Rob Owen Artist Biography

“Rob Owen’s songs are uplifting, almost poppy, and are filled with gems of lyrical insight….” –San Francisco Voice

Singer/songwriter Rob Owen was born amidst the digital boom of the Silicon Valley. As a teenager, Rob left behind the binary noise and fast-paced bustle of “The Valley.” He discovered an analog alternative within a creative lifestyle in Santa Cruz, California - where he still lives today.

“I found the area around Santa Cruz to be way more conducive to songwriting,” Rob explains. “It was the sound of the ocean … it was the accumulation of countless blissful days simply staring at the crashing waves that led me to a different dimension in my writing" It was in this new environment that Owen's musical life would evolve from a creative collision of inspiration and influence.

By the age of seventeen Rob began writing and performing around the Bay Area. Since then, he has played many different venues throughout California, including a 2009 Northwest coast tour. When not working as a musician, he enjoys spending quiet time at the beach with his wife, daughter and two boys. Rob works to live, instead of living to work – his music reflects this paradigm that saturates his being.

Rob’s earliest influences stem from listening to his grandfather sing while playing an old beat-up, out of tune, upright piano. Owen reflects, “When I reach deep down - during a performance - I feel as though I am singing with my grandfather’s soulful, raspy, baritone voice." Rob has always felt at one with his grandfather and his musical routes. Given Owen’s musical influences, he continues to create a soulful sound within the context of both his lyrics and his intricate musical arrangements and phrasing.

For Owen, the essence of creativity is about inspiration and influence. “I find that at the place where inspiration and influence collide, there is an infinite ocean of creativity,” he explains. A wide-range of artists, across many genres, was vital to Rob's development as a musician. Rob is not hesitant to point out the effect Ray Lamontagne, Peter Gabriel and Eddie Vedder has had on him as a singer and songwriter.

If you ask Rob where he gets his musical inspiration from – things become much more personal. His grandfather, the love of his family, and the joys of simply being alive are what stir his muses. Owen has been a witness to many personal tragedies over the years – but none that he did not end up transforming into fuel for his passion in music and life. “After experiencing a few brushes with my own mortality, I’ve come to appreciate the simple things in life, sometimes they can be the most profound.” Rob’s lyrics dance between experience and reflection but always grounded in love, sorrow, transformation, and joy.

Over the past fifteen years Rob has been able to take his influences and inspirations and synthesize them into musical arrangements. This has led him to be recognized by national magazines, newspapers, independent record labels, as well as radio and television. Rob’s recent accomplishments include having his compositions aired on MTV’s Real World, a number one song critique in the June 2010 issue of Music Connection Magazine. A few months later, Rob followed that critique up with the top Music Critique of 2010 within the year-end issue of Music Connection Magazine.

Owen has also been nominated as "Best Adult Alternative Artist" by the ISSA, as well as a “Top Five Vocalist” in the Songwriter of the Month competition on SingerUniverse.com. Owen's music has appeared on Yamaha’s Cubase DVD and earned exceptional reviews in The Santa Cruz Sentinel and The San Francisco Voice.

In 2010, Rob released a five song EP entitled, Common Ground. While the title track is reminiscent of revolutionary music from the nineteen-sixties stylistically - it is also truly contemporary and powerfully relevant. Along with the single “Clear Day in July” Common Ground has helped the music industry take note of Owen’s wide market appeal and talent as both a singer and songwriter.

“I find it invigorating to express the kind of energy and emotion I feel during any performance,” Rob explains. Over time, there is always a feeling that an artist would write one song that they love to perform repeatedly. For Rob, this composition would certainly be “Common Ground.” He elaborates, “I’m happy the way that it turned out, I like the energy and dynamics of the tune. The song is about interconnection or “inter-being.” It is about the common ground we all stand on but often forget about.”

Rob has a new single slated to be released in early 2012 entitled, “Another Breath." Of the new release Owen says, “This is the closest and most meaningful song to my heart." He describes the song as an intimate examination of the time he spends away from his love - his wife - and how he suffers until the time he can get back home to her. Owen’s music is passionate, sincere, real and honest. These traits all resound within his lyrics, and melodies.

Even though there really isn’t much geographical distance between the cold binary world of Silicon Valley and the warm and peaceful analog world of Santa Cruz - to Rob, they are a billion light years away. Rob Owen’s creative collision of inspiration and influence has been his own Big Bang. His musical universe will surely continue to expand into 2012 and beyond.

If Coldplay wrote a song with Peter Gabriel and John Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls) it would sound like "Another Breath." Behind Owen’s powerful voice is an addictive melody and a feeling of love, sincerity and yearning. Within this passionate power-ballad, Rob has managed to capture the kind of timeless bliss that can only be experienced by two lovers during a sweet embrace.

Owen’s previous successes include placed compositions onto MTV’s The Real World, as well as a number one song critique and top Music Critique of 2010 in Music Connection Magazine. “Another Breath” is literally another top-shelf song Owen adds to his arsenal after his previous release, “Common Ground.” “I’m very happy with the way this song turned out. A lot of work went into this tune, and not only by myself, but by co-producer, Andy Zenczak, at Gadgetbox Studios.” Rob describes the song as a reflection of the time he spends away from his love - his wife - and how he suffers until the time he can get back home to her.

“Another Breath” joins Rob’s ever-growing catalog of compositions - all with their unique passionate and sincere insight into human emotion. “Another Breath” is a song you can sink your soul into. Rob Owen’s finely-honed songwriting shines within the forever present moment in time.

For more about the song, and Rob Owen please visit the links below.

www.robowenmusic.com www.reverbnation.com/robowenmusic.com www.facebook.com/robowenfans CONTACT: contact@robowenmusic.com