When someone refers to a musician as multi-faceted, they often mean one who would best be described as a singer/songwriter or a multi-instrumentalist. But what about musicians who bring their outside interests into their music? Musicians like Sean Rowe, whose music and interest in the natural world combine to create something truly unique.
Sean Rowe is an American singer-songwriter, musician, recording artist, and forager. A writer of heartfelt songs strongly rooted in singer-songwriter tradition, Rowe is an avid naturalist and renowned forager, and often speaks of his fascination with the woods and his connection to the land. You might recognize him from appearances on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” or heard his song, “To Leave Something Behind” featured in the 2016 film, “The Accountant”.
This Adirondack raised baritone would not be out of place at a rock show, or your local farmers market. I spent some time with Sean talking about his music, his successful Youtube series, and most interestingly, his love of foraging, and how all those topics intertwine to create his unique approach to Americana.
Montana Munoz : Hey Sean! Glad we could chat for a bit, just wanted to say i’m quite excited to be talking with you today. I just wanted to start off by saying I really like your song “Squid Tattoo”. I played it the other day at home and my Dad has put it on in the car at least 10 times now.
Sean Rowe : Oh thanks so much!
MM: How would you describe yourself or really, describe your music for someone who may not know who you are?
SR: In terms of conveniently looking me up in a genre it would probably be Americana or Folk, although ‘Folk’ is such a loose word. It encompasses a lot of music and has certain connotations that I would say is not so fitting to my music but I guess if you look up Alternative Folk or Americana I would probably be lumped into that category.
MM: As for musical influences what music did you grow up listening to that you feel has kind of influenced you as a musician yourself?
SR: Certainly older country music in terms of Johnny Cash and that whole “outlaw” vibe like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Also some 50s and 60s music my dad was listening to a lot when I was a kid cause that’s the era he grew up in. It is a weird thing though because that was from very early on when I was about 7 or 8, those were my musical memories but my teen years it was more like hard rock, metal kind of of a thing because that is what I was exposed to. But then I came back around to the earlier stuff as I got into my younger 20s so I’d say definitely early 60s music, the whole Folk movement in the 60s, Leonard Coen for sure, Bob Dylan, etc. It is a really a blend of American music, like Rhythm and Blue’s, that was my foundation.
MM: Oh I definitely get that vibe from you! Very Jim Morrison songwriting meets Johnny Cash sounds! So, tell me a little bit about your songwriting process. Do you usually start with an idea and then build from there, do you start from some chords and do you build the lyrics around it, or does it change with every song?
SR: It can change, 9 times out of 10 I’m writing the music before I write the lyrics, not always the case but for the most part thats the way it is for me. Honestly the best stuff seems to come when I’m not looking for it. I might be practicing some other song and for whatever reason I’ll start playing this chord progression that I’ve never played before in that order or sequence and then something jumps out about that, being like a separate entity in itself and it makes me want to record that and just try to find out what its saying. Songwriting for me is almost what I would imagine what its like for someone who scupts, and someone who has this raw medium and inside the medium they see something thats alive and they just have to get down to it. They just have to chip away for this thing they see in their mind. Thats the way it is for me. I’ll listen to a piece of music that I’ve written that doesn’t have words and I’ll listen back to it and to get an idea of what its trying to say.
MM: Awesome! I always love to ask songwriters about their process because it really is so different for everyone. So next i was wondering, what do you think music, especially as like a vehicle, mean to you. Is it a way that you can express yourself creatively, is it storytelling, is it just something that is fun and you’re good at?
SR: Well for me, its all of the things you mentioned. A lot of it is a kind of a transference of energy. This feeling of release. People have different things they release with, some of them are healthy and some are unhealthy but music is a very healthy release. And it might not be so specific, like I am writing about a specific topic or anything to just get it out there; it might be just a general feeling that I need to pick up the guitar and just transform that energy in my spirt into this instrument that has its own language. I think at its core it is just a release and its a beautiful release.
MM: Something I noticed when I was doing some research on you, is you’re really into foraging which i think is awesome. You even offer foraging classes! So how did you get into that? Did somebody introduce it to you?
SR: So I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, that part of the country and as a kid I was just always kind of intrigued by nature. I always wanted to be inside of it in other words. It was never enough for me to just go to a museum and look at nature as kind of an abstract thing; I always wanted to be inside of it. So I ended up learning with other people who would be considered “experts “in the field of like you know Wilderness Living and and survival skills and especially foraging. I’ve taken a lot of courses and I’ve done all that but I’ve also done some experimenting on my own. Foraging is so universal. Almost everybody was a forager at one point in history and it’s almost like fire. Foraging is almost like as the feeling of fire in terms of like the way people can gaze into fire and and tap into something otherworldly almost. And it really taps me into what it means to be human, as well as being something I can do everyday which is good because it can be very addictive!
MM: So you have a very entertaining YouTube Series called “Can I Eat This?”, in which you and guest musician go out foraging, with your instruction of course, and create a pretty interesting meal, topped off by a musical performance together. What inspired that series?
SR: I think of a couple of things, and this is changing, but I don’t think wild food sas always been represented well on the screen. You know at its core, foraging is just so fun, you’re just going out, and finding food to eat, but the way its been portrayed is bland. So I wanted to create something that one, was entertaining and captured peoples eyes and attention. But I also wanted it to be informative and have some substance in the material. So the music came into play because I wanted to sort of tie these two things that are universal experience: Music and Eating.
MM: Oh I completely understand. I definitely had some misconceptions about foraging and more “traditional” food tasks like canning and such until I met my Mother-in-law, and she quickly educated me right! So I could have used your series a few years ago!
MM: Do you think having this special interest in foraging and more, I don’t want to say naturalist, but enjoying a more natural feel for things, do you think that in that influences your music in any way?
SR: Yeah I would say so, I mean certainly conceptually you know in terms of like writing music and lyrics there’s a lot of like naturalistic elements in my songs. There’s also a lot of like metaphors that I use that you would consider taking a sort of naturalistic approach.
MM: Alrighty so just a few more questions for you, being in a time where many would consider a lot of music mechanical, do you feel that it is important to keep your music almost as organic as possible?
SR: Yes I do. I try to keep my music almost as untouched as I can and how I wrote it, and its why I often record more acoustic performances of my music to share.
MM: Awesome! So I noticed that you do a lot of “House concerts” where your fans can book you directly to come to their house or event and you perform these intimate shows. Why do you focus on these instead of traditional touring?
SR: Well you hit it right on the head, it’s more intimate this way. It allows me to connect with people who listen to my music in a much more organic way and I’m able to almost feel the essence of the music flow through people, and receive that flow of energy back.
MM: Do you think these house shows help you as a musician?
SR: Oh, absolutely. Like I said the energy I get from these performances really drives me and makes me want to write and perform more.
MM: Sounds great! Ok so to wrap us up, what can we expect from you in the future to look forward too?
SR: Well really, I just want to continue writing and performing. Obviously I’d love to make more episodes of “Can I Eat This” and keep recording my performances. I think in the long run, I’d like to make more music for movies and such, but right now that’s for later.
MM: Alright Sean any last parting words for us?
SR: It’s all about the music, just living life and enjoying what comes along.
For more information on Sean, please visit his website.
