh singer-songwriter fearlessly explores the duality of the human condition - and to do justice to the songs she turned to the legendary musicians who created the seventies troubadour sound.
Between them, her core band of drummer Russ Kunkel, bassist Leland Sklar and guitarist Waddy Wachtel played on many of the landmark albums from the era by the likes of Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne.
The three musicians who "created the sound of the 1970s" (Rolling Stone) were always the band Owen wanted to work with. "I fell in love with them; that soothing sound and the consummate side-men who helped create it," says Owen. David Crosby described them simply as "the best." With Ebb and Flow, they recorded together for the first time in fifteen years.
"The kind of music I write is so influenced by that sound and period that I wanted to go direct to the source," Owen explains. "When I write songs, I'm hearing a sound in my head - and they knew the sound because they invented it."
The songs on Ebb and Flow touch on the deepest emotions of Owen's own storied life with an unswerving honesty. But although her songs are highly personal, the emotions are universal.
"Singing about the human condition, living under the shadow of loss and frustration and sadness and loneliness and not being gratuitously sentimental about it, instead making something beautiful out of it - that's the songwriter's job," Owen says.
Join Harry Shearer for a rare personal appearance and interactive conversation regarding his wildly popular UK television series "Nixon's the One." In the series Shearer recreates actual audio taped conversations of Richard Nixon from the White House – interesting, funny and bizarre!
Actor…author…director…comedian…musician…philosopher…political satirist…record-company owner…and one of the best "voices" in the business (just ask THE SIMPSONS), Harry Shearer is a comic personality and modern day renaissance man.
For the past two decades he has enjoyed enormous success and planted the fruits of his talents in the heads of millions worldwide thanks to his voice work for THE SIMPSONS, where he plays a stable of characters: most notably Mr. Burns, Smithers, and insufferable neighbour Ned Flanders.
Movie audiences will know Shearer best for his collaborations with Christopher Guest and friends. The most famous of these is the granddaddy of all mock-umentaries, THIS IS SPINAL TAP (with Rob Reiner and Michael McKean). The film revealed the concepts of spontaneously- combusting drummers and amps that go up to eleven. Spinal Tap – the band have enjoyed worldwide success performing live and five years ago stole the show at the Live Earth concert at Wembley, London. In 2009 Harry, Christopher and Michael reunited to tour an acoustic version of Spinal Tap songs as themselves in the Unwigged and Unplugged tour (which is available on DVD) and returned as Derek Smalls, Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins to play Glastonbury and Wembley Arena with the volume turned up to eleven. Other Guest collaborations have included, A MIGHTY WIND and FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
What Judith Owen's new album Ebb and Flow evokes the spirit of the halcyon days of the great 1970s troubadours is not accidental.
In a set of potent songs about love and loss, pain and joy, dreams and despair, the Welsh singer-songwriter fearlessly explores the duality of the human condition - and to do justice to the songs she turned to the legendary musicians who created the seventies troubadour sound.
Between them, her core band of drummer Russ Kunkel, bassist Leland Sklar and guitarist Waddy Wachtel played on many of the landmark albums from the era by the likes of Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne.
The three musicians who "created the sound of the 1970s" (Rolling Stone) were always the band Owen wanted to work with. "I fell in love with them; that soothing sound and the consummate side-men who helped create it," says Owen. David Crosby described them simply as "the best." With Ebb and Flow, they recorded together for the first time in fifteen years.
"The kind of music I write is so influenced by that sound and period that I wanted to go direct to the source," Owen explains. "When I write songs, I'm hearing a sound in my head - and they knew the sound because they invented it."
The songs on Ebb and Flow touch on the deepest emotions of Owen's own storied life with an unswerving honesty. But although her songs are highly personal, the emotions are universal.
"Singing about the human condition, living under the shadow of loss and frustration and sadness and loneliness and not being gratuitously sentimental about it, instead making something beautiful out of it - that's the songwriter's job," Owen says.
Join Harry Shearer for a rare personal appearance and interactive conversation regarding his wildly popular UK television series "Nixon's the One." In the series Shearer recreates actual audio taped conversations of Richard Nixon from the White House – interesting, funny and bizarre!
Actor…author…director…comedian…musician…philosopher…political satirist…record-company owner…and one of the best "voices" in the business (just ask THE SIMPSONS), Harry Shearer is a comic personality and modern day renaissance man.
For the past two decades he has enjoyed enormous success and planted the fruits of his talents in the heads of millions worldwide thanks to his voice work for THE SIMPSONS, where he plays a stable of characters: most notably Mr. Burns, Smithers, and insufferable neighbour Ned Flanders.
Movie audiences will know Shearer best for his collaborations with Christopher Guest and friends. The most famous of these is the granddaddy of all mock-umentaries, THIS IS SPINAL TAP (with Rob Reiner and Michael McKean). The film revealed the concepts of spontaneously- combusting drummers and amps that go up to eleven. Spinal Tap – the band have enjoyed worldwide success performing live and five years ago stole the show at the Live Earth concert at Wembley, London. In 2009 Harry, Christopher and Michael reunited to tour an acoustic version of Spinal Tap songs as themselves in the Unwigged and Unplugged tour (which is available on DVD) and returned as Derek Smalls, Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins to play Glastonbury and Wembley Arena with the volume turned up to eleven. Other Guest collaborations have included, A MIGHTY WIND and FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
read more
show less