BAND DETAIL: Owen Temple

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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 Texas-music 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 on 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 well known 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. To lay down tracks on the twelve new Temple-penned original songs, Owen and Lloyd recruited Dixie Chicks music director/chief guitarslinger David Grissom and a rock solid rhythm section made up of Asleep at the Wheel drummer Dave Sanger and prolific bassman Glenn Fukunaga. Austin music veterans Riley Osbourn and Richard Bowden lent B3 organ and fiddle, respectively, to the songs. Folk music singer/songwriter Terri Hendrix, cosmic cowboy Bob Livingston, and hard-working, up-and-coming songsmith Gordy Quist laid down harmony vocals on the recording.

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.