Peter Rowan
| Peter Rowan | |
|---|---|
Peter Rowan (left) performing with Tony Rice on November 7, 2008.
|
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
July 4, 1942 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres | Bluegrass, Progressive bluegrass, Folk, Country, Country rock, Folk rock, Psychedelic, Tex-Mex |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, Vocals, Mandolin |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Labels | Rounder, Flying Fish, Sugar Hill |
| Associated acts | Earth Opera, Old and in the Way |
| Website | peter-rowan |
Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. Rowan plays guitar and mandolin, yodels and sings.
Rowan was born in Boston, Massachusetts. From an early age, he had an interest in music and eventually learned to play the guitar. At the age of twelve, he heard Elvis Presley for the first time and later, in junior high school, he formed a rockabilly band, the Cupids. Influenced by the blues musician Eric Von Schmidt, Rowan traded his electric guitar for an acoustic and began to play the blues. He was also influenced by the folk sound of Joan Baez. In college, he discovered bluegrass after hearing The Country Gentlemen and The Stanley Brothers. He soon discovered the music of Bill Monroe, and with some help from banjo player Bill Keith, he was invited to Nashville to audition for Monroe. Accompanied by Keith, Rowan went to Nashville and was hired in March 1965 as guitarist and lead vocalist of Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. His recording debut as a "bluegrass boy" took place on October 14, 1966 and he recorded a total of fourteen songs with Monroe before his tenure ended in the spring of 1967.
Rowan teamed up with David Grisman in 1967 forming the band Earth Opera which frequently opened for The Doors. In 1969, Rowan joined Seatrain, along with Richard Greene. In 1973, Rowan, together with Greene, Grisman, Bill Keith, and Clarence White, formed the bluegrass band Muleskinner. The band released one album. The same year (1973), Rowan and Grisman formed Old and in the Way with Greene, Jerry Garcia, and John Kahn. Greene was later replaced by Vassar Clements. Old and in the Way disbanded in 1974; shortly thereafter, Rowan joined The Rowans, a reconstituted version of his brothers' band (The Rowan Brothers, who had recorded and toured since 1970) for three years. For a time, he was touring with Greene in Japan and playing clubs with fiddler Tex Logan. He also formed the Green Grass Gringos.
...
Wikipedia