When Welsh singer-songwriter-pianist Judith Owen went on a UK tour opening for Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry and Ferry had to cancel their Royal Albert Hall last month show due to a sudden illness, it seemed like the audience, most of them already seated, would have to call the night a loss. However, instead of packing up and leaving, Owen invited some members of the audience to her west London home for a private, spur of the moment show.
"It was about turning an unfortunate situation into a special opportunity," says Owen, who played the show on her living room piano with her husband, actor/humorist Harry Shearer, accompanying her on bass, "It was a unique and intimate experience that very rarely happens." The show was a great success, and David Lister of The Independent wrote that, "[The show] was quite an evening. Stars should play gigs in their own front rooms more often".
This sudden living room concert had a huge impact on Owen, and in September she will travel across the U.S. for the 'After Party' Tour, a series of shows that will try to recapture that same magic from that fateful night in London. "It's what happened in my house after Royal Albert Hall and it's what artists do at the hotel bar after the show," said Owen, explaining the name of the tour - "It's usually acoustic, magic and real. I'm going to sing some songs unamplified to get that feel."
This special tour will show a side of Owen that few fans see. Accompanied only by bassist Leland Sklar, whose list of credits is as long as your arm, Owen will play piano and sing in a stripped down "living room" configuration. Also expect to hear some new, never-before-heard music that will appear on her upcoming album.
"I want to be able to see and feel the audience", says Owen, "I want the audience to feel like they're back in my living room where it's just me playing my music."
Owen's latest album, 2014's 'Ebb and Flow', evokes the classic female 70's troubadours such as Carole King and Joni Mitchell. Alt Country Netherlands called it, "the best album Joni Mitchell never made," and The Telegraph named it one of the best folk albums of 2014, calling Owen, "an accomplished writer and performer in her own right".
http://www.judithowen.net
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Tour Dates:
Tuesday, September 15th - Portland, OR - Bossanova Lounge - http://bit.ly/1HhEvTI
Wednesday, September 16th - Seattle, WA - Columbia City Theatre - http://bit.ly/1GAxeb2
Saturday, September 19th - Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Café - http://bit.ly/1G20Wtx
Tuesday, September 22nd - Philadelphia, PA - World Café Live - http://bit.ly/1ThnmvB
Wednesday, September 23rd - Boston, MA - Red Room @ Café 939 - http://bit.ly/1BEaV8o
Saturday, September 26th - New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall Room 2 - http://bitly.com/1diNcis
For more information on Judith Owen, please contact Rebecca Shapiro (rshapiro@shorefire.com) or Jon Bleicher (jbleicher@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media: (718) 522-7171