Mark Rowen "Radiance"

Glad to have you back fellow progheads!  The search for all things prog is quickly honing in on 2020 yet there is still so much of the 2019 crop waiting to be harvested.  Wandering across the prog garden I am awash in so many great artists and bands offering their sound for your listening pleasure, I almost don't know where to begin.  However; I did stumble upon an independent artist with a great debut album; join me in checking out Mark Rowen and "Radiance," released in September.

Getting right to it, I begin with "My Shadow Walks Alone."  Strong guitar opening bleeding right into crisp female vocals, a pleasant surprise.  A solid percussion foundation keeps the song balanced with top notes of Animal Logic echoing through my headphones...an excellent way to start the week...

Moving down the playlist I notice an interesting song title; "Lure of the Siren."  As the washing up on shore intro fades to a beautiful acoustic guitar, I am once again mesmerized by Lisa's vocals; they are quite alluring.  The canvas darkens; the mood changes while the tension rises.  The atmosphere goes from sultry dark to the brighter colors of the night as drums and guitar once again fill out a song reminiscent of Gandalf's Fist with a good healthy pour of early Kansas added for effect.  The name on the album cover may be Mark Rowen, but he has surrounded himself with quite the supporting cast, which leads me to...

Liner Notes...Calling Harrogate UK home, Mark Rowen has spent years playing guitar and building his reputation.  All that hard work paid off in September with the release of this debut.  Mark plays guitar along with keyboard programming and providing backing vocals.  Joining him on this endeavor are Lisa Box with those superb lead and backing vocals, Leigh Perkins on keyboards and backing vocals, Paul Teasdale on bass and backing vocals, and Barry Cassells on drums.  Mark came to play music the way most do--the sound of a guitar hero pulling him in.  For Mark it was Robert Fripp at first then Django Reinhardt and Pat Metheny.  Go big or go home as they say...

You can purchase the album at Bandcamp and follow Mark on Facebook and MarkRowen.

One last drop of the laser, this time on a cut called "Trick of the Light."  The percussion stands front and center here, balanced perfectly with Lisa's vocal work.  The top notes are The Inner Road and
I Am The Morning.  This song is so simple yet so deep; as it pours through the headphones you just want to fall into the sound.

The clip below is "Carousel" and it is the perfect piece to close out with...the curtain falls slowly as the piano plays gently, once again allowing Lisa's haunting vocals to echo on.  When the album ends you will want to start it again and let it  play on a continuous loop while you sink deeper still...

                         

So fellow progheads, a new entry to the Concert Closet that defies a hard label.  Staying mainly in the experimental and symphonic sections of the prog garden with hints of AOR and jazz, Mark Rowen appears to be an artist who avoids being defined absolute and forced into a pigeonhole.

Now once again the search for all things prog continues...until next time...