Garrett Owen has released “Hour In The Forest,” the newest single from his forthcoming album Quiet Lives, due out September 18th. The song, inspired by interactions with three different women - one of which sports a tattoo of Harriet Tubman with a machine gun and Joan of Arc with a sword - is one of the more experimental tracks on Quiet Lives. “The new single is one of his most expansive creations yet, a full-on epic that starts off like your typical folk song before breaking out into an all-out boogie, with a vintage solo provided by blues prodigy Matt Tedder,” says V13 in the song’s premiere. “Each of ‘Hour In The Forest’s’ three verses were inspired by three very different situations that have arisen in Owen’s life…With such a diversity of subject matter, it’s quite clear that Owen has got a lot on his mind to draw from when it comes to songwriting.”
LISTEN: “HOUR IN THE FOREST”
“Hour In The Forest” follows the release of lead single “These Modern Times,” which Atwood Magazine called “a gust of sweet, somber, and seductive folk.” “These Modern Times” features Owens’ take on our society’s addiction to technology and constant digital connection, fleshing out the lyrics on one of his regular sojourns to the Brazos River, where he finds peace in the “dis-connection” of being in nature. Owen’s love of nature is ingrained in his DNA - his earliest memories involve frequent trips across the Serengeti and backyard wildlife most of us only experience at our local zoos. The son of missionaries, he grew up in Tanzania and Kenya, riding on the luggage rack of the family’s Nissan Patrol, with vast clear skies above him and gazelles running beside.
LISTEN: “THESE MODERN TIMES”
After leaving Africa, the family completed a stint in Ecuador before Owen’s parents moved the family back to Texas. Life as he knew it became a difficult endeavor; rimmed with the sharp edges of reality in an unfamiliar place, his attempts to settle into a culture he didn’t understand resulted in distress and a suicide attempt - a far cry from the idyllic landscape of his upbringing. Now, the award-winning artist, who calls to mind legends like Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, and Jesse Winchester, is gearing up to release his second full-length album, Quiet Lives. Though he revisits familiar subject matter such as the push-pull of relationships, love, and loss, Quiet Lives is about growth. The diverse 10-track collection delves into more experimental musical territory, as Owen toyed with complex chord changes, melodic dissonance, and intriguing storylines.
“At its core, all art is based on a ‘true story,’ and by true, I mean the version we carry in our head and heart - the one that can lift or crush your spirit with equal capacity,” the golden-voiced Owen, who has shared stages with artists like Parker Millsap, Charlie Sexton, and Marty Stuart, explains. “Some suggest that your upbringing explains quirks of personality like my shyness, a tendency for introspection, and streaks of perfectionism. Maybe. I’m not so fatalistic as to believe our earliest experiences necessarily determine the arc of adult life, but my slightly foreign childhood never leaves my music or me. Everybody’s got a story to tell,” he adds. “I’m no different.”
