Bob
Bowman performs intricate, classical-inspired arrangements of traditional
Celtic and American music from the past 300 years interspersed with familiar
jazz and pop standards, tunes by friends, and his own original music composed
over the past 35 years. His solo guitar style is reminiscent ‘60’s
British Isles musicians Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, and Davy Graham, with
influences from a diverse lot of American guitarists such as John Fahey,
Lenny Breau, and Eric Schoenberg.
Bob’s instrumental style appeals to all ages and provides a wonderful
accompaniment to fine dining, gallery openings, receptions, and more.
For more than three decades Bob has been respected for his guitar,
banjo, and mandolin work as a soloist and with
various vocalists and groups, including the popular Celtic band, Kitchen
Junket. He has recorded several solo instrumental soundtracks for
documentary films and, at last, is recording a CD, planned for release
in the spring (2010).
After a long break from live performing, Bob began appearing in restaurants
and events in eastern Maine and Canada in the spring of 2009. Affordable
and in demand, he regularly plays six to eight gigs a week.
Bob mostly grew up on Little Cranberry Island, Maine (featured in the
documentary, The Cranberry Report) where he
was a ferry captain. An accomplished marine wildlife researcher,
he travels the world as an advisor on scientific and conservation technology.
Bob and his wife, Cate, a teacher, divide their time year-round between
a barely restored 150 year old cabin on Mount Desert Island, Maine and
a home near St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada.
Technical stuff Bob approaches live muscial appearances as a partnership with venue
owners to provide an affordable, quality experience for the audience.
Booking agreements are based on actual costs logically suited to each situation
and space. He actively promotes his public performances in Internet
and newspaper calendars.
Bob provides a professional sound system for rooms from 20 to 200 people.
His innovative use of wireless technology permits flexible speaker placement
(without cables) and the ability to transmit a high-quality signal directly
to any in-house sound system for distribution throughout a restaurant,
gallery, garden, or other non-traditional or multi-room performance space.
In performance, Bob is set up in minutes and requires only floor space
for a stool with access to an electrical outlet.
Bob performs on a guitar built for him in 1985 by Dana
Bourgeois. He also plays a 1919 Vega Whyte Laydie six-string
banjo, a 1956 Martin 0-18, a 1994 Lowden O-12c, a 2000 Weber Beartooth
octave mandolin, and a 1923 Vega Tubaphone tenor banjo.
Selected
film performances: The Rock; original film soundtrack; Maine Public Broadcasting
Network (1985)
Ashley Bryan: Portrait of a Storyteller; original music;
National Geographic (1988)
Our Stories; original film soundtrack; Maine Public Broadcasting
Network (1998)
Amazing Coastal Creatures: original film soundtrack;
Forged Image Productions (2004)
In his day job, Bob is a consultant on marine mammal issues,
specializing in aiding the fishing industry and government with large-whale
entanglement mitigation and disentanglement in the US, Canada, Australia,
and Africa.
Bob
Bowman performs intricate, classical-inspired arrangements of traditional
Celtic and American music from the past 300 years interspersed with familiar
jazz and pop standards, tunes by friends, and his own original music composed
over the past 35 years. His solo guitar style is reminiscent ‘60’s
British Isles musicians Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, and Davy Graham, with
influences from a diverse lot of American guitarists such as John Fahey,
Lenny Breau, and Eric Schoenberg.
with
various vocalists and groups, including the popular Celtic band, Kitchen
Junket. He has recorded several solo instrumental soundtracks for
documentary films and, at last, is recording a CD, planned for release
in the spring (2010).
