SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE SECRET AND THE TRUTH, the latest recording from Texan country singer songwriter Wade Bowen, arrives twenty years after his debut album TRY NOT TO LISTEN. The intervening years have yielded eleven more, collaborations with Ray Wylie Hubbard, Pat Green, Radney Foster and Cody Canada, two duet albums with fellow Texan Randy Rogers and, not least of all, regular high placings in the U.S. Country charts. His new album is arguably his strongest to date: it includes three co-writes with Lori McKenna and a duet with living legend Vince Gill. Lonesome Highway found Bowen in sterling form, refreshed and hugely enthusiastic about the album and the upcoming dates on his hectic touring schedule.
I get the impression that the enforced pandemic lockdown gave you the opportunity to take a few steps backward and re-group.
The pandemic was a good way for me to pull the reins in a bit, without actually wanting to at the time. It gave me time to rethink everything and I came out of it refreshed, re-energised, with a better grasp of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. I think that’s what you hear on my new record. The other positive to come out of the pandemic for me was Zoom, the fact that we can see and talk to each other. All the songwriters started to write on Zoom and that was great. I got to write with my good friend Grammy Award winner Lori Mc Kenna. She lives way up in Boston and I’m in Texas, so we hardly ever got to see each other before the pandemic, along comes Zoom and I was able to interact and write with Lori. Having that resource has become huge for me. That became one of the best things to come out of the pandemic for me, being able to interact with people like that.
When were the tracks for SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE SECRET AND THE TRUTH written?
Some were written during the pandemic and some were just written in the last year. I never stop writing until the record is done, I finished this record in December of last year so I was writing right up to then, even in the studio. I never feel a record is done until it’s turned in and you can’t mess with it anymore.
Where and when do you traditionally write. Is it on the road or locked in a dark room?
I’ve got a place in Nashville and I make trips back and forth there and I do actually hole up in a dark room. That’s my place where I can clock in and clock out and write there. I also force myself to do some writing on the road but don’t write when I’m at home as that time is spent with my family.
You decided to self-produce the album. What motivated that?
I had co-produced stuff for other artists but had never produced a record on my own. I guess I reckoned that if I going to mess it up at least I’m only messing up my career and not someone else’s. I’m at my best when I’m on the ground trying to get up, in a corner trying to fight my way out. Producing this record made me get out of my comfort zone and made me work harder on the songs, and every other aspect of the record, whereas previously I’d pass it on to someone else to let them figure it out. By having my own hands on it, I think it helped the record overall. I’m normally hands-on anyway and this was something I really enjoyed. I’m looking forward to doing it more going forward.
You re-engaged players that had worked successfully with you in the past for the recording. Guitarists Tom Bukovac and Jedd Hughes and drummer Chad Cromwell came on board once more.
I wanted to go back to the early stages of my career, that early Wade Bowen sound but with more of a country aspect. Lyrically and production-wise it’s more country but still with the vintage Wade Bowen sound. I wanted guys around me that knew me and I wouldn’t have to talk stuff through with them in the studio as those guys instantly know where I am and what I want from them. Tom Bukovac is one of the biggest reasons that I have a career. He played guitar on my early records and on almost every record I’ve done since then. It was nice to go back to all those guys and also try some new things.
How would you describe your sound?
I hate to be too broad with what I do, I simply define my sound as country music. I think it has so many borders now and so many lines in the sand, I just think everybody has their own version of country music. Rock and roll did that back in the 60s and 70s, putting lines in the sand. I just say I play country music. I’ve always loved country music and I’m just a boiling pot of all my influences over the years, from the 80s and 90s country and my influences from the Texas country music that I grew up with – Willie, Robert Earl and Waylon, all those guys. I just wave that country music banner as proudly as I can.
Lori Mc Kenna, who you spoke about earlier, is credited with three co-writes, A Guitar, A Singer and A Song, A Beautiful World, and the title track Somewhere Between The Secret and The Truth. Tell me about your connection with Lori?
We have been friends for a long time and being able to reconnect, as I mentioned, through Zoom allowed us to catch up again, talk about our families, just be buddies, and also get some great songs written. That connection has been huge for this record. She’s a great friend but also as talented as it gets, and a phenomenal songwriter. Whenever I bring my quirky and weird ideas to her, she’s not afraid to dive into them and say ‘I get what you’re saying, let’s try that and see where it goes.’ I think that our friendship getting a lot stronger is a great thing that came out of the pandemic for me. My day instantly gets better just talking with her.
Is the title track self-descriptive?
I had actually finished the record and added that song at the last minute. I wrote that song the day after I thought the record was done, so it’s funny how that works sometimes. As soon as I wrote it, I knew it was the title of the record. It summed up my internal thoughts. Somewhere between the secret and the truth is pretty much all of us: we all have our lives tucked in between those things. I love that it’s truly a country song, sounding like a cheating song but at the end throws you a loop with the person in the song making a good decision. It really hit home to be the title track for so many reasons. I’m glad we sneaked back into the studio and finished it off.
A Guitar, A Singer and A Song is a duet with Vince Gill and a standout track.
Every time I’ve met him and been around him, he’s been nothing but phenomenal. I told him that the song is about a guitar, a singer and a song and that he is top of that list for me for all three of those things. I actually still can’t believe when I’m doing interviews like this that I’m talking about a duet with Vince Gill, as it blows my mind. He was great to work with, a dream come true for me. He’s such a gracious and kind human being.
You’re back in full swing touring once more. Did you get to play many shows in 2021?
Yes, I played quite a few shows last year. After 2020, which was rough, we were able to make sort of a living in 2021. It’s been slowly increasing ever since and I’m so thankful for that. I tell everybody that I’m always on tour, I never stop. I’m a weekend warrior, I play every weekend, probably forty-five to forty-eight weekends every year. I take off Christmas, that’s about it. We’re working the record right now, and also playing The Grand Ole Opry again, which is a huge thing for us. I still hope to get back to Ireland, that was my favourite trip of my whole life when I went there with my family and played some shows. My wife and I still talk about Ireland and how much we loved it over there. There are days when we say ‘let’s just move to Ireland.’
Interview by Declan Culliton