Photo credit: David McClister
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
My tour vehicle right now is a tour bus and I’m thankful for it. I’ve had so many different crazy tour vehicles over the years, including an extended cab pickup truck back in the day when we first started pulling a 5×8 trailer. This tour bus right now has probably 500,000-600,000 miles on it.
I don’t have any notable breakdown stories, other than the typical ones you always hear – where we’ve gotta rush to make it to a show. We had one where we broke down in Amarillo, had to get to Austin for a show with Randy Rogers, and we had to hop on a bus, then meet in Fort Worth, and hop on another bus to actually make the show. So, it’s not fun to break down. I try to put it out of my mind!
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
I usually just try really hard to stay away from the carbs, which is usually the easiest way to eat healthy. But, you know, late night Whataburger always sneaks up on you every now and then.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I’ve gotten to where I maybe break one string a year, if that. It doesn’t happen a whole lot and it doesn’t cost much to replace the strings thankfully, probably about $15 a set.
Where do you rehearse?
Rehearsal space is different for every single thing we are trying to rehearse. Sometimes we’ll rehearse at an actual rehearsal studio and sometimes we’ll just rehearse in the front lounge of the bus, depending on what we’re trying to work through. A lot of times we’ll knock it out at sound check because as much as we’re on the road, we are always rehearsing trying to figure it out and I’m always throwing in new songs, something different for that night. So we’re always working on stuff to make the show fun for us and fun for the fans.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Oh gosh, the title was called ‘Before You Go’ and it’s ironic, I actually wrote it for a buddy for his girlfriend. It was a love song – ‘just say you love me before you go.’. They did not work out, so I guess my song was not good.
Describe your first gig.
My first gig was at my uncle’s restaurant in Waco, Texas. Me and my buddy Matt Miller sat in the corner and pretty much played to only family. Of course, obviously, that’s what you do when you first start out. That was the summer before I went off to my sophomore year in college, and then we took that and ran with it and started a band and started playing – I’ve been playing every day since. So thank you to my Uncle Bob for his help getting me my first gig!
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Well I grew up working with my dad – Bowen Electric. My grandfather started Bowen Electric in 1955, my dad took it over and I worked with him from age 12 on. I credit my dad for making me crawl in attics and underneath houses as why I play guitar instead. That was my favorite day job.
Other than that, when I was in college playing shows and going to school, I was also an assistant maintenance man at an old folks’ apartment complex and I used to get tipped with Hershey bars and stuff for carrying grocery bags up for older ladies. It was awesome, I’ll never forget it.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
Oh gosh, it’s changed a lot. The money changes, the touring changes, all that always changes. I would say the first 5-10 years changed way more than the last 5-10 years. I mean, just our travel vehicle alone. Like I said, we went from an extended cab pickup truck all the way to a tour bus, and multiple tour buses since then. So it’s changed quite a bit and hopefully in the next 5-10 years it would be nice if it kept going up, but you know at this point success is all relative and I feel pretty good about where we are and where we’ve been. So I’m happy.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
I wish I would have had a little more patience probably. It’s always a blessing and a curse, but I was so ready to move to the next step, move to the next step, move up, move up. And I considered that mindset as me working hard, but I wish I would have been more patient and just enjoyed it just a little bit more. I’ve always enjoyed my career and had a lot of fun, but I do wish I would’ve taken a little more time to smell the roses, if you know what I mean.