Live at Red Clay Theatre in downtown Duluth
Despite his growing success, Levi Lowrey announces-just 15 seconds into his self-titled, sophomore Southern Ground album-that he’s every bit as confused and unsure of his place in the world as anyone when he sings,
“I have tried and I’ve tried, but I ain’t never satisfied this hunger burnin’ in my soul” on album opener, “Picket Fences.”
His heart immediately laid bare, the 13 tracks that follow are equally confessional as Lowrey explores his own mortality through the eyes of his daredevil children in “Trying Not To Die,” and tries to reconcile his faith with his history of destructive behaviors on “I’ve Held the Devil’s Hand.”
If he has any intentions of shedding his image as an honest, life-as-an-open-book songwriter, the new album will do little to accomplish that, but Lowrey’s sincerity and unflinching willingness to tell his life’s story in public are traits he’s unafraid to embrace.
Lowrey is hitting his stride as an artist, having toured extensively with the Zac Brown Band to support Lowrey’s Southern Ground debut album, I Confess I Was A Fool, and as a songwriter with a No. 1 hit and several awards and nominations to his credit.
He was nominated for a CMA Award for Song of the Year, and won a BMI Country Award for Top 50 Songs of the Year, both for “Colder Weather,” the No. 1 hit he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Zac Brown. Lowrey and Brown also co-wrote “The Wind,” from the Zac Brown Band’s No. 1 Billboard album Uncaged, as well as the rollicking “Day For The Dead,” from the newest ZBB album, The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1.
As a performer, he has received numerous accolades, as well, being singled as one of its “13 For 13: Ones To Watch in 2013 -The New Artists,” as well as having his debut album honored as its third-best country album of the year in 2011-both by Roughstock.com.
True to his reputation as a talented writer, Lowrey penned four of the 14 songs on the self-titled album alone, and co-wrote the other ten. Each brings a brutal honesty that offers insights into different parts of Lowrey’s life. He’s a happily married father of two with a successful career who helps his wife homeschool his children whenever he can, but he’s not afraid to explore subjects that others might find too uncomfortable for casual conversations.
Nowhere is this more apparent than on “Urge for Leaving,” which was written about his birth father who left shortly before Lowrey was born, as well as his adoptive stepfather and his mother, who are no longer together. This song explores the tense dynamic between all four parties, and asks the question of whether the sins of the father have been imprinted upon the son. Lowrey opens the tune with the heartwrenching line “My father left me before I was born, on a cold winter’s night in 1984.”
Despite his songwriting prowess, Levi Lowrey actually began as a fiddle player. No surprise, since his great-great-grandfather, the late Gid Tanner, was also a fiddle player and today stands as a towering figure in country music history. Despite such a legacy, Lowrey felt no pressure, and he took naturally to the fiddle-it’s in his blood, after all-playing in school orchestra, at bluegrass festivals, in weekly jam sessions in his hometown of Dacula, Ga. and with various relatives.
Lowrey wrote a number of instrumental compositions designed to showcase his fiddle skills, but ultimately left it behind to pick up a guitar and seek rock ‘n’ roll glory. Inspired by Butch Walker and his Atlanta power-pop outfit, Marvelous Three, Problem Thomas became the venue where Lowrey got comfortable onstage and grew into his role as a songwriter. He also began leading worship at his church as the band ran its course-in fact, its core now remains as Lowrey’s touring ensemble, the Community House Band.
Even though he’s now an artist with a sound that’s tough to pigeonhole-perhaps the gentler cousin of outlaw country, or somewhere between classic country, rock and folk-Lowrey’s reputation as a solid performer with a bag full of amazingly compelling songs is growing with each show he performs, each tour he completes, each album he releases.
With all the success that has come his way, Lowrey maintains the importance of keeping things simple with respect to his music. The self-titled album was tracked, start to finish in just two weeks and features Lowrey, his backing band and just a few, select outside contributors, such as Clay Cook (Zac Brown Band), Ross Holmes (Mumford & Sons/Cadillac Sky), Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers) and even longtime Nashville fixture Mac McAnally.
BMI recording artist Angie Aparo is the songwriting talent behind such big hits as Faith Hill's recording of 'Cry.' A highly respected and accomplished singer and performer himself, Angie has appeared on stage and recordings with Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Edwin McCain, Matchbox20, and the Zac Brown Band to name but a few. Emotional Traffic, Tim McGraw's much anticipated studio album debuted January 31, 2012 on Billboard's Country Album chart at #1, featuring the songs 'The One' and 'Only Human,' co-written by Angie.
Signed by Clive Davis to Arista Records, the Atlanta-based singer/songwriter released his first major label record, The American, produced by Grammy-winning producer Matt Serletic, in 1999. The album included 'Cry' a song that was later recorded as title track of a hit album by singer Faith Hill. Hill went on to win a Grammy for her performance of 'Cry.' Hill's husband Tim McGraw then recorded Aparo’s 'Free Man' from The American for the soundtrack album for HBO’s documentary about the election of Barack Obama.
Citing the familiar phrase "creative differences," Angie parted ways with his label and released Weapon of Mass Construction in 2001 (later re-released under the title One With the Sun). A collection of cover songs taken from varying artists from Beastie Boys to Neil Young and Elton John, as well as two previously unreleased originals, Angie is quoted as saying "I had been playing these cover songs "unplugged" in clubs and thought it would interesting to record those arrangements."
Following in 2003 was For Stars and Moon, an album heavily influenced by the Beatles. Angie then released the live album 9Live in 2004, a recording from a performance for Atlanta radio station 99X featuring many songs from The American.
Angie's music started moving in a new direction first apparent on El Primero Del Tres (Spanish for "The First of the Three") recorded with producer Dann Huff. He continued moving forward stylistically with his most recent release Praise Be.
For 2014, Angie has a new solo album in the works, a duet project with Charleston songstress McKenzie Eddy, a cartoon and TV show in development, and is currently writing material for Tim McGraw's next release.
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