Will Owsley
One of the great unacknowledged Power Pop artists, Will Owsley spent most of his time as Amy Grant’s guitarist and musical director, as well as touring as lead guitarist for Shania Twain. He worked with many artists, including Charlotte Church, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald and Rodney Crowell. He also wrote and produced for many Disney stars – among them Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and the Jonas Brothers – and went back on the road as a guitarist for Amy Grant’s touring band.
In 1998, his debut album, Owsley, was released and distributed by Not Lame Recordings. Co-produced by Millard Powers and Jeff Balding, Universal Music Group picked it up and had it re-released on March 23, 1999. It garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album and would be labeled one of the best pop records of the 1990s.
It all started in the early 90’s; Millard Powers and Will Owsley formed a band called The Semantics, later adding drummer Zak Starkey. The band put together some demo songs and were signed by Geffen Records. In 1993 the Semantics recorded the album “Powerbill” for the label, however, Geffen never released the album in the United States, calling it “too pop for alternative, and too alternative for pop”. With the record stalled the band dissolved, with each band member musically going their own way. This album is currently out-of-print and hard to find.
During this time, musician Amy Grant had heard the recordings of The Semantics and approached Owsley to offer him a job. Owsley then crossed paths with legendary producer Mutt Lange, who hired him to play guitar and sing duets with Lange’s wife Shania Twain on several nationally broadcast television shows. With the money Owsley earned in Nashville, he bought a house and built a recording studio in the home. There he began writing and recording what would eventually become his debut solo album. Will formed a new band under his own name, with Powers on bass, Jonathan Hamby on keyboards and Paul Eckberg on drums.
Throughout 1999 and 2000 Owsley toured the country in support of his record, opening for acts such as Fountains of Wayne and Guster, but Giant fell victim to corporate mergers and was absorbed by Warner Brothers Music. After a great deal of hard work and negotiation, Owsley bought back the rights to his music, and was finally able to put together a new album. In 2004 Owsley partnered with indie music label Lakeview Entertainment, and together they released the aptly named album “The Hard Way”. They chose “Be With You” – the record’s first song – as the first single, and though it received radio air play, it was unable to reach a wider audience. But Will’s gift for lyrics and melody shone through in his many endeavors, whether collaborating in the studio with fellow musicians or lighting up the stage, guitar in hand. Though the world tragically lost Will at the all-too-young age of 44, his spirit will ever live on in the rich legacy he left behind: his music.
In 2011, Vince Gill released the song “Threaten Me With Heaven”, which was co-written with Amy Grant, Owsley and Dillon O’Brian. It was nominated for the 2012 Grammy Awards in the category of “Best Country Song,” which according to Gill is “a lasting tribute to Owsley” and “would have meant the world to him”.