 Credit: Cambria Harkey
Esteemed Texas-troubadour Wade Bowen returns on February 9th with his latest studio album, Solid Ground. While varying sonically and thematically, the eleven-track collection is a cohesive one that envelopes the listener in an album that unites the myriad of flavors that is Texas music while remaining uniquely Bowen. In advance of the release, the singer-songwriter spoke in depth about the album, including working with friend Keith Gattis, and what's ahead in 2018.
Awhile back, you mentioned that you had taken a break from writing in 2015, so, were all the songs on Solid Ground that you had a hand in writing, written within the past few years? Most of them were written since then. For me, writing for a record is almost like a test because when I know it’s record time, I cram and write a ton (laughing), but for this record I took my time. I worked with my friend Keith Gattis, who is the trifecta of a tremendous guitar player, producer, and amazing songwriter, and I wanted him to push me as a songwriter as much as I’ve ever been pushed....and as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because it might come true (laughing). I kept thinking I’d written enough for the record, but when I’d ask Keith if he thought we were ready to go, he kept saying to me, ‘Nope. Keep writing.’ In fact, even when we were in the studio, he would have me write two to three hours before the band came in. So yeah, I took a little time off, but I definitely made up for it with this project (laughing) and in the end it was well worth it. There are songs co-written with Keith as well as Angaleena Presley, Charlie Worsham, and others. How did that all come together? Were these people that you always wanted to write with or did Keith have a hand in that? It was a combination of both. I have somewhat of a system for writing, but it’s not an exact system and sometimes you happen to be in a room at the right time with someone who brings a cool idea and the song starts from there. Every song on the record has a different story and a different approach. For example there’s the song, “Death, Dyin’, And Deviled Eggs” that was written after Guy Clark passed. I was talking with John [Randall] about how big of a fan of Guy’s I am, but I’d never really attempted to write like him because he’s such a poet. So, John and I approached this song with the question “What would guy Clark do?” I literally feel like I ripped him [Clark] off, but that’s where the song came from. In addition to the writers, you have the benefit of having some amazing players including Rami Jaffee, Audley Freed (Black Crowes), Billie Mercer (Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams), and Jenn Gunderman (Sheryl Crow), among others. Keith has his group of people who he knows and was truly responsible for the majority of those players being on the album. I feel like when you hire a producer, you really have to trust them; they’re there for a reason and if they have people in mind who they think can help to get the record to sound the way we want it to, then you run with it. As a producer, Keith had a great grasp of what the album needed and did exactly what a producer should. I was lucky that he knew so many great people who were willing to get involved. 
The last record [which was released in 2014] was much quieter and intimate. While this one has romantic ballads, there’s more of a grittier sound which hearkens back to, for example, “Beat Me Down.” Is this something which also was Keith’s influence?
I could easily have just taken songs I [had written and] loved and made a record, but I chose to not settle for this record at any point. The writing, the production, sonically…I wanted this record to be edgier and to have that Texas sound. I’ve had glimpses of it [the Texas sound] before, but I don’t think I’ve ever really made a Texas sounding record with that raw feel like this one has. Other artists I’ve spoken with said working with your friends on an album can make or break a friendship. It seems like this partnership was very successful. Working with friends can be difficult and ruin relationships, but it’s the opposite with us. I’ve known Keith for years and it was really great to have my friend produce the album because you know you’ll be brothers through the whole process. I’m not sure how many people are familiar with Keith, but anyone who knows us will hear the Gattis-Bowen combination flow through the whole record and that’s exactly the way it should be. When you make music together you share a lot of intimate moments and I think making this record brought us a lot closer. Solid Ground is literally our baby; we had a blast working together and I felt like everything came together perfectly, like the pieces of a big crazy puzzle. To me, the way someone opens and closes an album really sets a tone. Was there any particular reason you chose to bookend the album with “Couldn’t Make You Love Me” and “Calling All Demons”? “Couldn’t Make You Love Me” was a song Keith and Audley started prior to going into the studio and we finished that first morning when we came in early. Keith wanted this first track to set the tone for the rest of the project and in the studio, this one felt like the perfect introduction to what followed. For me, there’s always this craziness with the very last tune, that's the same way I feel when I play an encore. There’s a freedom, a no-holes-barred, leave it on the stage thing and I felt like that track, out of any of them, represented that the most. At seven and a half minutes we didn’t want it to end – and that sums up the whole record. The song really does breathe. I’m a big movie fan and I feel like so much of the album feels like a movie. We didn’t concern ourselves with the time of the tracks – it was all about capturing the emotions of the song and if that meant getting to seven minutes to hear it all, then that’s what we did. That freedom was something that was really nice to have. One of my current favorites is also a song on the longer side, “7:30”. Is there any particular story behind that one? We wrote that with Waylon Payne and Angaleena Presley and actually, that one didn’t have a title when the song was finished. Waylon suggested we call it that when he remembered he got the call that one of his parents passed at 7:30. It’s sad as hell, but it made sense because that’s the whole gist of the song – getting that fateful call and knowing you’ll never see that person again. And when you listen, you'll notice we never say 7:30 in the song, which again emphasizes having that freedom to do what we wanted, finding what felt right and have it fit the emotion of the song. It’s a powerful song. How about the title of the album, Solid Ground? Where did it come from? The words solid ground are in the song “Anchor,” which was originally going to be called “Solid Ground,” but as far as the actual album title goes, it is separate from the song. I’m a huge Springsteen fan and if you listen to him in the early days, he gives you a full-on glimpse of where he’s from without having to say "Jersey" repeatedly. Solid Ground is a Texas album for me and as I listened to the record, I let it speak to me and realized Texas, my home state, is my solid ground. I’ve never been more proud to be where I’m from and to be an artist from Texas. What I want people to get out of this project is that it’s not about beer drinking or hearing "Texas" as every other word; I want them to get a feel for this great state and its influences all way from rock to Tejano because Texas music is all over map and all of that is mixed up in this pot of fun that is this record. That's a neat one, "pot of fun." Tell me a bit about the cover artwork, it seems there’s a lot of hidden images in there? My big question was how we could do the Texas thing without it being overkill or something that had been done before and the Dodd sisters [of Backstage Designs] nailed it. Everything is implanted directly on a map of Texas which covers a lot of areas where I’m from, plus, there’s all kinds of symbols - demons, the Brazos queen, deviled eggs, and more – hidden in the cover, almost like those old Highlights magazines where you find all the clues. It was very creative on her part. They are incredibly talented and always do such an amazing job. The record comes out on February 9th. Will you be hitting the road outside of Texas to support it? I spent 2017 playing fewer shows and gearing up for the album’s release, so this year we are going all over. We're touring the UK again in June and then we'll hit both coasts and places in between - we’re letting the reigns loose (laughing). You know, October marks 20 years of me playing music, so we’re going to be doing stuff around that as well. It’s going to be a crazy busy year, but I’m really excited about it and that’s the way it should be. I spent the last three years doing random projects, biding my time until I figured out my next journey. It took me awhile to do that, but now the floodgates are open, and it feels good to have goals and be energized about the music. I'm ready to have some fun. To stay up to date with Wade Bowen visit his official website Watch his Garage Mahal on You Tube HERE Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Purchase his music HERE Listen to "Day of the Dead" HERE Listen to "So Long 6th Street" HERE
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