Pheaturing Alumni Kevin Rowe

Hi there, welcome to another Sunday entry of the Phile, how are you doing? My foot and toe still hurt, my throat is burning and I am coughing like crazy and my eyes are sore, apart from that I am doing good. Oh, I keep on sneezing as well. I have a cold, people, I think. Anyway, enough about me. What else is going on? Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race for president, saying he wants to spend more time lacking charisma with his family. Only 39 percent of Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing. Ratings are at an all-time low, but ratings for “Jersey Shore” are at an all-time high. If I were president, I would just pass a law against opinion polls. Hit them at the source. Tiger Woods’ approval rating is also down, primarily because he appears to have lost the ability to play golf. A study showed that every hour of TV you watch after the age of 25 shortens your life by 22 minutes. That doesn’t sound too bad to me. You’d probably watch TV with that 22 minutes anyway. President Obama was touring the country in a bus, because nothing inspires hope in the economy like the president riding in a bus. Mitt Romney called Obama’s bus tour the “Magical Misery Tour,” which is kind of funny coming from a member of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hair Club for Men. This is sad news... Burger King's creepy King mascot will creep no more after splitting with ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the burger chain is dethroning the King character in order to pursue moms. New ads will instead tout the freshness of Burger King's food. And also promote the super-trendy addition of guacamole. What's next, putting brussels sprouts in the hamburgers? Anyway, if you don't know what I'm talking about, this is a screen shot of my favorite Burger King commercial. 

It's good to be King I guess. So, the other night my family thought I went out to the pool and went swimming by myself, but it wasn't me. Take a look to see what it was. And this is real, people. Look.

Yep, a dead rat. So, most kids went back to school or will be going back to school real soon, which reminds me of this inspirational poster I found.

I have no freakin' idea what any of that means by the way. Okay, there's a lot of stuff going on with the Republicans right now, so much for me to take in, so I thought I would invite someone back to the Phile to clear things up. Please welcome back to the Phile, and no it's not Reince, Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee Patrick Gaspard in a pheature I like to call...

Me: Mr. Director, welcome back to the Phile. What is going on, sir, with the Republican party? It seems a mess.

Patrick: Did you spend the last week on a beach or at a barbecue?

Me: No, I was working at Disney's Hollywood Studios, the greatest theme park in the world! What did I miss?

Patrick: What you missed was the clearest set of signals we've had yet about the far-right, negative turn the Republican field is taking in this election.

Me: Let's talk about Rick Perry, sir. How did that change things?

Patrick: As Rick Perry entered the race, we watched Mitt Romney argue that "corporations are people" and Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul... the two most extreme candidates in the field... come out on top of the Iowa Straw poll. The Tea Party has all the momentum right now in the GOP primaries, and that's what knocked Tim Pawlenty out of this race. He quit on Sunday.

Me: Why do you think Pawlenty quit?

Patrick: Disturbingly, the view in the media was that Pawlenty was too "nice" for the Republican voters and "didn't fit with an electorate who wanted confrontation with President Obama at all costs." In other words: You ain't seen nothing yet.

Me: What do you think is going to happen between now and say, next Summer, sir? The Iowa caucuses is real soon, right?

Patrick: The actual Iowa caucuses are still a half year away, but as the field narrows it's become clear the next six months will feature a divisive cast of Republican candidates and produce a GOP nominee who's pledged allegiance to the Tea Party agenda, an agenda whose first item is to destroy Democrats no matter the consequences for our country.

Me: So, while that's going on, what is the Democratic party doing?

Patrick: While Romney, Perry, Bachmann, and the others continue their race to the right, we're busy organizing... recruiting new supporters, training volunteers, and building for November 6, 2012. We need you to be a part of it.

Me: And do you think Perry joining the race is going to change anything?

Patrick: Governor Perry's entry adds a new personality into the mix, but not a single new policy.

Me: How so?

Patrick: Like every one of his opponents, from Mitt Romney to Rick Santorum, he's signed on to the Washington Republican plan that essentially ends Medicare, cuts K-12 education, and eliminates hundreds of thousands of jobs. He shares their view that big corporations, not seniors and middle class families, are the ones in need of some relief.

Me: And which candidate right now has the best chance do you think to win?

Patrick: In a field without policy differences, we can be sure that the nomination will be decided by rhetoric, and the prize will go to the candidate willing to launch the most vicious, negative attack on our party and our principles.

Me: So, are you guys ready?

Patrick: We've got to be ready... to answer that anger with resolve and preparation, and we need to show that their far-right views, and the dangers they pose to our country, only make us more committed to winning in 2012.

Me: Thank you, Director Gaspard, you have been most helpful, more than Reince Preibus has ever been here on the Phile. Thanks again, sir.

Patrick: Thanks.

Are you ready for the announcement of the 5th artist to be pheatured in the Peverett Phile Art Gallery? It's Danielle Soloud, and this is one of her pieces of work, kids.

Looks like one of my ex-girlfriends. LOL. Anyway, Danielle will be a guest on the Phile next Sunday. 

Today's guest was last on the Phile March 30th, 2010, and since then has a new album out called "10 am" which is available on iTunes, and  the Heroes Music Festival have asked him to perform at their huge annual event this September. Please welcome back to the Phile... Kevin Rowe.

Me: Hello, Kev, welcome back to the Phile. How have you been?

Kevin: Been great, thanks.

Me: The last time we spoke you were planning to move to Atlanta, Georgia from England. So, did you move there yet?

Kevin: Yep, moved to Atlanta, Georgia before Christmas 2010. Now a resident of North Atlanta.

Me: Have you been back to visit in the year?

Kevin: No, not yet. But had plenty of family visits.

Me: Have you ran into Elton John yet? He lives in Altanta, you know.

Kevin: Nope, although I have gigged a lot around where he lives.

Me: Okay, Kev, when you were here before you were promoting your album "10am" and now you have a new album to promote called... "10am". What's up with that, Kev? You could of called this one "11am" or "10pm".

Kevin: "10am" is my debut studio release. This was released in England. Now that I am in the USA, we've remastered the same album to apply to the market we're in. So, the sound is slightly different, but all the same great songs. The album is still called "10am" so not to confuse anyone who's already bought the album.

Me: So, you didn't record the whole album over?

Kevin: No - just remastered it.

Me: Did you put together a band or did you play all the instruments yourself?

Kevin: 10am consists of music that I wrote, performed and recorded all myself in my studio in England. With exception to 2 songs that I had help from my best friend Steve Paisley, who played acoustic guitar for me.

Me: Have you been playing a lot of shows? You know, Florida is just a few hours drive away, man. Any shows planned for down here yet?

Kevin: I have been playing 5-6 times a week in and around Atlanta. It's been great meeting people and growing my fan base. I plan on a tour later in 2011 that will certainly include Florida! I've had the privilege of showcasing to labels under BMI who are representing me. I'm in LA this week and have several more trips to Nashville planned.

Me: I saw not only have you been busy with your own music, you also worked with a young lady named Becky Green who will be on the Phile soon I hope. How did you two meet and get to work together?

Kevin: Ah, Becky Green is one of my closest friends from hometown Bath City. We met years ago while sharing digs at University. She is an extraordinary talent with beautiful songs... and a pianist I look up to. She is married to another one of my best friends Ed Green. As I owned a studio in England, Ed and I decided to swap his skills as a photographer and designer for my production skills on Becky's new album "All About Everything". We had such a good time making her CD.

Me: You produced her album, right? Do you like working with other musicians, producing them, or would you rather concentrate on your own music?

Kevin: Yes, I recorded, engineered and produced Becky Green. I love working with other musicians - especially when they're so talented. I would always prefer to be working on my own material - but, often, it's healthy to step away and work with other people on their songs. Gives me a greater perspective of what else is happening... and often inspires my own music too.

Me: I saw a picture with you and Anoop Desai who was on "American Idol" a few years ago. Are you working with him, or is he just a label mate?

Kevin:  Anoop and I are both signed to BMI. BMI hosted a showcase in Atlanta (where both Anoop and I live). We met at that showcase. He's a very talented and nice guy. We're not working together in any capacity though. He's focusing on the Atlanta Pop/RnB thing... I'm focused on my singer-songwriter endeavours in the Pop/Rock world.

Me: You put out another album, right, called "UnCut Sessions". Is that the original "10am" album?

Kevin: No, "UnCut Sessions" is a solo acoustic performance of 6 songs. Five of these 6 songs are from "10am". The other song, "Sleeping With An Angel" was remixed and made the charts in Germany and Switzerland (maybe more that I'm not aware of) in summer 2010.

Me: And since we spoke your video for "Sleeping With An Angel" has gotten a shit load of hits on Youtube. How many views?

Kevin: Just checked... my video had over 23k hits, but the remixes have another 20-30k something hits too. This was only officially released in May last year. So, I'm blown away at this many hits under a year, with only independent marketing and promotion by myself.

Me: Well, the song was Number 5 in the Germany charts? Does that mean you'll be touring over there?

Kevin: No. While I would still like to travel and visit Germany, I think I stand a better chance of making waves in the US Pop-Rock market. I have been invited to play many festivals in Germany - but they've all come at a bad time, so I couldn't do them. Hopefully soon I can make a show there. There's some amazing fans in Germany!

Me: So, what's next for you, Kev? Are you currently working on new music?

Kevin: Yes! I have loads of new songs... and right now I'm considering who I'll be producing them with, and how we are going to release them. We're considering other avenues of release than another album. Details will follow later this year. Part of my LA trip this week is to help determine who and how we're going to make a successful next record.

Me: Kev, thanks again for the interview. Come back again, okay?

Kevin: Anytime, man.

Me: Tell the readers what your website is and keep in touch, man. All the best.

Kevin: I've got a brand new website, kevinrowe.com where you can download all sorts of good stuff for free. It is constantly updates, and has links to me Facebook and YouTube pages. Also, send my a mail via the Contact page - I answer all my mail personally. Thanks again to the P.P!

Well, there you go, another entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Executive Director Patrick Gaspard and of course Kevin Rowe. The Phile will be back tomorrow with Alumni Baub Eis, then on Thursday, yes, Thursday with Alumni Kyle weber from the cool band Zelazowa, and then again on Sunday with artist Danielle Soloud. Then next Monday it's the singer for one of my and my son Logan's favorite bands ever. Thursday I will reveal who that is, kids. So, until then, spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.