A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN COWAN  (cont.)

JC: It feels good. I think this record is much better than the last one. The last one was me asking "Okay, who am I?" Now I've had a good band for the last three years, and I used them on the record.

The last record, I assembled all these songs, and didn't even play on any of it. It was okay for a first statement. I like it, but this is different. We're in our sophomore season as a team. And we're getting some legs. Basically, I started over from scratch. It hasn't been easy -- we're not riding around in a bus, I'm 48 and we're slugging it out in a van like I did all through my twenties, thirties, and forties.

PM: That's gotta feel pretty challenging.

JC: It is, it really is.

PM: So, tell me, how did it come to pass that you found yourself having to start over?

JC: When I got out of Newgrass, I floundered around for a bit. I had this kind of Bad Company/Aerosmith kind of band, and we had a record deal on Atlantic. That was called Dr. Nick. It was in development for two and a half years, and then the guy that signed us left the label, and they eventually dropped us. Then we bounced around with this project called The Sky Kings for about five years.

PM: I remember that; that went on for five years?

JC: Oh yeah. We made two different records for two different labels.

PM: Damn.

JC: And, to keep bread on the table, as you know, I played with the Doobie Brothers for three years.

PM: What were you doing with The Doobies, playing bass?

JC: Playing bass, singing background. And then, around '96, Sam asked how I felt about joining his band. Not as a partner this time around, but with him as the leader. I love Sam so dearly as a person, I said sure, I'd do it. And it kind of reintroduced me to the world that I'd left behind, the Newgrass world. So I did that for a couple of years, I thought I'd try it again in that world with my own outfit. I know it looks crazy on paper, but there's something that works with this Rock/R&B voice I've got over a banjo, I don't know why. There's a compact version of the last ten years, and how it happens that I found myself starting over again, in effect.

PM: Who is John Gulley, the author of that fabulous song [on the record] "My Father's Field"?

JC: He's a guy that I met from Canada, about seven years ago. He came up to me in The Bluebird Café, a little strange looking guy, shaved head, big bug eyes and glasses. He was like a character in a Disney cartoon. He told me he was a fan, kind of aggressive, but not obnoxious. He said he'd sure like to write with me sometime, so I gave him my number, and he pursued it. He lives up in Barrie, Ontario, and is also a terrific songwriter. He produces records and is one helluva gut string guitar player. All the big chords and beautiful voicings. He's kind of like Kenny Rankin, if you remember him. That's John Gulley.

PM: Speaking of great songwriters, that's a typically soulful song that our friend Danny Flowers wrote about the Oklahoma tragedy, "Read On."

JC: Well, Danny made a record that you probably know about, Forbidden Fruits and Vegetables, which is a real gem. He asked me to sing all the background on his version of that song. I just thought the song was so strong lyrically that I just wanted to do it. So we started working it into the live show, and people in the crowd would come up in tears afterward. It's one of those simple, succinct, powerfully spiritual songs.

PM: Yeah, and he's just one of those guys that are capable of writing that. [Danny is best known for writing the classic song "Tulsa Time."]

JC: Exactly, and I found it from working with him.  continue

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