Peter Rowan Albums (19)
'Crucial Country: Live At Telluride'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 10
Label There
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What The Critics Say
Allowing Peter Rowan and Tony Rice to front a small acoustic band is a shortcut to creating a bluegrass-folk supergroup. Few bluegrass-folk vocalists achieve Rowan's rich, resonant delivery, and while he's certainly a "good" singer, he maintains weathered edges that make him a good (read "authentic") folksinger. Rice's guitar style, equally melodic and nimble, warmly wraps itself around Rowan's vocals. These winning attributes, however, only begin to explain the carefully woven tapestry of Quartet, a richly realized folk recording. Both bassist/vocalist Bryn Davies and mandolinist/vocalist Sharon Gilchrist add considerably to the spaciousness of the sound and intricate interplay between the four musicians. Davies and Gilchrist's vocal harmony likewise supplies an additional emotional layer on "Dust Bowl Children" and "To Live Is to Fly." While the songs have been carefully selected, the content of individual lyrics seem to matter less than the tone of Rowan's vocals, the harmony, Rice's lead lines, and the mix of acoustic instruments. Quartet, then, is more about creating an entwined sound with a solid bottom end than lyrical content, and the songs are simply vehicles for that sound. Quartet starts stronger than it ends, but the early material is very strong. While both Rice and Rowan seem more intent in refining earlier stylistic innovations than creating new ones, Quartet's progressive acoustic vision remains fresh and vital. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
'You Were There for Me'
Release Date 9/28/2004
Tracks 10
Label Rounder
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What The Critics Say
One has to consider the collaborative union of renegade roots music guitarist Tony Rice and woolly Zen bluegrass legend Peter Rowan to be the most natural thing on earth and one that is long overdue. Both are true. While the two have played together on stages and even on record before, You Were There for Me marks their first full-fledged album collaboration. The program features no less than nine Rowan originals and a cover of Peter Lorin's fine "Cowboys and Indians." Rice is in fine playing form here, effortlessly underscoring and filling up Rowan's sung lines, and for his part, the songwriter is in fantastic voice. Accompanied throughout by bassist Bryn Bright and mandola and mandolin maestro Billy Bright -- with guest appearances by drummer Larry Atamanuik and bassist Tony Garnier as well as Rob Emery on harmony vocals on a track each -- the sound here is easy, free, and warm. But this is no mere feel-good jam recording. Instead, it is a collection of Rowan's most poetic material rendered with deep emotion, elegance, and grace by the singer buoyed by a band led by Rice's uncanny, soulful, and otherworldly playing. While there isn't a weak track in the set, the clear standouts are the title cut, "Tin Roof Shack," "Miss Liberty," "Shirt Off My Back," "Wild Mustang," and "Angel Island." One of the most poetic, emotionally honest, and gorgeously rendered albums of American music to come out in decades. This recording is among the best in either man's catalog. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'High Lonesome Cowboy'
Release Date 9/10/2002
Tracks 11
Label Shanachie
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What The Critics Say
The four men gracing the cover of High Lonesome Cowboy look more like farmers than musicians. The black-and-white photography, desert surroundings, and the old truck the old-timers are leaning against evoke the West circa 1940 or so. This spare environment of the cover, in fact, mirrors the lean setting of the disc within. Don Edwards, Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Norman Blake, and Billy and Bryn Bright join together to sing a fistful of Western favorites like "Goodbye Old Paint" and "The Old Chisholm Trail." The beauty of the entire project is its simplicity and non-pretentiousness. Edwards can be flamboyant vocalist, an Enrico Caruso of the plains. Here, however, he tones things down a bit, opting for a mellower approach to match Rowan's off-the-cuff style. Indeed, their voices work very well together and the unadorned style of the album sneaks up on the listener, much in the way a Norman and Nancy Blake album does. Lovely versions of "Midnight on the Stormy Deep" and "The Night Guard" give the impression of a couple of old cowhands sitting around the Coleman lantern as bright stars dot the summer sky. One might guess that there would be a lot of fancy picking with Rice and Blake on board, but this isn't the case. Rice only shows up on a few cuts, and Blake's work is always integrated into the tapestry of tumbleweeds and cactus blossoms. High Lonesome Cowboy is a low-key effort filled with simple music that runs deep. Fans of spare Western fare will want to round up a copy. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford Jr., All Music Guide
'Rowan & Wild Stallions'
Release Date 1/22/1996
Tracks 11
Label Appaloosa
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What The Critics Say
The solo debut album of this bluegrass vocalist features an original mixture of styles and backing from Flaco Jimenez, Richard Greene, and Tex Logan. ~ All Music Guide, All Music Guide
