| Fredericksburg Songwriters' Showcase | RJ Cowdery |
Over
the many years since she wrote her first songs as a teenager, Rj Cowdery
experienced a topsy turvy lifetime of stops and starts, with exciting
creative breakthroughs followed by distractions and obligations that
took her away from her lifelong dream of being a professional
singer/songwriter. The Columbus, Ohio based folk artist, who first
developed a regional following in the mid-90s with her breakthrough
album "Bernie's Daughter," has been making up for lost time this past
year, receiving major accolades at some of the most prestigious folk
festivals in the U.S. and now releasing her highly anticipated,
heartfelt debut album One More Door.
A compelling gathering of 13 songs, One More Door— a title very much
reflective of the exciting promise of her current career good fortune
-- was recorded live in only two days in Parkersburg, West Virginia
(near Belpre, Ohio, the town she grew up in) with percussionist Ammed
Solomon and guitarist Michael Lipton, who are both band members with
International Public Radio's Mountain Stage. The sessions for the
recording, which were produced by renowned singer-songwriter Todd
Burge, also features the stellar bass playing of Don Dixon, a veteran
singer, songwriter, musician and producer of such pop icons as R.E.M.,
Marti Jones, Kim Carnes, Hootie & The Blowfish and Marshall
Crenshaw.
"The interesting part of One More Door is that while all of these songs
are right in the pocket of today's folk music, the album doesn't have
an overriding theme or concept that ties everything together," says Rj.
"I essentially write about the things I see in my life, through making
observations about myself and those around me. Over the years, some
people have said that the experience of coming to hear me sing is like
listening to a secret I'm sharing or letting them in on. So there's
always this sense of intimacy, even if the songs aren't about me.
Communicating through my music is something that makes me feel good
about myself and I love when I'm getting through to people and they
understand where I'm coming from."
Rj's past few years on the folk festival trail have been nothing short
of extraordinary. In 2007, she was a co-winner of The Mountain Stage
New Song Contest, one of North America's premier showcases of emerging
performing songwriters. The contest finals were held in New York City
and were part of a summer long process of live regional rounds held in
some of the best listening rooms in the U.S. and Canada. In May, 2008,
she was selected as a co-winner of the prestigious Grassy Hill
Kerrville New Folk Contest in Kerrville, Texas— at 37 years, the
longest running music festival of its kind in North America and a Mecca
for singer/songwriters of varying musical styles. The songs Rj sang at
this event were "One More Door" (about two people who go their separate
ways yet never stop thinking about the other over the years) and a
beautiful, reflective look back at childhood memories called "Now and
Then."
Other key songs on One More Door include "These Ties That Bind,"
touching on the importance of family and taking chances in one's life;
the feisty, country flavored "kiss-off" song "State of Mine" and "There
She Goes," a spirited story song about a tomboyish girl with a passion
for racecar driving.
In 2008, she also received an Honorable Mention at the Rocky Mountain
Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado, was a 2008 Folk Alliance Official
Showcase Artist and performed at New York's Falcon Ridge Folk
Festival's Emerging Artists Showcase. Also on the bill at Falcon Ridge
were genre icons Lori McKenna, John Gorka, Patty Larkin, Dar Williams
and Janis Ian.
While Rj only recently began performing again at these festivals and
numerous coffeehouses throughout her home state of Ohio, over the years
she has racked up an impressive slate of performances that took her
everywhere from Cleveland and Cincinnati to Memphis and Telluride,
Colorado; she also went on a Borders Books and Music tour which
included shows in Akron, Columbus, Chicago and Indianapolis. She has
appeared in concert with pop/folk icons Steve Forbert, Jonathan
Edwards, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Sally Fingerett, Bill
Miller, Don Dixon and Christina Olson.
"I'm in a good place in my life now to fully embrace all of the
opportunities that are coming my way, and after a long time, I'm
finally ready to do my music full time," says Rj. "I'm not about bells
and whistles, I just like to sing my songs for people and hope they
will enjoy them. When I'm not out there enjoying performing for
audiences, my focus is always on writing better songs. It's always
encouraging when people come up and say that one of my songs touched
them in a certain way or made them cry, but that's just a natural
outgrowth of doing what I do and sharing what's in my heart as honestly
and with as much conviction as I possibly can."
Page put together (with info & pics
from Bob Gramann ) by Ernest Ackermann.
Send rants/rave to above mentioned Ackermann
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