Dean Owens’ music feels like a tribute to the songs inside us, the tales of our lives, reaching into us to find the threads of our common humanity… As a vocalist Dean is possessed with a voice which soars to the exuberant highs and swoops to melancholic lows that I’ve witnessed break hearts far, far harder than mine. And it perfectly delivers those beautiful songs of love and loss, the pulse of all our lives.
irvine welsh
Dean Owens is one of UK’s finest troubadours, with fans including authors Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and Ian Rankin (whose iconic character Rebus has Dean’s CDs on playlist), and BBC legend “Whispering” Bob Harris. His 11 (official) solo albums, mostly recorded in the US, have seen him collaborate with some of the most respected musicians and producers around, including Al Perkins, Will Kimbrough, Neilson Hubbard, Grant-Lee Phillips, Gaby Moreno and Latin rock legends, Calexico, and most recently, Don Antonio (Alejandro Escovedo, Sacri Cuori) recording his next album Spirit Ridge in the hills of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, the land of his lion tamer ancestor).
Following directly on from his highly acclaimed collaborations with Calexico, the songs on Spirit Ridge are both monumental and deeply personal, rooted in a liminal hinterland which connects the lush Italian hills, the US desert states and post industrial Scotland.
Dean is a consummate live performer, with a searingly soulful voice and a wealth of stories, earworm inducing melodies and songs; the heart of a rock’n’roller and the spellbinding delivery of folk’s best storytellers, with his influences ranging across country, classical and punk, through jazz and roots. Recent live highlights include performances at Cambridge Folk Festival 2024, the iconic Edinburgh Castle, as well as festivals and sell out tours in Scotland, Germany and the Netherlands. 2025 plans include tours to Australia (including Port Fairy Festival) and USA.
Dean’s music has been described as a unique blend of Scottish roots and Americana, but in truth it’s hard to pin down to a single genre. With each album he has pushed his own boundaries, constantly exploring, as his travels have taken him from Scotland’s post industrial heartlands to Nashville, New York and the panoramic vistas of the US deserts.
Owens sings with a dark majesty that matches the gigantic emotional pull of his songs… ****
MOJO
His 2022 album, Sinner’s Shrine (recorded in Tucson with members of Calexico) received superlative-laden reviews from publications throughout Europe, described as an intoxicating, innovative, perfect, “marriage made in heaven” collaboration. 2023’S follow up (with some tracks recorded at the Sinner’s Shrine sessions, some long distance with the Calexico musicians), El Tiradito (The Curse Of Sinner’s Shrine) is a double CD release, including an all instrumental “soundtrack for an imaginary Western”.
There are stories of love and lust, sinners and saints, the displaced, the wanderers and the border ghosts, infused with the dramatic Panavision desert sweep of Calexico, with Joey Burns’ guttural guitar, John Convertino’s masterful drumming and percussion, and sweeping mariachi horns.
His current band The Sinners – a hugely talented, tight ensemble including electric guitar, bass and trumpet – can tour as a compact quartet, or, as at their recent sold out Celtic Connections showcase, a very special 7 piece.
more intoxicating than the most treacherous of mezcals… ****
ROLLING STONE
OTHER
Dean’s music has taken him around the world – from Arizona to Adelaide, from Leith to Louisville to Lerwick. He has toured with The Mavericks, Grant-Lee Phillips, Will Hoge and opened for artists including Roseanne Cash, Jason Isbell and Patty Griffin.
In March 2020 he created and curated a new festival Cash Back in Fife celebrating the legacy and inspiration of The Man in Black. In October 2021 he was invited to participate in The Official Johnny Cash Heritage Festival (broadcast online from Cash’s boyhood home in Dyess, Arkansas, USA)
He is a member of Buffalo Blood collective (“a US/UK Americana supergroup” – Paul Sexton BBC), with Grammy nominated, award winning producer/musician Neilson Hubbard, Audrey Spillman and Joshua Britt. Their debut self-titled album was released in 2019, and premiered at Celtic Connections. It was recorded on location in the New Mexico desert, with songs about displacement, migration, refugees and the trails of tears.
Dean also works occasionally as a producer, including Ags Connolly‘s acclaimed first two albums and most recently with Scottish singer songwriter Kirsten Adamson for her album Landing Place.
AWARDS/ACCOLADES
Best UK Artist– Americana-UK Readers Poll 2021, 2022, 2023
Best UK Album – Americana-UK Readers Poll 2022
UK Song Of The Year 2019 (for Southern Wind) – UK Americana Music Association
RECENT PRESS REVIEWS
a glorious transatlantic collaboration… The Scotsman ****
The union between Owens and Calexico is just perfect… Buscadero (Italy) ****
beguiling desert noir… as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon… UNCUT (8/10)
hauntingly beautiful album… Badische Zeitung (Germany)
varied, vibrant and thoroughly fascinating… American Songwriter
one of the most interesting and innovative artists in Americana… Lonesome Highway
visionary and rewarding… Folk Radio UK
a mystical musical adventure… a dreamy dramatic affair… Record Collector Magazine ****
immense… No Depression
adventurous, atmospheric, thoughtful and downright exceptional… FATEA
Magnificent… Rocking Magpie
an extraordinarily great album… Blabber’n’Smoke
dark and atmospheric… class… Blues Blues
Scotland is birthing some amazing artists and perhaps the brightest jewel in a star encrusted crown is Dean Owens… The combination of Dean Owens and Calexico sounds like a marriage made in heaven… The Midlands Rocks
albums like this don’t come around too often… a landmark album… FATEA
Scottish, Americana in a unique blend… No Depression
RECENT LIVE REVIEWS
a wild and swampy romp… Had the audience transfixed… one of the most magical and life affirming shows of the year… Americana UK
a pleasing blend of Scottish roots and Americana…. a beautiful performance… had people dancing at the back of the room… and the whole room singing… Hands Up For Trad
poetic subtlety… and lyrics with metaphorical elegance. Musically, the meeting of Gaelic melancholy and folky country lightness… Gaesteliste.de
Edinburgh’s finest… Edinburgh News
a band which makes you glad you have lived long enough to see… both rousing and balm for the soul... Cambs News
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