About Jimmy Bowen
Why country music ?
~ Country Music has a story. It allows people to think back over the life, full of emotions and story lines.
If everything would be possible (waking the dead included) , which two people should sing the ultimate country duet?
~ The ultimate country duet to me will always be George Jones and Tammy Wynette. They sang with such feel and emotions. The songs that they sang were real.
What song you ever recorded means the most to you and why?
~ All of my songs that I have recorded so far mean a lot to me in different way. I really don’t have a single favorite or special song. I love them all because I try to be very selective in my material and I want the song to tell a story. Whether it be a story about love gone bad, love lost or won, but basically its got to have some type of message for my listener.
Who would you like to write a song for you?
~ I would love for Bart Millard (Mercy Me) to write a song for me.
What is the one thing that readers/fans would be surprised to know about you?
~ Readers and fans I think would be surprise to know that I was trained to go into the US Marines as an officer, I am an accountant by education with a minor in law, and I have a private pilot license.
Give us one country song you never want to hear on radio anymore and tell us why.
~ Wagon Wheel. I basically just hate that song (LOL)
What is the most memorable thing a fan has done for you?
~ Had a gentleman in Norway when I was on tour over seas that made me a handcrafted wooden plate. He custom painted it, wrote in Norwegian the name of the festival, city and date. Then he wrote my name across the top of the plate but he misspelled my name. Now, got to understand this gentleman was about 6’4, close to 400Lbs. Giant of a mountain man. Could not speak any English at all. As he presented me this gift, tears were coming down his face because he had realized that he spelled my name incorrectly.. He leaned down and gave me a hug and I told my translated to tell him that this gift means the world to me not matter the misspelling. He had hand made, sanded and painted this plate for me and it still means so much to me today.
Describe the ultimate recording studio
~ The ultimate studio for me is very simple. I do not like fancy studios. I recorded a few of my CD’s outside of Nashville at my engineers home. The studio was above his garage and he had a germen shepard that laid around the studio. A few isolated booths but one bit giant open area to record. So comfortable and so the piece of being at home.
Johnny or June ?
~ I choose June. June was stable, wise, sincere, loving, forgiving, and thought about things before reacting.
Are you still nervous before going on stage and if so, do you use any “rituals” to calm you nerves.
~ I am still little nervous before a show. I want to do such a good job that I feel I make myself nervous. The only ritual that I might use is a comment a gentleman made to me when I first started performing. He told me, “Always remember son, if they could do it, they would up here doing this show instead of you, so don’t be nervous, no need”.
What was the most memorable day in your musical career and tell us why.
~ The most memorable day I guess, right off, would be a show we did in Holland. When we first got to the venue, there was a line that was wrapped around the venue 4-5 times around. You would have thought Elvis was appearing!!! I asked the promoter who was on the show with us and he said, “Just You’!!. I asked him, all those people are here to see me?? You quoted, “Never knew you had so many fans in Holland, Did you”. After so got loaded in and sound checked the show began about 2 hours later. This is the cool part, After seeing the crowd number then when we started, we found out NO one in the audience out of all those people spoke much English. We had the best time with those folks trying to interact. But the power of music. I will never forget that experience.
