DAYS BETWEEN STATIONS

Days Between Stations is the creative partnership between guitarist Sepand Samzadeh and keyboardist Oscar Fuentes. The duo came together in Los Angeles in November 2003, and named the band after the 1985 novel by Steve Erickson. The band’s sound – Samzadeh calls it “art-rock,” Fuentes labels it “post-prog” – reflects their varied influences, as well as a shared disregard for stylistic boundaries... more

BILLY SHERWOOD

We are much honored this month to have Billy Sherwood (CIRCA:, former YES) as our interview guest. He just released his new CD titled "At The Speed Of Life". Currently, beside his solo projects he is one of the members of the band CIRCA:, formed by ex-YES members Tony Kaye and Alan White, along with Jimmy Haun. They released their first solo album in 2007, followed in 2008 by a live DVD. They are currently in the studio working on their second solo CD...more

Kate BUSH / Never For Ever

1980‘s “Never For Ever” is Kate’s 3rd album. The album was co-produced by Jon Kelly & Kate herself. One of the most interesting things about this album is that it is the first record by a British female artist to top the UK album charts. (Wikipedia). Kate’s progressive approach to music reaches its peak with Never For Ever. She tastefully blends different genres including folk, oriental, rock, classical and jazz. Unlike her first two albums which she wrote on piano, this one was written on synths... more

Interview with JOHN COWAN by Hande BURDG

We are much honored to bring a recent interview we had with John COWAN to our readers. COWAN is one of the pioneers of the newgrass (progressive bluegrass) sound, but not only that, he is also one of the best tenors in the music industry. Coming from a rock/r&b and soul background, Cowan blends these genres with his own acoustic music and signs them with his unique vocals. While in New Grass Revival, he and his band mates set the stepping stones for today's jam bands and the new sound of progressive bluegrass. After the New Grass Revival disbanded, Cowan started his solo career. His early works are a mixture of his rock and r&b background with his bluegrass side (Like the YES cover "Long Distance Runnaround", or "Moody Bluegrass" album which is a tribute to Moody Blues) and his recent albums are the return to a more acoustic sound, or his roots as many people will say so. He also covered the song "Running With The Devil" on the "Strumming With The Devil" album which was produced by David Lee Roth, a bluegrass tribute to Van Halen. John Cowan also happens to be one of the luckiest people on this planet to witness the recent Led Zeppelin concert in London, with a special personal inviation by John Paul Jones himself.

TPF: Hello John, first of all we would like to thank you very much for granting us this interview. You have one of the greatest voices in the music industry and your singing is and has always been quite unique within the genre you represent. Was becoming a singer a natural progression for you or was it a conscious decision?

JC: Becoming a singer was both a natural decision and a conscious choice actually. My father, and his mother were both "amateur" singers in church choir, and active in barbershop quartet etc… So, having been raised around singing in church, and at home, it was something I already was fond of at a very early age. Once the Beatles hit America I was "gone!" so to speak, and joined my first little neighborhood garage band at age 13 in 1966/1967

TPF: When you joined the New Grass Revival you had a different musical background. What made you think that joining this band was a good idea? And did you know it was going to be such a ground breaking experience?

JC: I had actually heard them around 1973, in Louisville Kentucky, I was, as usual playing in two bands at the time. One was an R&B show band a la Al Green, and the other was an original band playing Prog-Rock called YOU. When I saw NGR I thought they were great, though I knew absolutely nothing about that kind of music. But they had a drummer, were all plugged-in (electrified) and jamming and playing Leon Russell and Jerry Lee Lewis tunes. I had actually met Sam Bush somewhere around that time…… I sold him a quarter-pound of marijuana! LOL! Anyhoo, no, I didn't really know how great it would be till I got in there.

Again, I knew nothing about this style of music, had never played without drums etc. But, I was a really good bassist as I was so into Chris Squire, Jack Cassady, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, Noel Redding, Berry Oakley, McCartney etc. I actually was able to incorporate my prog-style playing into the band cause they were already into "stretching" so to speak. Sam & I in particular were only a year apart (I was 22, Sam 23) and he also was a Rock Fan. He loved Jefferson Airplane, Cream, The Allmans, Hendrix. Needless to say we turned each other on to a lot of music. I turned him on to Little Feat, he turned me on to John Hartford, & Norman Blake and on & on.

TPF: Another unique thing you do is play electric bass in a bluegrass band. Your bass playing is often described as "sharp" in the sense that it is pointed and cuts right through the music. I find it very jazzy and sometimes funk-like. How did you pick up this instrument? Was it the chicken of bass or the egg of singing that came first?

JC: Well, once again, of course I was a singer from about age 4 or 5 at home and then in church at about age 7. But really when it got cool and fun was when I started in our little neighborhood band. All the other instruments were taken, so I was nominated to play bass. At first I played a little Japanese electric guitar with the B & E strings pulled off the top. I remember using a quarter for a pick, eventually my Dad took me to pawnshop and bought me a Univox Beatle Bass. (Vic Wooten's first bass was the same kind, he STILL has his!). Ya know when I was at the prime age for beginner/musicians it was 1967. The radio (AM) was flooded with mind-boggling musicians. Motown, Stax, The British Invasion etc… So here I was buying these records trying to learn the bass parts that James Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Tommy Cogbill, Paul McCartney, David Hood, Carol Kaye, Bernard Odum, Willie Dixon were playing. And psychedelia and prog-rock hadn't even appeared yet! NGR was a blessing for me in so many ways, I had actually gotten fired from a pretty good gig the year before for "overplaying" (still, the only gig I've ever been fired from after 34 years). I was just doin' Jack Bruce on every song. Joining NGR and being thrown into a genre I was unfamiliar with was the best thing that could have happened to me. I had to learn to play bass in a traditional way because there were no drums, but because of the nature of the band I was allowed as well to improvise and have a 'voice' on my instrument.

TPF: Your own band today, and the band you were once in, these are great jam bands. Today's jam bands still look up to you as their idols.. But in a recent blog entry on your website, you criticised today's jam bands without giving any names. What is it that most/some of them are missing?

JC: Gosh, I'm actually as frustrated with their audience as the musicians... Pedigree is everything in my opinion. It's one thing to want to emulate The Grateful Dead and jam. I think what some people miss out on is this fact. If you really know about The Dead then you have to appreciate what they brought with them individually to the table as a creative force. If you look at Jerry & Bob alone, here's two guys that were serious, very, very, serious students of Folk music, Bluegrass, Blues, R&B, Rock & Roll, Jazz etc… It's like we say in A.A. in order to give, you have to have something to offer! You can't create in a vacuum, you have to have something to reference, in order to have an original voice. First, learn from "the masters", listen to 'em, emulate 'em, copy 'em, then you can find your own voice.

TPF: When writing a piece to a particular song, do you think about making it progressive? That is to say, do you think "oh this is something people would not expect to hear in a song like this", or does the arrangement come naturally?

JC: Probably yes, again, I've thought and listened, and played this way so long that I guess I'm always looking for a different, perhaps crooked way to do something. That's not to say that I don't love simplicity. Remember in my Ipod Mahalia Jackson, Mettalica, & Miles Davis are all under "M"! Yeah, I'm fuckin musically schizophrenic! LOL!

TPF: You spend most of the time on the road. How do you find the time to write new songs and to record?

JC: Actually I have much more time for these things than I used to. In NGR sometimes we were gone over 200 days a year, now we only do about 60-80 actual shows a year. It's very manageable.

TPF: In the most recent years you have been more involved in writing songs rather than just interpreting. I like it how you talk about your personal experiences in your songs, not only because you write great songs but also you are very brave with your lyrics. Will you be writing more songs on your next album?

JC: Basically the reason I write in this format as opposed to a more perhaps ballad or literal style is that I've gotten great advice over the years from reading great articles/interviews with great writers like Dylan, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Bruce Cockburn etc.. I think I've had to work really hard at writing lyrics, be disciplined, a good self-editor while trying not to be overly critical at the same time… balance……… jeez! So... For me the path has been one of trying to draw from my own life experiences and be honest. Folks like Lyle Lovett, Steve Earl, Guy Clark, John Prine, Darrell Scott, Tim O'Brien, Patty Griffin, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Paul Simon, I get the sense that yes, they are obviously disciplined, but also that they are naturally gifted in the way that perhaps I am as a vocalist. Yes, I'm always writing, but again, I will always rely on the world of other songwriters and do my best to interpret their words and music in an honest respectful way.

TPF: Speaking of you being brave, why have you chosen to publically share your political leanings in a time when people get comments like "We pay you to hear your music not your opinions!"?

JC: That shit drives me absolutely crazy. Artists have a responsibility to the times they live in. Now am I gonna get up on stage and preach to people about religion or my political views? No, but I will do it in song and certainly in a public forum like the internet (and not anonymously!) The world doesn't change when people clinch their jaws instead of their fists. It was only 40 years ago, fuckin' 40 years that Black Americans were granted equal rights in this nation. What would have happened if Martin Luther King Jr hadn't taken the risk of actively pursuing what he thought was an absolute moral responsibility? What about Woody Guthrie? Pete Seeger? Joan Baez, Dylan?

TPF: And lastly, when are you planning to release your next album? Will we also hear you sing or play bass on other artists' projects?

JC: We have a record we made with our last full band… Tony Wray -Banjo, Wayne Benson -Mandolin/Vox, Shad Cobb -Fiddle/Vox, Jeff Autry -Guitar/Vox, Me -Bass/Vox. It was produced by George Massenburg. Special guests are Del-Ronnie-Rob McCoury, Mike Bub, Maura O'Connell, Jon Randall Stewart, Reeese Wynans, Darrell Scott, Luke Bulla, Jim Hoke, Nashville Chamber Orchestra. We pretty mush cut this record live, it's very raw, no drums, but because of Messr Massenburg, it sounds amazing. It should be out this summer.

TPF: Thank you very much John for this interview! We are looking forward to listening to the new album, and we can't wait to see you live again sometime this spring or summer!

John's Official Website: WWW.JOHNCOWAN.COM

John's Myspace: WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THEJOHNCOWANBAND

BUY John's albums at: WWW.JOHNCOWAN.COM/STORE/