Review: Shawn Owen

Shawn Owen - S/T (Independent)
Before music consumed Shaun Owen’s life, he was a professional snowboarder, but injuries led him away from the mountains of Colorado to the sandy beaches of the Maryland shoreline. With over a decade of music-making experience, originally with punky-reggae outfit Stolen Element, and latterly under his own name, Owen’s brand of Bob Marley influenced pop with a singer-songwriter flair, is making him a lot of friends and fans at various venues along the east coast.

His new six-track release (eight tracks is you include a couple of ‘clean’ versions tagged on the end) provides a firm introduction to his songs and his style. He gets the ball rolling with “Wanting for Earning”; its assured writing is delivered with a solid, distinctive voice. He’s a pretty good guitarist, too. “Sure” with its combination of stuttering, heavily strummed chords and percussion, takes a couple of spins to sink in, but is well worth the effort, and best of the bunch, “Double Vision”, which won’t be getting used in any booze commercial soon, but raises a wry smile, all the same.
http://shawnowenmusic.com/wordpress/
Rob F.