Some folks call me Leroy, but my given name is Leon Virgil Bowers… and I have been repossessed.

The journey to here, to this document they call an ‘artist bio’ is a long story. I guess you could say that I’ve hit a couple back roads along the way, a few detours, and maybe even taken a couple short cuts; I’ll keep this account short and sweet. Maybe you can glean the details from the songs I’ve written as the founding member and songwriter in Hellbound Glory.

The last few years have been good to me. I’ve toured the country with Kid Rock, shared the stage with Leon Russell, got rowdy with The Supersuckers, surprised some folks with 10 Years and generally raised a ruckus wherever the tour van has taken me. Needless to say, it’s been a hard-working year too and I’ve spent the better part of 2014 traveling and recording. 

A lot of friends have asked if I’ll be releasing any new songs this year. Honestly, I had thought that I would have released more by now. The short answer is yes. Soon. The new songs are ‘in the can’ as they say and I’ve got plans to record a few more. The new material was recorded in Detroit, Michigan at Rust Belt Studios. 

Some folks have asked whether I’ve worked with Kid Rock. Well, I guess you could say that I’ve bounced a few ideas off of Bob in the studio. You’ll have to wait until the new album drops next year to hear what came of those ideas.

I’m a working musician and proud to say that I’ve earned everything that I call my own. But I was given my name. Maybe it’s the one thing in the world that is truly my own. It will be mine even after I leave this world. Maybe that’s why it’s time to branch off a little and share a bit of it with the stage… with the music. 

Like I said to start this off, I’ve been repossessed. But I never admitted to being a lost cause. That was just a song I wrote… and I think it’s a pretty good one. 

-	LVB. November 2, 2014

“What am I to build, if my hands are broken, if I’m not the chosen one?” sings Steven McKellar of Civil Twilight on “Story of An Immigrant”, over a lush, dynamic beat that evokes the sounds of his native South Africa while steeped in the band’s everevolving present. The foursome (Steven, his brother and guitarist Andrew, drummer Richard Wouters and Kevin Dailey on keys and guitar) are living proof of what happens when you stop worrying about being the chosen one and make music built on both the roots that grew you and the love that keeps you thriving every day. Civil Twilight’s songs embrace every corner of human emotion, balancing delicate, poetic lyrics with sweeping arrangements that touch all the senses: a phrase to make you think; a rolling drumbeat you can feel in your bones; a guitar vamp as illustrative as a picture; a shimmer of keys whose light can nearly be seen and heard. Produced by Ben H. Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Bombay Bicycle Club, Cut Copy), their third record on Wind-Up is built on this vibrancy, on the permanent dust of a Cape Town youth; on the connection that unites them all as brothers beyond blood and on their new home in America where they pull from the innate, thriving musicianship of Nashville, where they live. When you listen to Civil Twilight, from their self-titled debut, to 2012’s widely lauded Holy Weather to now, it’s easy to understand why the band has topped five million YouTube views and reached historic success with film and television syncs – because it’s music you can’t shake, that translates experience into moments and creates melodies that become imbedded deep under the skin. We’re all immigrants, in some way, and Civil Twilight’s singing our national anthem.

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A trusted troubadour for hot summer nights and cold beers, Owen is now in his forties, tangling with separations from lost lovers, raising kids, and growing out of the fresh-faced kid that headed down to Nashville 20 years back with a six-string and a dream.  Case in point: Dreams to Dream, Owen’s long-awaited, Shooter Jennings-co-produced foray into classic, honky-tonk country, out November 7 via Good Company Entertainment. Dreams to Dream, Owen’s first independent studio album, featuring 10 original tracks and two stellar covers, tells the tale of a man at a crossroads — and what it takes to set out a new path. 

Owen wasn’t expecting much when he commented on one of Shooter Jennings’ Instagram posts, half-jokingly suggesting that they make a honky-tonk record, but the producer called his bluff. Two days later, Owen’s manager had Jennings on the line and, soon, Owen was on his way to L.A. and Jennings’ Sunset Sound. It was a cozy yet electric scene: Jennings and Owen cracking jokes in the sepia-toned studio, creativity crackling as they collaborated with the likes of songwriters Ben Chapman and Kendell Marvel, as well as long-time shooter pal, guitarist/harmonic player Leroy Powell. 

“All my friends who have heard my stuff have gone, ‘Dude, Jake, this is you man. This is who you've always tried to be,’” Owen says. “Sometimes you need to get outside what's comfortable, what people think you are, or think you should be, and take a risk.”

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