James ’Bar’ Bowen

James 'Bar' Bowen is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, raconteur and all round good bloke. Over the years, he has performed his original folky/punky/acoustic songs all over the world, as well as doing performance and songwriting workshops, standing in as radio DJ on Phoenix FM, doing DIY recordings for friends, reviewing CDs and gigs, translating German punk songs and brewing huge quantities of very drinkable homebrew. In late October 2008 he, along with fellow acoustic-folk-ska-protest punk singer-songwriter Jim Sputnig, headed off to Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands for a mini-tour of vegan cafes, punk rock pubs, squat-venues and even a squatted freestate in Amsterdam. They played with Dusty Awe in Aalborg and an oud player in Amsterdam, flogged a few of their marvellous new split CD ('Still Revolting' and only available in hand-made cloth covers!) and generally had a whale of a time. These CDs (four songs each by Bar and Jim Sputnig) are still available - email for details! Check blog for the Tour Diary. In his tour of NZ, Bar took the main urban centres (and a couple of villages) by storm, and was interviewed extensively in the local media, including an hour on Radio NZ. En route, he sold some copies of his first home-recorded solo CD 'Uneconomic Migrant'. His work has been acclaimed as 'a bunch of great and original songs'. Live is of course the best way to enjoy Bar's songs, but he also recorded and released a CD specifically for his Boston trip (Nov 2007) - see below - ('A New England EP'), of which a few copies are still available. Bar can also be heard on Huddersfield agit-folk band Bar the Shouting's recordings, most notably on '...strangelove...' (UNLaBELLED). In recent months he has been wielding his powerful acoustic guitar and voice at a variety of venues across the North of England (from backrooms of pubs to The Royal Armouries), taking his original, hard-hitting political and social lovesongs to pastures old and new. He played some gigs in Boston, Mass. in November '07, in his first foray into North America, being particularly well received at TJ Scallywaggle's Vegan House of Pizza and Subs (!). He leads songwriting and performance workshops and is actively involved in the promotion of gigs, festivals and events in the North of England. Always writing from an unusual perspective, Bar seeks to provoke strong emotions and moves audiences with his political and yet deeply personal songs. A consummate performer, the stories he tells are as entertaining as the songs he sings. With political lyrics (anti-racist, anti-war, freedom and love are popular themes) and stories of crazy drunken nights, fantasy stalkers and smutty cricket, an evening with James 'Bar' Bowen is not to be missed. Tracey Curtis described Bar's music (and cooking): "Intelligent, thoughtful lyrics with original and tuneful melodies. Oh and the best vegan breakfast in Huddersfield!" Livespace in Hebden Bridge declared him a "legendary singer-songwriter."James 'Bar' Bowen is promoted by Bright Red Marker and can be contacted at here on myspace or email [email protected]