Nashville, Tenn. (Top40 Charts/ By Kissy Black/ Lotos Nile Media) - With grit and a grin, Texas-based singer/songwriter Owen Temple comes barreling out of the Lone Star state with his new album Two Thousand Miles. The record, produced by famed Texasmusic legend
Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks, Terri Hendrix, Terry Allen), is a dusty backroads blend of heartache and hope. The album is being released on a staggered schedule. It's been available since late summer as a digital download on LoneStarTunes.com and will be released on iTunes in December. The physical record releases nationally today, Jan. 22, 2008.
It's just the latest bold move from the charismatic singer who strives to be as innovative with the business side of his career as he is with his music. Temple says, "The idea was to not put any barriers between the fans hearing the new record right away — and then to let things grow from there."
If the growth of CD sales follows Temple's career arc—steadily upward—then he'll soon be as wellknown to the rest of the country as he is in Texas. Since his 1997 debut, General Store, he's been building fans, wowing critics and winning accolades at a heady pace. His 2002 release, Right Here and Now sold nearly 20,000 copies. His career's been picking up steam ever since. In fact, just this year he won the prestigious B.W. Stevenson Songwriting Contest, awarded every year in April at Poor David's Pub in Dallas, Texas. He's also been a New Folk Finalist at the world-renowned Kerrville Folk Festival.
When his distributor went belly up before paying him for sales of Right Here and Now, Temple decided to return to school and pursue a graduate degree in psychology in Madison, Wisconsin. It's hard to beat the songwriting bug into submission once it bites and the 31-year-old singer felt he'd left some business undone. So, one-class shy of getting his master's degree, he decided to go after an advanced degree in making great music. A self-described family man, he approached his wife about giving the music thing another go. With her blessing he jumped back into the fire. He reunited with Maines, who had produced his first two albums, and went into the studio with a new batch of songs. The results and Temple's growth as artist are evident throughout Two Thousand Miles.
He's at home in the gritty realism that harkens back to his songwriting heroes like Steve Earle and Joe Ely. Rough and ragged characters on the edge ("Like We Still Care," "Demolition Derby") sit comfortably alongside heartfelt ruminations on love ("You Want To Wear That Ring," "You Don't Have To Be Lonely"). The stirring title track is a radio-ready, roll-down-the-windows anthem that showcases a singer ready for prime time.
Owen Temple is a man and songwriter who has traveled thousands of miles, literally and artistically. The new record has been a lifetime in the making. Through all the miles and highways he's traveled, Temple has come to a new beginning. One that finds him on the verge of greatness. And you can't get there without putting the miles behind you.
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Praise for Owen Temple:
"He has a curl of Townes Van Zandt's spoken-word style of singing, which lifts the sincerity and power of his lyrics." -Andy Moore, No Depression
"Owen Temple has that great knack of writing lyrics that will mean something to every listener, and he also delivers them well with an easy to listen to voice." -JHS, Maverick
'This is the third album that Maines has produced for Temple and the disc is aptly named, as with all those miles and the experiences he gained under his belt, this new collection of songs reflects what has been gained in this songwriter's growth and journey through life.' -Bob Gottlieb, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
"Owen Temple combines his heart and intellect to create music that hits the bull's-eye of the country soul." -Steven Stone, Vintage Guitar Magazine
"With enough passion in his work to be one of the Texas cats that breaks trough nationally, Lloyd Maines' reliable production provides the right setting for such a thing to come together. This is the kind of set that makes you quite self-satisfied for knowing about it before everyone else." -Chris Spector, Midwest Record
"Temple has a way with weaving his words perfectly and capturing the story no matter what he is singing about..." -Jeffrey Kurtis, Gone Country Magazine
"[Two Thousand Miles is] a mesmerizing take on the sad and sublime sides of life...very melancholy." -Galleywinter
'Owen wrote or co-wrote all 12 songs on the CD and seems to really hit his stride on this one.' -Dale Martin, New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
"Such lyrics can only come from the creative mind of an independent artist free of the copycat standard set by record labels." -Zabrina Ranson, The Shorthorn
'Owen Temple writes polished country music, infused with folk traditions. What distinguishes his songs are lyrics that extend the plainspoken stories associated with the genre into a more nuanced psychological terrain.' - Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"The Texas singer-songwriter field has become a little crowded in the past few years, but Owen Temple manages to stand out from the rest of the pack. " - Austin Chronicle
'There's an unassailable solidity to all that he does…he may be not just a contender but a heavyweight champ.' - The Houston Chronicle
