August 6, 2009
Songs and Stories #68: The John Cowan Interview
Click to hear “Songs and Stories” #68 (time = 30:00, size = 12.5 mb)
Singer/bassist John Cowan is best known to long-time fans as the bass player and co-lead vocalist (along with Sam Bush) in the progressive bluegrass band Newgrass Revival (1974 – 1981). Since NGR’s final show opening for the Grateful Dead on New Year’s Eve in 1989, Cowan has played with various NGR alumni in various incarnations and has done a lot of session work in Nashville. He’s probably best known, however, for his own John Cowan Band, which you’ll get to listen to here in episode #68 of “Songs and Stories”.
In this special interview recorded outside Don Quixote’s Music Hall in Felton, CA, Cowan talks about his musical influences, which include everyone from the Dead to Charlie Parker. Cowan also talks about his latest band and his upcoming September release, “8742 Feet”, a compilation of performances through the years at The Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
After all that, we’ll head back inside Don Quixote’s as Cowan and his band run through Bill Monroe’s “Cabin On the Hill” and Tony Rice’s “Gasology”, along with some pretty funny stage banter.
