Doug Powell (musician, apologist)
| Doug Powell | |
|---|---|
Doug Powell in 2015
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| Background information | |
| Born |
October 9, 1965 Concord, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres |
Power Pop Alternative rock Progressive rock |
| Instruments | vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | Elektra (1990), RCA (1993–1994), Mercury/Polygram (1995–1996), Not Lame Recordings (1998–2000), Space Baby (2000), Yep Roc (2001), Wizzard in Vinyl (2001), Parasol (2002–2004), Paisley Pop (2006), Muse Sickle (2007 – present) |
| Associated acts | Swag, Todd Rundgren, Jules Shear, The Mavericks, Cheap Trick, The Cars, Sixpence None the Richer, Wilco, |
| Website | dougpowell |
Doug Powell (born Douglas William Powell October 9, 1965 in Concord, Massachusetts) is an American musician, Christian apologist, author, graphic designer, and programmer.
Powell's music career began after giving songwriter Jules Shear a tape of demos in 1989. This led to a contract with Elektra Records and a demo produced by Shear. Elektra nurtured Powell with equipment and vocal coaching, but ultimately passed on making a record. Powell then signed with RCA Records and recorded Ballad of the Tin Men. Powell co-produced with engineer Pete Coleman and played all the instruments except drums, strings, and one guitar solo. After sitting on the shelf for a year, the record was bought by Mercury Records. Mercury immediately arranged for Powell to be the opening act for much of Todd Rundgren's Individualist tour. Just months after Ballad of the Tin Men was released in April 1996, Mercury dropped Powell.
The demos for what was to be the second Mercury record were released under the name Curiouser by Not Lame Recordings in 1999. Powell had been in talks with Rundgren to produce the record. Notable guests include Steve Allen from 20/20 and Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick. In 2000, Powell delivered a new set of songs to Not Lame called More. Powell played all instruments and handled the production, engineering, and graphic design.
During this time Powell was invited by Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboardist for The Mavericks and Sixpence None the Richer to sing backup vocals on a jam session recorded with some other Nashville friends. The group included a revolving membership but centered on McFadden and Robert Reynolds (bassist for the Mavericks). After releasing a 45rpm single on Diesel Only Records, the band began to play some gigs around Nashville. At that point Powell, McFadden, Reynolds, Ken Coomer (drummer for Wilco), and Tom Petersson started playing under the name Swag. Over the next few years Swag wrote and recorded whenever everyone was in town. Petersson had moved from Nashville, however, and played a lesser role. Brad Jones and Warren Pash took on the main bass duties in the studio and live, respectively. Jones also produced the full-length album Catch-all, released by Yep Roc in 2001. Legal issues caused the first pressing to be recalled and re-released with Todd Rundgren replacing the few parts recorded by Tom Petersson. Swag appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on April 20, 2001. Powell left Swag after suffering a vocal chord injury that required surgery and left him unable to tour. While recuperating in 2001, Japanese label Wizzard in Vinyl released an EP of songs called Venus Di Milo's Arms, featuring darker, more aggressive songs than his previous work.
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