Owsley (musician)
William Reese Owsley III (March 6, 1966 – April 30, 2010), known professionally as Owsley, was an American singer and songwriter. His two solo albums won critical acclaim, and his debut album was nominated for a Grammy Award,[1] as was the song "Threaten Me With Heaven".[2] Owsley was also a record producer, a recording engineer, and the guitarist in Amy Grant's touring band.
Will Owsley
William Reese Owsley III
Owsley
March 6, 1966
Anniston, Alabama, U.S.
April 30, 2010 (aged 44)
Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.
Singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, recording engineer
Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, mandolin, pedal steel, mellotron
1985–2010
Not Lame Recordings, Giant Records, Lakeview Entertainment, UMe Digital
Early life and influences[edit]
Owsley was born and raised in Anniston, Alabama, in a musical household. His father was the drum major of the Million Dollar Band, the marching band of the University of Alabama; his mother was a singer and stage actress; his sister was a classically trained pianist, and his brother was a rock guitarist,[3]. Owsley graduated from the Rectory School[4] and attended the Blue Ridge School.
He was a guitarist and singer in the Southeastern rock club band Baghdad in the mid-80s that played both covers and original work,[5] before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1987.[6]
Owsley started playing guitar at age nine. He was a fan of Kiss and of Todd Rundgren, but mostly practiced Eddie Van Halen and Steve Morse licks note-for-note.[7] With his father's mentorship, he played snare drum in the Anniston High School marching band, whilst continuing his passion for guitar, playing in his high school jazz band and in top-40 cover bands at local venues.[3] With his brother, he would play in the band Stormfront. The songs he started writing himself were more in the style of The Beatles. As a guitarist, he also cited influences such as Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix and Robert Johnson.[7]
Career[edit]
Early career and The Semantics (1986–1998)[edit]
Prior to developing his own band and solo work, he was added to the band of Judson Spence, appeared in his various videos on MTV,[6] and was part of Spence's groundbreaking Nashville showcases that landed him 14 label offers. Nashville music executive Scott Siman encouraged Owsley to pursue his own writing and performing, which is why he declined an offer by Amy Grant in the late 1980s to become her guitarist.[8]
Together with Millard Powers, he founded the power pop band The Semantics, which included Jody Spence and Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey. They were signed to Geffen Records by John Kalodner.[8] The band recorded an album entitled Powerbill in 1993, which was never released in the U.S for being "too pop for alternative and too alternative for pop."[9] It eventually got distributed in Japan in 1996.[10] Fine-tuning the album under the tutelage of producer and manager Peter Asher for four years taught him much about the production process[11] and about management.[8] Suddenly being dropped from the label left the band members destitute and broke.[8]
Amy Grant turned out to have heard tapes of The Semantics and she contacted Owsley in 1994 to let him know how much she liked it, and to ask him to join her as her guitarist on the House of Love tour.[6][8] Owsley would subsequently hold the position of tour guitarist for 16 years, until his death.[12] He would later also co-write and record various songs with her.[13][14] Through his work with producer Mutt Lange,[9] Owsley was introduced to Shania Twain. Over the years, he would tour with her as guitarist and harmony singer, with appearances on many national television shows and awards programs.[8][12][15] Owsley went on to work with many mainstream and Christian artists, often in the country genre.[15] During the 1990s, he among others worked with Vince Gill,[14][15] Michael W. Smith,[14] Chris Rodriguez,[14] dc Talk[16] (for whom he also produced),[3] the Neville Brothers,[3] Vanessa L. Williams,[3] and Wynonna.
Personal life[edit]
In sports, Owsley was a University of Alabama football fan. He himself played soccer and lacrosse and competed in cross country running in his formative years. As an adult, Owsley was a reasonably good golfer and tennis player, as well as an outstanding table tennis and billiard player. Whenever he was on tour and playing a club that had a billiard table, he'd often pick-up a game prior to going on stage to perform. He was also a very good horseman and owned several Tennessee Walking Horses over the years.
Owsley had a passion for telling jokes. He was widely known for his sense of humor, as well as being a terrific mimic, skilled at closely imitating people. He also was a fan of card tricks and coin illusion tricks and worked for years to hone his skills in illusion. Whenever he was in Los Angeles, he frequently visited the Magic Castle, located in Hollywood.
Owsley was an American Civil War buff. He was very knowledgeable on the subject and loved to interact with others who were interested in it as well. On many occasions, he helped to reenact specific battles.
Owsley was a Christian and was a member of the Village Chapel in Nashville, TN.
Owsley was an avid collector of vintage guitars, amplifiers, microphones and mic preamps for his studio.[31] At one time, he had a very large collection.
Death[edit]
Owsley died on April 30, 2010, at Williamson County Hospital in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 44.[32] The Tennessean reported the cause of death was "an apparent suicide."[12] He is survived by his two sons Walker (born 1998) and Liam (born 2001) from his previous marriage with Rebecca Walker.[32]
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",[2] which according to Gill is "a lasting tribute to Owsley" and "would have meant the world to him".[33] The song was recorded prior to Owsley's death[33] and was also performed at Owsley's funeral.[2]
The Semantics
Owsley solo