The one-man band skills of Dan Owen are nothing short of startling. His sets offer ballads of strikingly honest lyrics, beautiful melodies and ambidextrous country show-stoppers, delivered with a rich, gravelly voice of extraordinary depth. He’ll break your heart with a touch of his guitar, but the next minute have you stamping to the beat of his raucous harmonica. You’ll smile, you’ll cry, you’ll dance.
Since kicking off from Communion Music’s New Faces tour platform last November, Owen has continued to push his territory to well beyond his Shropshire hometown's boarders. This month, his latest headline tour covers the length of the UK, following which he will join Birdy in multiple venues across Europe. On Thursday London welcomed him with a sell-out Shoreditch show, and we caught up with him post gig for a quick chat...
So Dan, you're playing lot of new music at the moment! Is there a track you're particularly proud of?
I'm pretty proud of Made To Love you, because it's about a close friend who was going through a really hard time. I'm not always the best with advice, so writing a song was the thing I felt I knew best. I hope it helped him and anyone else who can relate to it.
Those are some serious skills you’ve got with a harmonica - where did you learn to do that?
It all came from when I was playing around the pubs when I started gigging and trying to make as much noise as I possibly could!
A lot of the people now packing out your headline gigs first saw you play at Communion's New Faces November tour last year. What was your favourite moment?
On the tour it was just great to be out with other bands like Seafret, Flyte and Jack Watts, and all the little things like passing each other on the motorways, to all buzzing about the gigs.
What’s your kryptonite?
I'd have to say my home brew cider that me and friends back home in Shrewsbury make, it's pretty lethal!
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Recently I've been listening to a lot of Jason Isbell and Tallest Man on Earth, such incredible song-writers.
If you ruled the world you’d…
...make it a lot harder to close down music venues.
And finally, what’s the dream?
To play in as many different venues in as many different countries as possible, and to be an old man with thousands of stories.
For upcoming tour dates & music releases see Dan's website.
Dan Owen: Made To Love You (Live from the Communion New Faces Tour, 2016)