For Release: Nov. 4, 2004
A veteran of neo-country experimental groups New Grass Revival and The Sky Kings, John Cowan now leads his own ensemble, The John Cowan Band, along the cutting-edge, genre-defying musical path that has marked his illustrious career. John Cowan and his band show off their innovative blend of new-age bluegrass, folk, R&B, country, funk, acoustic jazz and gospel on Jubilee.
Though Cowan, a former Kentuckian, has been on the music scene for more than 25 years--in a career that helped forge a new genre of bluegrass music--he feels the establishment of his own band has given him a new beginning and a sense of artistic freedom.
"It's kind of funny," Cowan told Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader music critic Walter Tunis, "as my own person, as a songwriter, I'm just starting."
"Trying to work in country music was really constrictive," Cowan explained. "Trying to fit through that little narrow gate that's called country radio is really hard for a person like myself. So for me to suddenly have the freedom to play anything and not have to fit any format [is] wonderful."
Cowan's blazing Jubilee performance, taped at the 2000 Master Musicians Festival in Somerset, Ky., features songs from his self-titled 2000 album in a musical melange that should please fans of country, funk, bluegrass, gospel and jazz alike.
Jubilee is a KET production, produced by H. Russell Farmer. Nancy Carpenter is executive producer. The program is closed-captioned for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Viewers can find out more about programming on KET's six digital channels by visiting the KET Web site at www.ket.org.
Contact: Heather Hartley
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