Featured Artist
Richie Owens
Born 1960
Music isn’t just in Richie Owens’ blood, it’s in every muscle and sinew of his body, not to mention his soul. Credit it to a bloodline that runs from the hills of Northern Wales to the mountains of East Tennessee and on to the backstreets, music clubs and studios of Nashville. But it’s also the result of a life dedicated to absorbing musical influences, fusing them with his own talent and voice, and making music the hard and simple way, with heart, soul and determination.
Biography
Growing up, it was harder for Richie to find relatives who weren’t making music than for those who were. His grandfather, the Rev. Jake Owens was a fire and brimstone preacher, a songwriter, music teacher, and an old-time country fiddler who could tear up a tune on “The Devil’s Box” on a Saturday night. He reared a family of eight children who became musicians, singers, and storytellers, passing their birthright on to their descendants. Richie’s father, Louis Owens, was a singer, songwriter, guitar player, record producer, and DIY country music entrepreneur who played an important role in helping to build the career of his niece, Dolly Parton.
Despite Richie’s deep roots in country music, by the time he was a teenager, he was a rock fan like any kid growing up in the 1970s. Grabbing onto punk spirit in the late 70s, Richie fused his love for the Beatles and bluegrass with a dash of The Damned and the Sex Pistols. The result made him a founding father of the Nashville punk and alternative rock scene, with his bands The Resistors and The Movement, his self-built studio, The Refuge, and his label, Neo Records, one of the first Nashville-based indie rock labels.
Over the next several decades, Richie’s creative flame burned brightly as a bandleader, record producer, studio engineer, musician, and instrument designer. He’s worked with a varied list of artists, including The Georgia Satellites, Social Distortion, Television guitarist Richard Lloyd, The Kentucky Headhunters, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Vince Gill, and many more. He also kept his family ties in place, producing Dolly Parton’s acclaimed 1998 album, Hungry Again; followed by her 1999 gospel album, Precious Memories; and the 2024 Dolly Parton & Family album, Smoky Mountain DNA, along with backing Dolly for many live appearances.
“I feel honored to be in a position where I can help preserve and continue our family legacy, but when it comes to creating music, I do it because of me. I need to express myself. I hope that people like what I do, and I’ve been very fortunate that they have. It’s a spiritual thing for me, and I consider myself very blessed.”
A life of legacy
Over the last two decades, he’s led his band Richie Owens & the Farm Bureau through several albums and live appearances around the world, including an acclaimed appearance at 2023 Fairport’s Cropredy Convention folk festival in the UK. In addition to founding Owepar Entertainment and constructing and running the Historic Fireside Studio, a re-birth of the classic Nashville studio that was built by his father, Louis Owens, in 1973 in partnership with Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner.
