Ralston Bowles profile picture

Ralston Bowles

Everyone has a story. Take time to listen.

About Me



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"music has not addressed midlife with this much dignity since Neil Young's "Freedom"." - Boston Globe
"If Steve Earle ever gets back to writing 'chick songs' he may find that Ralston's 'What About Me' got there before him. And the Earle connection doesn't end there, although Ralston isn't overtly political, he and Earle share a burning desire to tell the truth and nothing but the truth" - Americana-UK
"Mature, Thoughtful. Carwreck Conversations, Ralston Bowles' debut, is a mature, thoughtful portrait of age, youth, and the place 'where dreams and truth collide'. Along the way he aims more questions inward than at the outside world, without ever falling prey to easy rationalizations or self-pity." - All Music Guide
"Carwreck Conversations is chock-full of the smart and catchy, rock and folk-tinged material that has long made Bowles a coveted performer throughout the Midwest." - The Grand Rapids Press

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/26/2005
Band Website: ralstonbowles.com
Band Members: Have Performed With In Past Caoline Aiken Jake Armeding Jim Bizer Cindy Bullens T-Bone Burnett Rachael Davis Kris Delmhorst Antje Duvekot Stacey Earle/Mark Stewart Marvin Etzioni Melissa Ferrick Jeffrey Foucault Freebo Terry Lee Hale Tracy Grammer/Jim Henry Arlo Guthrie Jennifer Kimball JDLamb Jeff Lang David Molinari Radoslav Lorkovic Lowen & Navarro Bill Malonee & VOL Romi Mayes Katy Moffatt Geoff Muldaur Gurf Morlix Peter Mulvey Drew Nelson Carrie Newcomer The Nields Kelly Joe Phelps Gretchen Peters Justin Roth Rachael Sage Karen Savoca Claudia Schmidt Seth & Daisy May Richard Shindell Michelle Shocked Darden Smith Sons of the Never Wrong Trarantula Waltz Eric Taylor Kreg Viesselman Cheryl Wheeler Andy White Brooks Williams Diane Ziegler
Influences: Neil Young, Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, Peter Himmelman, Cat Stevens, Robbie Robertson, T-Bone Burnett Website
Tour dates, cds, news, and more at www.ralstonbowles.com

Discography
2006 New Arrivals (Compilation) 2006 Folk Alliance Sampler 2006 Jammie Awards (Compilation) 2005 More Words (Compilation) 2005 W MI Compilation I 2004 Carwreck Conversations 2004 Words (Compilation) 2003 Standing Together (Compilation) 2003 Winter In West Michigan (Compilation) 2003 PASTE Music 9

Selected Openings & Co-Bills
T-Bone Burnett
Dana Cooper
Candace Corrigan
Arlo Guthrie
Johnathan Edwards
Marvin Etzioni
Hothouse Flowers
Greg Greenway
Lowen & Navarro
Lynn Miles
Alistair Moock
Gurf Morlix
Peter Mulvey
Carrie Newcomer
Drew Nelson
Gretchen Peters
Kelly Joe Phelps
Rachael Sage
Les Sampou
Sons of the Never Wrong
Amy Speace
Cheryl Wheeler
Andy White
Kenny White
Brooks Williams

Selected Appearances
Blissfest (Goodheart, MI)
The Abbey (Chicago, IL)
The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI)
Calvin College FAC (GR, MI)
Cafè Carpe ( Ft Atkinson, WI)
Casa 139 (Milan, Italy)
Chicago St Theater (Valparaiso, IN)
Crooked Tree Theater (Petosky, MI)
Club Passim (Cambridge, MA)
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (Hillsdale, NY)
Hard Rock Cafè (Chicago, IL)
The Intersection (GR, MI)
K'ville New Folk (Kerrville, TX)
O C General Store (Oak Ctr, MN)
One Trick Pony (GR, MI)
Mo Pitkins (NYC, NY)
The Rosebud (Milwaukee, WI)
Westside Cafè (Frederick, MD)
Wheatland Fest (Remus, MI)
The White Crow Conservatory of Music (Saginaw, MI)
Townes Van Zandt Tribute Concert (Milan, ITALY)
Trinity House (Livonia, MI)
Uncommon Grnd (Chicago, IL)

Awards & Achievements
2004 Jammy Album of the Year
2004 Jammy Best New Album
2004 Jammy Best Folk Album
2006 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artists Competition Finalist
2006 International Songwriting Competition Lyric Category Finalist
2005 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition Finalist
2005 USA Songwriting Competition Finalist
2005 Songwriter Mag (Nov/Dec) Lyric Winner

Sounds Like: PLEASE NOTE THAT I GENERALLY DELETE AUTOMATED, NON-PERSONAL NOT-WRITTEN-TO-ME COMMENTS. YOU CAN'T GET OVERLY UPSET ABOUT THIS. AFTER ALL, IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL! (GET IT?) AND ALTHOUGH I CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE SELF-PROMOTION, "HI, CHECK OUT MY NEW CD" COMMENTS PROBABLY WON'T MAKE THE CUT EITHER. C'MON PEOPLE!! :-) Ralston ..name="description"c.."Americana Singer/Songwriter in the tradition of Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan." ..name="keywords"c..Dylan, Neil Young, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Peter Himmelman"
Record Label: Wildflower Records, Ryko, Soft Butter
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

U. Utah Phillips Inspiring Storyteller

     I was moved by his storytelling.  Hearing that he had curtailed his touring it all the more special to have heard him live. I was compelled on reading the following obitu...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:50:00 PST

Toronto Calling

Thursday March 6th, Lula's Lounge in Toronto will be hosting Music Dish and Wildflower Records 's Canadian Music Week Showcase featuring myself along with Karlex, Porkbelly Futures and Kobo Town. Join...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:15:00 PST

German Radio Interview Sunday

German Radio will be broadcasting an interview 21:00 their time - about 3pm EST the link below will allow you to stream it. http://www.wdr.de/radio/wdr2/soundfiles/index.phtml...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:05:00 PST

Manchester Academy

My Last Show in England before heading to Italy. When I was there I did not know the history. Interesting venue. Manchester Academy is a brand name used by the University of Manchester Students' Union...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:45:00 PST

In Memory of Robert Busby Jr 1946-2007

Robert Busby Jr. Robert Perry Busby, respected and beloved community leader and businessman, died tragically on February 27.    Robert was an invigorating presence in North Lansing starting ...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:41:00 PST

The Day I Met Elvis

August 17 will mark 30 years since Elvis died. I am not sure why we mark these dates anymore than celebrating the birthdates of individuals. I suppose it is a way of tracking our own lives with benchm...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:37:00 PST

Song for Eric

When I first met Eric Lowen I knew there was something special about him. He had the dry wit of a stand-up comic, the musicianship of a trained instrumentalist and the social skills of a master conver...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:30:00 PST

Kurt Vonnegut (Man Without A Country)

Check out the song Marvin Etzioni was inspired by Kurt V to write at his myspace - you can get there from my front MySpace Friends page - clickon Marvin  - from his next project Marvin Country.
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Sun, 15 Apr 2007 04:22:00 PST

Making It Alone (Oxymoron Paradigm )

You Don't Have to Go It Alone~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My son struggled to free the zipper on his winter coat. "Could I help?" I offered. He said, "Big boys don't need help." He didn't hear that from ...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:04:00 PST

SXSW

That time of year. Austin, TX calling. Keeping it weird for sure. I will be particpating in an aftertoon showcase with the lovely host Rachael Sage along with NLX, Anne Heaton, Jim Bianco, Gregory Dou...
Posted by Ralston Bowles on Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:59:00 PST