The Monitor
Kevin Fowler is on his way to his daughter's junior high graduation. The doting dad and Texas country music star is sure he can keep his emotions at bay, but thinks his wife might have a harder time staying dry eyed.
"She doesn't want to realize that we're old enough to have a kid in high school," he said.
Talking to 43-year-old Fowler you'd never know it, either. His self-confessed "inability to take life too seriously" is glaring. His attitude would never let on that the Amarillo native's record label folded just six months ago because of financial difficulties. He's done well in spite of it, though.
He's kept himself "out of employment a little while longer" by touring and writing songs for himself and other artists. A song he penned, titled "Long Line of Losers," is going to be the next single from country duo Montgomery Gentry.
But Texas country music fans know that the stage is where Fowler trumps most others in the genre. The high-energy show is part rock show, part country ho-down and all fun.
Fans of Fowler and inquiring minds have a chance to check out the live show themselves on Thursday, June 25 at Las Palmas Race Park in Mission.
But before he made his way to South Texas, Festiva called Fowler for a little one-on-one time
What can people expect from your live show?
You can tell everybody to come out to the show. Forget about their worries at home and come on out. We're going to have a good time. Our records are very honky-tonk and very country, but our shows are pretty rockin'. You might be shocked. It's like the two lives of Kevin Fowler. The Kevin Fowler on the record and crazy Kevin Fowler.
Yea, I read you had a rock background. You grew up with an appreciation for that music. Is that something that you feel is incorporated into your sound?
I think all kinds of music, everything you listen to contributes to your style. Your musical soup, if you will. You know, anything you throw in there is going to change the taste a little bit. I think all the years I used to play rock, I think that rears its ugly head during the live show.
How would describe the difference between Texas country music and top 40 country?
That's the weird thing about the Texas music scene. There's not really a sound per se. I mean, you have CCR doing the rock stuff, and I'm on the totally other end playing the honky-tonk, redneck country stuff and everything in between. To me that is the cool thing. There's not really a sound down here; it's a scene. And the really cool thing about the scene is that it's all about the fans, the one-on-one interaction between the fans during the show. It's not so much about radio, TV and hype. It's really about the fan base. I'm really lucky to live in a place that is supported by the general population. That just doesn't exist every where else and I think we take it for granted because we are in Texas. You can't go just anywhere and they have regional music and regional stars. That just doesn't happen.
Do you think the growth of Texas country music is happening everywhere or just in certain parts of the state?
Down in the Valley and Deep South Texas are sort of the last reaches. Any town that ends in Texas is pretty strong for this whole genre. ... It's really just wild how big it's grown.
Where do you see it in the next 10 years now that it is more popular?
...Everybody is slowly getting onto the national scene and slowly spreading the word of Texas music to the other states and the world. I think it's going to keep growing and get more mainstream where the rest of the world will pick up on what's going on right now. In the industry there are a lot of complaints that music has gotten pretty stale and we could be the genre that breathes a breath of fresh air.
What defines success on the Texas country scene?
You know, I think as a musician in general, whether you're from Texas or from Nebraska, I mean I think success is being able to write songs and play ‘em for a living and be happy doing it. I'm very blessed that it's been a decade or so since I've had to have a real job. You know, I don't feel like this is ever work. I mea, yea, it gets tiring but I never dread getting on the road, getting on the bus and taking off. There are different levels of success, yea. I feel that you can be as big as Kenny Chesney or you can be Kevin Fowler. I think just as long as you're lucky enough to find an audience that supports you that's a great thing. I think everyone has their definition of success and of course, you're always wanting to find a bigger audience but that's just human nature. But if it never went further than where I am today, I surely can't complain. I could be playing at a cover band at the Holiday Inn. It could be worst.
Where do you find inspiration?
A lot of it are things in my life and things I'll see. You can tell from my music that I have a serious inability to take life too seriously. ... I try to find inspiration in anything I see and that happens. Last year we had a good run with a song called "Best Mistake I Ever Made" and that was just something that happened. I was writing a song with a buddy of mine, Bobby Pounds, who I also wrote "Don't Touch My Willie" and some other songs with, and my daughter came out and kept talking to us while we were trying to work and when she finally went inside I said ‘you know, kids are a pain in the butt, but that's the best mistake I ever made.' We both looked at each other and said ‘That's the song.' We wrote it that afternoon.
I know you're record company (Equity Music Company, founded by Clint Black) just went under. What's your label status right now?
We're already entertaining some offers. We just want to make the right choice this time. All that whole end is shaking out and I'm just trying to stay busy writing and plus we're on the road. We're going to do like 160 shows this year or something. So that and I'm writing best I can. That while record label thing takes a while to work out. It's like getting married and getting divorced. I've been through several of them. They say that the only thing harder than getting a record deal is getting out of one. It's easy getting married but it's hard to get divorced. It's kinda like that every time around. Record labels are dropping like flies.
WHO: Kevin Fowler
WHERE: Las Palmas Race Park, Mission
WHEN: Thursday, June 25, doors open at 7 p.m.
WITH: Mark McKinney and Honeybrowne
COST: $25
BUY TICKETS: Cavender's Western Outfitters in McAllen and www.ez-tixx.com/
