Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Bowe.
Hi Kevin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I picked up a guitar in the ’70s at age 13 and never put it down. When the Minneapolis music scene hit its renaissance from 1981 to about 1987, I was in heaven, just soaking it up. Even though I was never in a particularly successful band, being able to see Prince and the Replacements at First Avenue for 5 dollars made that an amazing time to be alive. I got my education from watching my heroes play in my backyard. I began writing songs for other artists in the early ’90s, and things started getting serious. I got some platinum records and contributed to Grammy-winning projects with artists like Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Etta James, Joe Cocker, and others. And played guitar in Paul Westerberg’s (Replacements) touring band and wrote many songs for films and TV shows. Then in the 2000s, I became interested in how studios work and started producing, engineering, and mixing. Now I have my studio (The Kill Room) here in Minneapolis, but I also travel around the country a lot, working with different artists.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road, but looking back, I realize many of my challenges were self-inflicted! Yes, music is a very competitive business, but I could have saved myself a lot of heartbreak if I had been smart when I was young. But I wasn’t! Well, things are great now; even if I always learn the hard way, I learn at least. One of the early challenges was that I developed a horrible drug problem in high school, and I would never get anywhere unless I got out of that mess. Luckily I got sober around graduation and have remained so ever since.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I write songs alone or with other artists and writers; I also produce music for artists/bands and film/tv/commercials. I often mix music, sometimes music that I produced and sometimes music produced by others. I think I’m most proud of just being able to do this for a living, that’s a rare thing, and I appreciate it every day. I would say what sets me apart from others is that I never gave up. I still never give up, even when I should!
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I learned from Covid how lucky I am to have such a great family. I hate to say it because many people suffered during the pandemic, but I had the best time just hanging out with my wife and dog. I’ll never forget it as a fantastic time.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kevinbowe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinjbowe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.bowe.7547
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kjbowe
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheKevinBowe
