Howard Rowe was nine years old old when he knew he wanted to stand on stage and be a singer. He didn't achieve this until he was 34 when he joined the fun band "Thick as Thieves". He recalls: "We played everything from John Tamms to The Rolling Stones and standards like Black Velvet Band, along acoustic instruments: banjo, melodian, dulcimer, tin whistle, harmonica, mandolin, & guitars. At one point there were twelve people in the band and we were paid in beer.": At the break up of this band Howard eventually went solo: "I started doing my first spots in folk clubs, now doing the music I wanted to do. Trad songs and Richard Thompson type stuff, throwing in my own songs here and there." In 1997 he and music partner Gini Newton won The Richard Moody Trophy for best new act at Wath Folk Festival. "Gini played flute and sang, she was Maggie Boyle to my Steve Tilston, who I had played support to a few times": These days Howard is working on promoting his own songs.
Reviews As A Singer/Songwriter
"Perhaps others can write from the heart and sing with the feeling like Howard, but not with the same striking and professional results.":
- SOUTH YORKSHIRE TIMES
As A Poet
"Howard Rowe's Dylan Thomas Pastiche is as good as a lot of Thomas' original work." :
- NORTHERN STAR