Shane Owens

Shane Owens makes traditional country music for the modern world. Timeless and timely, it's a classic sound with every word sang from the heart, driven forward by a mix of southern storytelling, Bible Belt twang, and Owens' big, booming baritone.

Fresh out of the studio, Owens has just finished recording his latest album due to release at year’s end. He traveled to Texas for this project to record in The Panhandle House Studio enlisting the talents of JT Corenflos | Electric Guitar ( Alan Jackson, George Jones, Charley Pride, George Strait), Mitchell Smithey | Steele Guitar (Ray Price, Lee Ann Rimes, TG Sheppard, Gary Stuart), Dale Morris Jr. | Fiddle (Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt), Kerry Huckaba | Bass Guitar (The Hansons, The White River Band), Jay Brown | Piano (Canyon, Ty Herndon), and Andrew Raley | Drums (Deryl Dodd). Together, they captured a sound filled with fiddle, pedal steel and all the hallmarks of classic country music. Ten of the eleven tracks are penned by veteran writer Galen Griffin (Luke Bryan, Joe Diffie, Craig Morgan, Clay Walker) and magically Engineered and Produced by Nick “Ace” Lutz (David Alan Coe, Ty Herndon, Little Texas, Ronnie Milsap, Kellie Pickler). This is an album filled with music intended to take the listener back to an earlier era in Country Music reminiscent of a simpler time. Owens shines brightly delivering each song with the same supersized voice that once shook the pews of his hometown church as the musicians expertly lay the sounds of Dance Halls long gone.

Long before he hand-built his career in the honky-tonks and country clubs of the southeast, Owens grew up in rural Alabama. In many ways, it was a classic American upbringing, filled with family, faith, and music. Owens shines a light on those old-school values with his debut album Where I’m Coming From and his newest release It’s A Southern Thing, working closely with a roster of country music's top songwriters — including Bob Diperio, Greg Barnhill, Tony Stampley, Wynn Varble, Brian Callihan and Trent Willmon — for his most upbeat collection of songs to date.

"Like a lot of my favorite country singers, I grew up singing Gospel music," says Owens, who grew up listening to artists like Randy Travis and Keith Whitley. "I grew up the same way, and I've stayed true to my Traditional Country roots. I'm still singing about going to church, eating fried chicken, and keeping it country. Why wouldn't I? Once you start trying to be something you're not, that's when you lose track of where you're headed."

Longtime country music journalist Robert K. Oermann agrees, pointing to Owens' traditional approach as his strongest weapon. "I like to think that there are cycles in [country] music," Oermann explains. "Usually, the pendulum swings out and the Pop-Country people bring in a whole lot of new listeners, and then the new listeners discover real Country music. Then there's usually a swing back to more traditional styles. I hope we're on the cusp of that… and if we are, Shane is perfectly positioned."
A self-made road warrior who was recently named "Independent Artist of the Year" by MusicRow Reveals 2018 Country Breakout Awards, Owens continues to maintain an active schedule of listening room and honky tonk shows along with festival appearances. He made his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2017. He also appeared at summertime events like CMA Music Festival and Jamboree In the Hills, both of which were voted as the top two American country music festivals of the year. Cracker Barrel has picked Owens' music to appear in several of the store's exclusive releases, including Country Faith America and Country Faith Love Songs, while Netflix included his song "Country Never Goes Out of Style" in the popular series The Ranch. No wonder Rolling Stone Country named Shane Owens one of the magazine's "10 New Country Artists You Need to Know!"

New music. New album. New shows. Shane Owens continues to more forward, but he also remains rooted in the sound that launched his career, breathing new life into a sound that's at once fresh and familiar. "I've grown my business the old-school way," he explains. "I played the honky-tonks for years. I developed myself and my sound. It can be tough when you've got a traditional sound, but I can't be anything I'm not. If it was easy to do, everybody would do it. And I'm nowhere near done doing it."