John Lowell’s musical journey began when he crept into his older sister’s room when he was 12 years old to play her guitar. Since that time, he’s gone on to become a triple threat – he’s a clean, dynamic guitar player, a clear voiced singer and a respected songwriter. He’s lived for over 43 years in Southwest Montana, carving out a music career while living in the mountains of the Yellowstone ecosystem. John’s first endeavor on the guitar was learning John Denver songs, but upon meeting a classmate that played the banjo while in high school, he was bit by the bluegrass bug. While he still enjoys playing bluegrass, his tastes have expanded to most types of acoustic music.
John’s songs have been recorded by several groups, most notably his song about love gone wrong in the Old West – Sarah Hogan. He’s played on Garrison Keillor’s radio show A Prairie Home Companion with his duo The Growling Old Men. He’s played the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival stage for several years with his band Kane’s River, the Telluride stage with Loose Ties, and at the Vancouver Folk Festival with the John Lowell Band along with hundreds of other performances in the last 40+ years in locations from Shetland to San Bernardino. John is a recent graduate of Leadership Bluegrass and is one of only 10 songwriters to perform at this year’s Songwriter Showcase at the IBMA in Raleigh.
John Lowell remained tethered in the Bozeman area for several decades while his children were young and took a few jobs that allowed him to stay connected with his love of guitars and playing – he became the purchasing agent at Gibson Guitars. This allowed him to travel the world and meet many of the luthiers who are still producing gorgeous instruments today including Dan Roberts, Bruce Weber, Kevin Kopp and John Walker. John’s instrumental skill landed him on the cover of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. John has been a working musician for more than 43 years in the Bozeman, Montana area. He’s well known for his work over the years with Medicine Wheel, Wheel Hoss, Deep River, Kane’s River, Loose Ties, the Growling Old Men, the John Lowell Band (a European touring group), Two Bit Franks and the Lone Mountain Trio.
After a solo CD released in 2012 (I Am Going To The West), and multiple releases with the Growling Old Men, Kane’s River, and his own European touring band – the John Lowell Band, it was time to produce a record with friends he’d met along the way.
2018 was spent recording in Lowell’s home studio and contacting a who’s who in music, and the project finally came together. “This Long Stretch Of Gravel” features 11 original songs with collaborators such as (in alphabetical order) Joy Adams, Darol Anger, Ron Block, Becky Buller, Greg Cahill, Chris Coole, Jeremy Garrett, Andy Hall, Chris Jones, Claire Lynch, Stephen Mougin, Joe Newberry, Bill Payne, Missy Raines, John Reischman, Ben Somers, Jason Thomas and Joe K. Walsh. IBMA engineer of the year Ben Surratt mixed the project.
Late 2021 saw the release of John’s most recent recording, “She’s Leaving Cheyenne”. One of his projects during the Covid 19 pandemic, it’s a recording of all cowboy and western songs. John says “I’ve been writing, singing and playing western songs for decades. I don’t know why it took so long for me to record a collection of them, but I’m glad I did”. “She’s Leaving Cheyenne” is a mix of originals, songs written by friends, and a few old familiar chestnuts. It proved to be so popular that it was named Wyoming Public Radio’s recording of the year for 2021. Click Here. 2021 was also the year that he won the grand prize in the Hazel Dickens Songwriting Contest, a national contest sponsored by the DC Bluegrass Union.
Click Here.
In June of 2024, John released his second cowboy and western themed recording entitled “Snow On The Wineglass”. It’s a collection of 11 songs that were all written or cowritten by John (with the exception of one), and he performed all of the cowritten songs with his cowriters. It features the talents of virtuoso pianist and friend Phil Aaberg on the title cut. It was a recording that was eagerly awaited and enthusiastically received.
John is also in great demand as a teacher in the US, Canada, Europe and the UK, and travels abroad to all those countries often to teach at music camps and to tour. In 2023, he retains his title at Sorefingers Music Camp in Cotswald, UK as the guitar teacher who has taught more than any other. He also taught at Nimble Fingers, Montana Fiddle Camp, Targhee Music Camp, Blueberry Bluegrass Festival, his own Fishing Musician camp, Adiaha’s Banjo Camp in Germany and private workshops.
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