“This album is not a tribute to the Stanley Brothers; it’s an honoring of them, and of my roots." -Peter Rowan
Peter Rowan was just a young bluegrass boy when he caught the attention of Bill Monroe, who made him an actual Blue Grass Boy in 1963 when he became the band’s guitarist and lead singer. Thereafter, Monroe introduced him to fellow icon Carter Stanley and that meeting is etched in his memory just as indelibly as the inked entry in his 1966 diary. Within a few months, Stanley would be gone, but the impact he and his brother, Ralph, had on Rowan would grow even stronger. He acknowledges their influence, and finally gives the story of that meeting a definitive telling, with his new album, Carter Stanley’s Eyes , due April 20th. Here, Rowan answers his Essential 8 where he talks musical mentors, shares the story behind the album's title, and more. Did you have a musical mentor? If so, who was it and how did they influence you? Bill Monroe was my mentor once I had joined his band. Before that I learned from my Uncle Jimmie, and the great bluegrass tenor singer and mandolinist, Joe Val. With any particular song, was there an “a-ha” moment when you knew the song was completed and perfect? Land of the Navajo, when I played it for Jerry Garcia, I remembered all the words, I knew it was a song! Is there a story behind your album’s title? Carter Stanley’s Eyes, when Bill Monroe and went up in the Clinch Mountains to see Carter, that meeting became the title, the light in Carter Stanley’s Eyes. Why did you chose to anchor the album with the songs you did? I feel that Carters influence on the soulfulness of bluegrass songwriting was unique, earthy yet yearning for transcendence .
Where do you draw inspiration from when writing?
I stay quiet and wait to hear the whisper of angels When/where do you do your best writing? Almost anywhere, but up on a mountain near me, it clears my mind. I have to have pen and paper at the ready! Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination? I try to write honestly from my own experience What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician? Take your time. What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out? Take your time. Listen to the greats who have come before. Learn how to practice and progress Website/Facebook/Purchase
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |