Ron Sowell

Dance Till the Music Stops

Mountain Soul Records

Music captured the undivided attention of a thirteen-year-old Ron Sowell when  his mother bought him a guitar and paid for lessons at a local music store  around his Roswell, New Mexico hometown. He played in a series of rock bands and folk groups, and upon graduation from Eastern New Mexico University, toured clubs and coffeehouses. Later Sowell moved to West  Virginia, and formed two critically acclaimed bands, The Putnam County  Pickers, and Stark Raven; he recorded four band albums and toured the US, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Crete, Ethiopia, and Greenland. Sowell then joined Mountain Stage as the resident guitar player and eventually became Music Director. Through Mountain Stage, he was heard on nearly 300 radio stations nationwide and has played with luminaries such as Sarah McLachlan, Lyle Lovett, REM, Norah Jones, and many others.

Sowell plays guitar and is accompanied by an ensemble that includes Lars Swanson on bass, and saxophone; Ammed Solomon on drums and  percussion; Ryan Kennedy on 6 and 12 string guitar; Jeff Haught on piano and keyboards; Randy Gilkey on piano, Alasha Al-Qudwha on violin; Joel Guzman on accordion; the horn section of David Porter, trumpet; Alex Caldwell, trombone; and Jeff Carter, clarinet; and backing singers Julie Adams Kira Small, and the great Kathy Mattea.

The opener “Everything That Goes Around” includes some great guitar and  piano as Sowell sings “you may think that you can hurt somebody, do what  you want and then be on your way, but the pain thay you may cause another will return to visit you someday, If you should see your sister troubled, take  your hand and soothe her worried brow, for the love you may need tomorrow will return when you give it now…everything that goes round comes round”.

“It’s All Up To You” features the fabulous horn section “you can be old if you want to…you can be grumpy and lonely…or you can be young if you choose  to, wake up with a smile on your face…laugh away your pains and aches… you get to choose to live or just survive…it’s all up to you”.

“Dance Till The Music Stops”, “Our lives pass by in the blink of an eye, this moment mow is all we’ve got, while the song you hear still whispers in your ear, dance until the music stops…don’t sit this one out, dance till the music stops.”

“There is Only Love” is stripped down and performed by Sowell on guitar, and Haught on melodica, “I used to think God was an old man in the sky, like Santa Claus keeping track of who’s naughty and who’s nice, rewarding behavior with fortune or flood depending on who’s been bad and who’s been good…there is only love”.

“At Home In The World”, “You might wish for houses, money and cars, and  you might want the whole world to know who you are, you can have all those  things it’s true, but there is so much more I want for you, hoping you’re at  peace in your heart, safe in your house…in a family of friends…at home in  your world”.

“Who But A Fool”, “I feel like a stray, that’s lost it’s way, stranded by the side of the road, I feel like a child alone in the wild looking for a hand to hold, I can’t believe my fondest dream is crumbling into dust, I’m facing the fact that your not coming back and I’m still a fool in love”.

“Do You Think It’s That Easy”, “Do you think it’s that easy to just pick up where we left off, do you think I’m a ragdoll who will lie where I’m tossed, do you think a few magic words can bring back all we have lost…do you think it’s that easy”.

“In Search Of Some Creole Soul”, “Dancing on the Dat Dog balcony to the rhythm of the second line, Frenchman Street is alive to the beat…I’ve got  gumbo and tobasco and crawfish etoufee, got a brew in my hand, I’m feeling grand, time to “LEBON TEMP ROULET”.

“I Never Knew (Nunca Sabia)”, I never knew what my heart had in mind, I never knew there was one love just for me to find, but now I see that it’s you no one else could ever do…I always wanted Nunca Sabia”.

“Out There In The Hall/Old Songs”, “Friday nights were a time of magic when I was very small, our house was filled with music like a dream I will recall, the sound of laughter, the smell of coffee, like perfume lingers yet, but when I first heard the sound of a barber shop quartet…those good old songs for me”.

Ron Sowell’s music is kaleidoscopic. On “Dance Till The Music Stops” he explores a wide range of genres as he moves from folk, to jazz, R n’ B, samba, and conjunto to creole. Sowell is succinct about the overall meaning of the album, “it’s about being fully present in every moment, aging is  inevitable, but growing old is optional”. He certainly makes an impression, this is highly recommened listening.