After growing up in rural Minnesota, Bowe became part of the burgeoning rock scene in early 1980s Minneapolis which spawned Hüsker Dü and The Replacements,[11] fronting alternative rock and Americana bands including The Dads,[12] Summer of Love,[13] and The Revelators.[14] His career began when his Revelators song "Riverside" was covered by Kenny Wayne Shepherd on his platinum-selling album Ledbetter Heights[5] leading to a songwriting contract with rock legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1997.[15] Bowe discovered blues guitarist Jonny Lang, then still a teenager, at a blues jam in Fargo, North Dakota.[16] He contributed songs for Lang's breakthrough hit albums Lie To Me in 1997[3] and the Grammy-nominated Wander This World in 1998.[4] The next year, Bowe made his debut as a producer with another teenage blues guitarist, Shannon Curfman's Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions.[17]
Bowe's most famous work has been as a songwriter for other artists. He co-wrote four songs on Etta James’ 2003 Grammy-winning album Let's Roll,[18] including "The Blues Is My Business," which was later covered by E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt on his solo record Soulfire.[19] Other notable songs include "Sault Ste. Marie", covered by Three Dog Night[20] as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Dead Man Walkin'" (co-written with the band) on the 2003 album Vicious Cycle.[21][22]
Bowe has a longstanding friendship and working relationship with Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg, having begun as contemporaries starting out in the Minneapolis music scene.[23] Bowe's band The Dads were the headliners at the earliest known recorded live performance of the Replacements, at Minneapolis club Jay's Longhorn Bar in July 1980.[24] He played guitar in Westerberg's solo touring band His Only Friends in the early 2000s,[1][2][12][25] and joined the Replacements in 2012 to record the six-song EP Songs for Slim.[26] The band also recorded at Bowe's home studio around that time, though none of the material from those sessions has yet been released.[27]
Besides Westerberg, Bowe (often with his band Okemah Prophets) has also frequently been a touring or live backing musician for Freedy Johnston[28] and the Jayhawks' Gary Louris.[29] Bowe has produced records by several notable Minneapolis bands, including indie-folk band Communist Daughter's 2016 album, The Cracks That Built the Wall,[30][31][32] and punk group Suicide Commandos' comeback album Time Bomb.[33][34]
Work as a primary performer
Bowe has released five albums with his roots-rock band the Okemah Prophets, most recently Every Part of the Buffalo. 2012's Natchez Trace included a song co-written with Westerberg, "Everybody Lies,"[23] and guest performances by Westerberg, the Meat Puppets, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline; Communist Daughter's Johnny Solomon and Molly Moore; Jayhawks drummer Tim O'Reagan, Freedy Johnston, Chuck Prophet, Phil Solem of the Rembrandts, and Bob Dylan violinist Scarlet Rivera[35][28][36] The band is named after folk singer Woody Guthrie's birthplace, Okemah, Oklahoma.[37] The band has received critical praise for Bowe's songwriting, which No Depression magazine says is "criminally catchy."[38]
Personal life
Bowe also taught music and audio production at Minneapolis' Institute of Production & Recording.[30] His wife, Ruth Whitney Bowe started Fine Line Music Cafe, a Minneapolis nightclub in 1987 and owned it until 1990.[39] The couple began dating shortly after Bowe performed at the club around the time of its opening.[9]Prince asked her later to help him open another club in downtown Minneapolis, Glam Slam.[40][41]
