Pheaturing Alumni Kevin Rowe

Hello, everybody, welcome to the third Phile entry in three days. I love doing this, but I'm worn out. Anyway, how are you? I don't have a whole lot planned for this entry, so let's milk this out.  So, you know Colorado became the first state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, right? Well, this just in, they just renamed their NBA team the Denver McNuggets.  Florida finished counting the election votes, and they were like, "The winner is... Al Gore?"  Mitt Romney's staff briefly published his victory website by mistake. Republicans called it an embarrassing error, while Big Bird called it "the scariest two minutes of my life."  There are now a record number of Latinos in Congress, which has a lot more Americans talking about immigration reform. Americans seem to be in favor of it, while immigrants are still on the fence. If Congress does nothing, the U.S. could go off a so-called fiscal cliff that could cause another worldwide financial collapse like the one in 2008. Congress had a lot of questions about this scenario, like, "What do you mean if we do nothing?"  Did you hear that the voice of Elmo is taking a leave of absence from "Sesame Street", because of an alleged inappropriate relationship with 16-year-old boy? This marketing campaign for the new Tickle You Elmo doll is a bit much. Feel like Tickle Me Elmo should have a safe word. I'm done, kids. When you got Elmo in the middle of a juvenile sex scandal, I'm going outside to see if Jesus is in the clouds. What's the world coming too? Elmo suspected of sex abuse, always thought Big Bird was odd... never Elmo. Alright, so lets review, in less than a week there have been four big sex scandals: Patraeus, Waffle House, Lockheed Martin, and... Elmo. And all this time it was Mr. Noodle I was worried about.  We all should of seen it coming though, have you seen Elmo's latest book?

So, LEGOland is opening a LEGO themed hotel. I saw a picture for it, and this is real, and I am not sure who they are marketing it for. Once again, this is 100% real.

The little boy is on top of his dad with a whip. He should of been on top of his MILF of a mom. And look at the dad's face... it looks like his son is... never mind. You get where I am going with this.  Well, they revealed the poster for the new Star Wars movie. Yep, already, and it doesn't look that original to me at all.

I told you I think in yesterday's entry I like going on Twitter and typing in different words seeing what is out there. One of the words I always search for is Foghat. And this is what I found...

I might do one of the three. LOL. And can you guess which one?  Alright, so, Wednesday I go back and see my surgeon and he is gonna take out the staples in my arm from where he had to cut me open to fix my broken shoulder. Well, I had a number of e-mail's asking me how bad it looks. I was hestitant on showing you all here, as I put it up on Facebook. But, then I decided, I showed you so much already. So, who wants to see some staples? I should of used this pic for the Mind Phuck pheature. I was gonna show you the pic here, but I will wait and make it the picture at the last of the entry. That way you can get through Kevin's interview. But first, here is some sad news...

Major Harris 
Feb 9, 1947 - Nov 9, 2012
Major dead.

Today's guest is making his third appearance on the Phile. He was last here back on August 21st, 2011. Since then he has out a few new singles. His latest "Everything I Was Made For" is now available on iTunes and he is working on a new live CD and DVD. He'll be appearing next at The Alamo in Newnan, Georgia with a Christmas show on December 7th. Please welcome back to the Phile, my friend, and the very talented... Kevin Rowe.

Me: Kev!!! Welcome back to the Phile, man, how have you been?

Kevin: Great thanks... 2012 has been an incredible year.

Me: I have to tell you, Kev, since you were last here you had two great singles out, which I downloaded from iTunes, but you've been really busy, working on your music. I think you are working on your music and career 25 hours a day. Are you always songwriting?

Kevin: Thanks for the encouragement... yes, there are now 2 US singles out! I'm incredibly proud of them both. I do work incredible hard, but I also with with incredible talented people. Much of my time is networking, booking, negotiating, organizing and planning. The cream on top is getting to write, record and perform.

Me: You perform about five days a week, am I right?

Kevin: Much of last year, yes. This year has been a little more chilled on the gig front while I have been working in studios and getting creative. I'm probably out locally in Georgia around 1-3 times a week. Am planning a Spring 2013 tour right now.

Me: You have a trio you play with, Kev, right? Who is in the Kevin Rowe Trio?

Kevin: Actually, by last show there were 6 of us. Depending on the show depends on how many members I employ. I have some unbelievably talented musicians I work with on rotation.

Me: Kevin, like me, you're originally from England, but now live in the States. What part of England are you from? I can't remember.

Kevin: I grew up in a town called Basingstoke, west of London.

Me: You live in Atlanta now. I don't know if I asked you before, but how did you choose Atlanta?

Kevin: Well, NYC and LA seemed awesome in every way except my wallet. Atlanta seemed to offer a plethora of emerging songwriters and musicians. It looked like a town that I would love, and not one day has passed that I regretted moving here.

Me: Last time you were here you hadn't been back to England since you moved. Have you been back since then?

Kevin: Yeah, I spent the whole of April 2012 in England.

Me: Did you play over there or just visit friends and family?

Kevin: I travelled a lot, and saw friends and family. Had a blast at some shows too... in fact, I played a theater in Basingstoke to my original home crowd... it was such a great night.

Me: Speaking of England, last time you were here I told you I was gonna be interviewing an English friend and fellow musician of yours, Becky Green. I never heard back from her, so she was never here on the Phile... yet. Have you spoken or seen her?

Kevin: Briefly. I know that she is the proud parent of 4 adorable children... no doubt keeping her busy. She's an awesome musician, but an even more impressive person. Blessed to have her and her husbands (Ed) friendship.

Me: Okay, let's talk about your newest single "Everything I Was Made For". Is this the first single from a brand new album?

Kevin: Well, it will ultimately be a track from a forthcoming album. At this time I'm in the middle of making my upcoming Live DVD and then on tour... so any new record is likely to be a while.

Me: Are you working on a new album?

Kevin: I'm always writing and recording ideas. At this point I probably have enough material for a new record, but I still want to keep writing to pick only the very best songs.

Me: I watched the video and have to ask you where was it filmed?

Kevin: Ahhh, it is a secret location in Georgia that I'm not allowed to reveal. It was pretty dangerous and my team are sworn to secrecy :)

Me: Then I have to ask you who was that girl in the video? You guys put her through a lot.

Kevin: Kayla Shai Maguire is the actress and she is phenomenal! As a strong supporter of freedom and justice for girls who have been human trafficked she was keen to be involved and I think she nailed the part. Despite it being a pretty earthy and rustic video, we actually had a lot of fun filming.

Me: Kev, you play a Nord piano. Is that the same piano as in the video for the new single?

Kevin: I am proudly sponsored by Nord Keyboard. However, the piano in the "Everything I Was Made For" video is not a Nord.... but a free piece of junk I picked up from Craigslist. I had to drive to outback Georgia to the sticks to find this old piano abandoned in an old derelict barn. I hired a U-Haul to collect the piano which came complete with 3 birds nests, rusted strings, 1 dead rat and some lose coins from 1962 jammed inside the piano shell. I was awesome cleaning that out!

Me: Has that piano traveled all over the place with you?

Kevin: Well, since cleaning it up I've now hollowed the inside so it's now just a piano shell and I put my Nord Keyboard inside for some shows.

Me: How long have you had it, and how many people does it take to move it?

Kevin: Now that it's hollow, is pretty easy to move. I shove it in the back of my 4Runner no problem. 

Me: I thought it came all the way from England with you.

Kevin: Nope... outback Georgia. A location that didn't even have a zip! My Nord keyboard is brand new as a treat from Nord when I arrived in the USA.

Me: Some people name their instruments, in fact, I know someone who named their Nord... I think it was a Nord. Anyway, does your piano have a name?

Kevin: Never thought about it. I guess not.

Me: I say you call name it Jason then. ; ) Kev, you are a really good songwriter, my friend. When you write a song, what comes first, music or lyrics?

Kevin: Usually always the music for me. I take forever to write lyrics because I want to be meticulous about the meaning and story. The music and melody feel like the easy part.

Me: Hey, I have to talk about your new live DVD. When and where was it recorded, Kev?

Kevin: It was recorded at a live show in in Buckhead, Atlanta my my amazing Atlanta fans. There are 6 of us in the band and I'm excited to be working on post-production with it right now.

Me: What made you film a concert so early in your career?

Kevin: Well, I've always tried filming bigger shows throughout the years. I have a wonderfully noisy fan base in Atlanta and with the release of "Everything I Was Made For" it felt the right time to film my debut DVD right now.

Me: Something went wrong when it was being filmed, right? What happened exactly? Something with sound or microphones?

Kevin: Oh... how on Earth did that info get out so far?!?! Well, there is a little glitch on one of the crowd microphones so I'm relying on all the other crowd mics to capture the audience. I think we've got enough noise that there's going to be no problems.

Me: How did you find out there was this problem and what did you think right away? I betcha you were pissed.

Kevin: Actually I had my favorite sound team in the world engineering and they've done a great job. On this occasion it was equipment failure night of. Thankfully everything is recorded great and the damage is minimal.

Me: How did you fix this problem?

Kevin: We're relying on other microphones to carry the one mic that failed.

Me: Kev, will there be a live CD to go with this DVD?

Kevin: Absolutely. There will be a CD and DVD plus a bundle of them both. They will be released with my brand new Kevin Rowe Online store shipping worldwide. We're hoping to launch in the coming months.

Me: What will it be called and where will your fans be able to buy it?

Kevin: It's part of the "Everything I Was Made For" tour and campaign, so probably somewhere in that direction. It will be available with all major download stores (including iTunes and Amazon etc) and via KevinRowe.com.

Me: Well, I want a signed copy, Kev ; )  Anyway, thanks so much for being on the Phile. Go ahead and plug your website and everything, and will you come back when the next release comes out?

Kevin: I would love to hear from anyone on Twitter or Facebook at: twitter.com/kevinrowemusic and facebook.com/kevinrowemusic.  Or, check out my brand new single on KevinRowe.com.

Me: Oh, real quick, I asked you last time you were here if you ran into Elton John yet, as he lives in Atlanta. Have you ran into him yet? Take care, Kev.

Kevin: Nope... I'm sure it's a myth :)

There, I think that about does it. Thanks to Kevin for a great interview. The Phile will be back on Thursday with the guys from the fantastic new British rock band Damn Vandals. Then Sunday it's Alumni Jon Tiven from Yo Ma Ma, and Monday singer Anya Parker-Lentz, and then the following Wednesday Amy Lynn, from Amy Lynn & The Gunshow. So, spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Byre, love you, bye. And now for that picture of my stitches. Save it as your desktop.