Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Brand New Developments

Owen's Debut CD - April 22nd 2014


Finally the debut CD by Owen is out, and it only took 20 years! With the exception of the studio recording of ‘Slacker Anthem’, these tracks have never been released before. (Even Slacker Anthem is different; we featured the extended DAT version here!)


 For 17 of these songs, this is their debut. Slacker Anthem has been available on i-Tunes since April 4th 2011, and has been racking up lots of streams, now if we could just generate those into actual sales! (We’re on i-Tunes) The song ‘Has to be’ not only makes its debut here, but we offer three versions. (no apologies as Joe Jackson would say). Track 1 is the studio version with a drum machine, but I think this is my best vocal. Track 6 is the demo version, and track 18 is the final version, which I hated and is the reason the song has never been issued till now.

Owen has two lives; me & Jeremy Chambers (1994-1995) and then me & the full band (Doug Hainer, Andrew Hainer and Steve Wright), 1995-1996. I wish Jeremy and I had been able to record more, he is a great songwriter as the demos on tracks 6 to 13 show. I also had an awesome time at CKMS in Waterloo with the beautiful and talented Celine, which is where we draw tracks 3 to 5. Thanks to Bob Brown for his help with ‘Slacker Anthem’ and ‘Has to be’, I just wish I had more confidence back then. By May 1996 I had that confidence I needed, as the 4 tracks drawn from Owen’s show at Lee’s Palace in Toronto will attest to.

Later, I had such confidence I laughed when Tyson from the Embassy in London suggested we open for Scratching Post. We were the mighty Owen, we weren’t opening for any shitty London band! But, by rejecting that offer, we screwed ourselves in the Forest City. Just another lousy decision of mine!

At any rate, I’m proud to offer you the discerning music buying public these 18 tracks from my past, may they also be my future. (I still wanna rock and roll!)

About the CD cover; you may or may not know that most of my CD covers feature photographs that I myself have snapped. This cover is no exception. The photo is question was taken on July 26 1986 at a family gathering in London. Left to right is my 1st cousin Sherri Dixon, 2nd cousins Heather & Janet Laursen, 2nd cousins Kelly and Kim Laursen, and my sister Lisa Ryerson. The little Owen guy in the center of the photo was created by my daughter Jeanette in 1994. Thanks for reading!
The next Owen CD is planned to be called ‘Back Tracks’ and will feature music from various projects 1990 – 1993 as well as Owen demo’s from the fall of 1994 featuring Adam Arsenault, Stan Antone and Robb Hoyland, and I hope to feature the then-planned single, ‘Rock Star.’

Please visit the Owen blog at http://this-is-owen.blogspot.ca/ and look for all of our music at i-Tunes, Amazon, and of course CD Baby!

Also have a look at my website, http://www.thomasryerson.com/

Tom Ryerson, April 11th 2014.