It looks like summer is almost upon us. I think!! I hope the springtime has been good to you.

Here is some summer news for you.

It’s been a busy couple of months for me promoting New York Hummingbird. It’s been going well. There’s been some good airplay, great reviews and a few nice wee gigs.

Thanks to all of you who’ve gone out and bought the record and come to the shows. Your support is greatly appreciated.

If you haven’t had a look at my Songs From The Shed session then you can still watch it here – www.songsfromtheshed.com/
It was fun to do.

I’ve some shows coming up over the summer. Here’s my dates:

June 9th Wales, Trelawnyd Festival, Trelawnyd Memorial Hall, Wales. For more info visit

http://www.therecordjournal.co.uk/Fath.html

June 15th Belfast, No Alibis – http://www.noalibis.com/

July 18th Edinburgh, Queens Hall. Here I’ll be opening for one of my favourite singer-songwriters, the wonderful John Hiatt. I’m over the moon at landing this show as I would have been one of first in line to buy a ticket to see him.

July 26th & 27th I’ll be at the fantastic Southern Fried Festival in Perth, Scotland.
On the 26th I’m playing a show with Deer Lake at Twa Tams then on the 27th I’m playing the Johnny Cash tribute concert – Johnny Cash: Songwriter alongside the likes of John Prine, Gretchen Peters and Darrell Scott among many others. This should be a brilliant night. The house band will be led by my old friend Stuart Nisbet. For tickets and info visit www.southernfriedfestival.co.uk

I’m really excited about Deer Lake. As you may know from previous newsletters I started writing with Larry Lean (former frontman with indie rock stalwarts Annie Christian) back in January. Since then we have come up with lots of strong material and formed Deer Lake. Deer Lake is Larry Lean on guitar, David Hunter on bass, Cat Myers on drums and myself on vocals and guitar. David was in Annie Christian with Larry. Cat is a brilliant young drummer and we’re delighted to have her in the band.

I know those of you who attended my album launch show at Douglas Robertson’s Photography back in March really enjoyed the few songs I played with Larry and David. We’re now working on some more full band shows including some Edinburgh Festival concerts that we’ll announce soon. As it’s very early days we don’t have a website yet, but we will have our Facebook page up soon.

In September I’m planning on doing my songwriting workshops out in Crete – 3 Chords, The Truth & A Bunch Of Lies. At the moment we’re looking at the week around the 18th September. I will send out more detailed news about this shortly. If you are interested in attending this and want more info now just drop me a line. This is the location – http://www.akrotirivillas.com/artemis.php

I’m sorry I haven’t made any of my Request Of The Week videos for a while. I will get back into this. Thanks for your song requests. Please keep them coming in. Any song of mine from my back catalogue that you’d like to hear me play then just tell me the song and who you’d like me to dedicate it to. I will get around to it.

Finally I’ve some great news on my Johnny Cash record. If all goes to plan it should be out on Drumfire Records around September time. The album features great playing from the likes of Kevin McGuire, Stuart Nisbet, Marianne Campbell and the ultra talented Will Kimbrough. As I write Will is in the middle of adding his magic touch to the recordings in Nashville. More details on this to follow soon. I’m really thrilled that this record is going to see the light of day this year.

Well that’s about it for now.

Please do keep in touch. It’s always great to hear from you and if you or a friend would like to host a House Concert with me over the summer months just drop me a line and I’ll tell you how it all works.

Remember that New York Hummingbird is available online and at all good record shops or even better you can buy it direct from me at the website shop.

I hope the summer sun shines for you.

Cheers
Dean

PS here are some Youtube vids of New York Hummingbird tracks:

Solo(ValentineNYC) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN8oA6lSIRw

Springtime – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5A4KPjarJw

The One That Got Away – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drzIpsMiB2M

Lost Time – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u03ilsP0FTY

To celebrate it’s release I will be playing a small solo show in Glasgow on April 25th at The Rio Cafe, 27 Hyndland Street Glasgow, G11 5QF. Call 0141 334 9909 for details. You can buy tickets from the venue.

New York Hummingbird was recorded in New York with a whole host of fantastic musicians from New York and New Jersey New York the album was produced by Ray Ketchem with Dave Derby and myself.

It’s being distributed by Proper Distribution and will be available from all good record stores and online from all the usual outlets. Plus you can buy it direct from the website shop via Paypal.

You can now watch and listen to my ‘Songs From The Shed’ session by going to the website – www.songsfromtheshed.com It was a fun little session to do. Great location.

On May 1st I’ll be doing a wee acoustic set with DEER LAKE at Acoustic Edinburgh. Visit www.acousticedinburgh.com for details.

That’s about it for now.

Here’s what some people have been saying about the new record:

‘Another great album from Dean, full of beautifully crafted songs performed by excellent musicians.’ – Irvine Welsh

‘This is really is a fine collection of new songs from Dean. For those who know Dean’s music it will complete the story so far but for people like me who are enjoying his music for the first time it’s a great place to start. What I enjoy most about this album is it reflects the same life affirming, human goodness that comes from Dean himself. A rare combination that should be celebrated as often as possible.’ – Ricky Ross ‘Another Country’ BBC Radio Scotland

‘New York Hummingbird is littered with numbers which would be playlisted on a dream station alongside The Jayhawks, Josh Rouse and Elvis Costello. Heartfelt, and meticulously produced, this would be a soundtrack to the perfect night ride home’ – SpiralEarth.co.uk

‘If you are new to Owens, then listening to New York Hummingbird will lead you to ask where has he been. The answer seems to be developing his skills and maturing as a songwriter. Opening track Desert Star begins with the line “You are my finest hour” and if that is a reference to the album as a whole, he might just be right.’ – Music-News.com

‘My favourite city and one of my favourite singer-songwriters. The
influence of New York is all over this record and Dean’s songwriting has
never sounded more assured. He’s become so much more than just another
Americana flavoured singer-songwriter.’ – Bryan Burnett ‘Get It On’ BBC Radio Scotland

‘New York Hummingbird jumped straight into the airplay box and has remained there for four weeks now and not without good reason, it displays a real maturity in the songwriting, production and a writer at the top of his game. We look forward to the session coming soon.’ – Barry Marsha-Everitt, House Of Mercy Radio

‘New York Hummingbird is a fine, melodic album, full of the lyrical insights and emotional yearning that hallmarks Dean’s style. Great vocals too.’ – Tom Morton, BBC Radio Scotland

‘reminiscent of American singer-songwriters like Josh Rouse and Jesse Malin. In fact, if you burrow down deep into his music you’ll eventually get to Ryan Adams. This album isn’t just about New York, it’s about life itself. Owens’ music will help you live it.’ – Leicester Bangs

‘gloriously melodic’ – The List

As always, please send in your feedback.
Regards
Grant