‘Never forget the roots, and the branches will grow’

Peter Rowan is a living treasure of bluegrass, having started as one of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys in 1964. He is a free musical spirit, never afraid to venture into rock, tex mex, reggae, or anywhere else. He and his band wowed us last year. Our own local bluegrass master Gerry Hale spoke to him before he heads back down under for more unmissable shows.

Peter Rowan. Photograph by Ronald Rietman.

What did you learn from Bill Monroe?
He told me to love the music and sing it so the audience would love it too. A song is true if the emotion reflects reality.

How long did you play with Bill him and what did you do after that?
I was a Blue Grass Boy with  Bill Monroe from October, 1964 through March,
1967. I joined up with David Grisman and we formed a band I named Earth
Opera which was acoustic; we added drums and piano and bass in order to play
the shows at that time and we opened the shows for The Doors on their east
coast tours.  We added horns and created a huge sound, somewhere between
free-jazz  and bluegrass, but like those times, we were changing fast.  Dave
Grisman went on to produce my brothers, The Rowan Brothers, Chris and Lorin,
while I joined my bluegrass boy band-mate, fiddler Richard Greene as
electric guitarist in Sea Train.  George Martin produced our first record
for Capital in London.  We were a progressive rock band, for sure.

Do you have a different approach to electric playing or do you find
that the same kind of approach works for both?
Nowadays, I find that electric and acoustic are very close. The light touch
on electric guitar with acoustic dynamics in the band and the advanced stage
micro-phonics for acoustic guitar and vocals around a large diaphragm
microphone allow a  similar feel and dynamics onstage.

When and how did the Tex Mex interest begin and how did
you meet Flaco Jiménez?
Buddy Holly’s music was called Tex-Mex rockabilly by some and I like that
southwest feel.  My first band was called, The Cupids, and we did a lot of
Buddy’s material as well as the songs of Ritchie Valens.
I met Flaco when I was living in a tent in the Texas Hill Country in a camp with The
Free Mexican Airforce.  I would escape from there in an old truck and go
into San Antonio to find music and I met Flaco at one of his shows at Irene
Y Fidel’s Cantina on the outskirts of San Antone. He asked me up and we
started playing.

How did the Reggaebilly CD come about?
I met Bob Marley and the Wailors in San Francisco and I was into the music
from the film The Harder They Fall. The musicians ecougaged me and I began
to write songs that seemed to suite a Reggae groove. Up-full, vital,
uplifting music.

How does touring affect your songwriter?
Last year was really busy. This year, Australia is our first tour.
Resting, and soothing quiet time is time to find new ideas, so yes,
down-time, retreat, is important to recharge one’s batteries.

How did this current line-up and band idea come about?
Michael Munford [banjo player] has played with me over the years. He is an awsome player and harmony singer and embodies an entire tradition from his mentors on the
banjo. Keith Little is working his farm this year up in the mountains of
California.

Do you have plans for another musical detour?
Now its simply expanding and broadening the context, the feel, the resonance
of the music.

Do you find bluegrass music a little restrictive sometimes?
Not the way that I play it!

How did you find collaborating with Gillian Welch and Del McCoury on the Legacy album?
Yes, they are all my friends and we share much in common.  So, its easy,
natural.

There’s a flourishing bluegrass/newgrass scene in Melbourne, kicked
along by your last tour. Do you enjoy seeing bluegrass interpreted and
reinterpreted around the world?
Oh yes, Bluegrass is alive in all of its interpretations. New leaves on
the old tree.  But, we should all be able to know, to sing and play, from
the ancient roots.  Never forget the roots, and the branches will grow!

Peter Rowan 2012 Tour Dates: