Will Owsley balances a full schedule
When he's not touring as a member of Amy Grant's backing band, Will Owsley often tends to his other musical interests -- like his own solo career, for instance.
That's when he takes a break from supporting Grant during her pop-gospel concerts in arenas and steps forward to lead his own band and play melodic rock 'n' roll shows in clubs.
Their music styles often are as different as the manner in which they travel around the country.
"She always rides in style, and I usually don't," Owsley says with a laugh from his home near Nashville, Tenn. "[Touring with Grant], it's usually Lear jets and really nice buses and really nice Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton hotels."
Although he's very friendly with Grant and in a prime position to ask her for career assistance, Owsley has never crossed that line -- and probably never will.
"When I'm playing for her, I'm out there doing her thing," he says. "She knows [my solo career] exists, but she has a full-time life -- her career, [husband] Vince [Gill's] career, her new baby and other stuff."
The Hard Way, Owsley's new album, is his first for Lakeview Entertainment, with whom he signed after parting ways with Giant, which released his 1999 debut.
The long gap between solo albums wasn't exactly his choosing. Owsley says that after Giant was reacquired by Warner Bros., he was put in a holding pattern of sorts by new label personnel and told to keep writing songs until the label thought he was "ready."
"I wrote 32 songs, and after the 32nd song, I felt I had really written great stuff," he recalls.
One of those songs is his single "Be With You," which the singer-guitarist says will be crossed over from the Triple-A radio format to Hot AC, most likely leading to an extra set of concert dates in Hot AC markets that add the single.
“I'll probably be on the road all summer," Owsley says.
After that, he'll join Grant for a handful of shows in August, September and November. His other plans include producing other artists -- he's been working on material for his wife, a country singer -- and writing material for his next album.
"It certainly won't be four years between records again," he says.
-- By Chris M. Junior
Official Owsley site:
Owsley on tour (schedule subject to change):
March 17: Little Brother's -- Columbus, Ohio
March 19: The Lime Spider -- Akron, Ohio
March 21: The Khyber -- Philadelphia
March 23: The Mercury Lounge -- New York
March 24: Webster Underground -- Hartford, Conn.
April 3: Vintage Vinyl -- Fords, N.J.