Written by: Dave Cantrell
We were about to put the word ‘new’ in the title of this piece (possibly inclined, we must sheepishly admit, by the artist’s last name) but as it turns our Mr Newby has been honing his unique, vibrant, and depths-scouring brand of Elephant 6-level songwriting for nearly ten years, making him still another auteur of some standing that finds your poor, harried, ardent-but-understaffed crew here at SEM once again rather ‘lamenting with great joy’ the fact we’re only discovering him now. Nonetheless, past all the ‘better late than never’ platitudes the important thing here is that we have at last had the work of Rowan Newby brought to out attention and none too soon, either. I mean, c’mon, anyone with comparative bona fides that run the gamut from the above-mentioned E6 collective to Jens Lekman, Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and any others that deserve membership in what can only be considered a most exclusive bunch indeed, well, who cares how long it takes for the specter of a phenom to drop in one’s laps so long as it eventually does. Anyway, here’s the bio deets, followed by a commentary from the artist himself and then, of course, the big payoff, the video itself, a purely delightful slice of indispensable, effortless americana pop at its most understatedly fervent. We love this kind of stuff, the way it just seems to have just rolled out of, if you will, the songwriting bed this morning, a bit crumpled but genuine as the most sparkling early morning air imaginable. Consider us – and feel free to join us in feeling – smitten.
Hailing from Nowheresville USA, nomadic folky Rowan Newby writes heartfelt ear worms for the sentimentally inclined. Spending most of his teens and 20s developing his craft in local undergrounds, his bedroom and copious nature trails along the East, Rowans made the rounds from country adjacent bohemia and DIY songwriter with heart on his sleeve to playing bass in conceptual punk outfits. He emerges now after a long hiatus of soft releases and personal growth following his 2015 digital only release of the EP ,”Odes”. His forthcoming album “Some Hippie You Turned Out to Be” continues the tradition of classic Americana and 60’s/70’s inspired songwriting with a particularly poetic while simultaneously humorous edge to the lyricism drawing inspiration from everyone from Jens Lekman, Jonathan Richman, Big Star, and Teenage Fanclub filtered through southern basement americana.
From the artist:
“”Once You’ve Been Lonely” was spawned out of my love for songwriting tropes and a deep affinity for so-called ‘timeless melodies’. Like with the moon, the sun, love, Jesus, and the color blue for instance, a common title cliché has often used “lonely” to well, tell you how lonely someone or something is. But despite any challenge to emulate the past, I can’t help but still make any song I write lyrically come from an actual sincere and comedic part of myself. Which can be a bummer at times but my cleverness can be taken with a grain of salt. As far as the video is concerned, I had a vision to shoot it in the woods and accompanying railroad tracks by the house I grew up in and the timing with my videographer just happened to land in the middle of autumn, which cinematically ended up fitting perfectly with the tone of the song. Visually I had always wanted to give a nod to Jean-Luc Godard’s “Weekend” as well as the use of those long lens, deep focus shots featured in films from the 1970s (for whatever reason the “I’m walking here” long shot on 58th and 6th ave in NYC from Midnight Cowboy came to mind). Other than annoying film nerd nudges and strolls down memory lane, I casted my twin brother to play ‘the watcher’ who I suppose is more or less older me watching younger me and I think gave the piece a touch of ominousness it needed.”