Edinburgh's original open mic night

Peter Michael Rowan

in his own words

Which OOTB performers really rock your boat?

Jess Bryant - sheer individual brilliance. Andy H - the most original, quirky, funny songs. John Hunt - a genius!

Who is the funniest person you ever met?

Jasper Carrott when he was playing the folk clubs. He just walked on and everybody would be howling with laughter.

What's the worst, nails-down-a-blackboard musical experience you've
had?

A french free-form avant-garde version of Space Oddity at a Whistlebinkies open mike. One of the only times I've thrown someone offstage for being awful.

What's the best OOTB performance you've seen?

Lynsey Hutchinson & Mary Robb doing Jack Ketch 2 or 3 years ago. A stunning performance.

What's the best piece of songwriting advice you've ever been given?

It's more songwriting business advice really, but it's 'do a little
something to move you forward every day'. Like make that extra phone call, try & find that line, design that flyer you've been putting off.

Your favourite song(s) of all time ?

The Gypsy by Bob Pegg (of 70's folk-rock band Mr Fox). Describes a romance between a townie and a traveller. She then heads off, and he takes a journey through the Yorkshire Dales to find her (which he does, for one final night together). I followed the route by motorbike one summer, and as I came over the last brow there was a traveller family camped in the field.....

The consumer question: album, book or film you've enjoyed recently.

Film - The Match, Book - McCarthy's Bar, CD - The Beekeeper (Tori Amos)

How would your best review sum you up?

'A rich voice...an obvious talent' MARTIN LENNON Edinburgh Evening News

 

Who would be in your fantasy band?

Susanna Macdonald on co-vocals. Holly Tomás on co-vocals and keyboard. Chris Duncan on bass (as long as he didn't grump too much). Ibby on lead guitar. Norma Dalgleish on drums.

or

Stevie Winwood - keyboards, Ray Cooper - percussion, Danny Thompson - bass, Roy Buchanan - lead guitar, the Teardrop Explodes or Chicago's horn section, Terri Lee Miall & Merrick on drums.

at OOTB

(Mar 2002)
Peter M Rowan is a well-known and respected musician in Edinburgh but he'd never before performed at The Waverley until Thursday. By his own admission, the bearded one writes at the rate of a song a year and he gave us his last three songs from the newest to the oldest. "Didn't Ask Why" is about being in love without doubt and questioning, "Just Wanna Hold You" deals with the intensity associated with lust and "Chasing The Dragon" is about chasing a girl whose Chinese horoscope is the dragon.

(Apr 03)
Peter Michael Rowan is someone that I'm more used to seeing compering his own music nights around the town, so it was nice to see the man playing music for the sheer pleasure of it. The first (for Susanna) was "I Just Want To Hold You", despite my having heard it many times before, it appeared to me as fresh as a new flower, Pete's expertly picked passages acting as a nice counterfoil to the powerful, characterful vocal. I was singing it the next day, I can tell you. His second ("I am the Coachman") was written on a coach to Milton Keynes, and had Pete in an acapella start, before launching into a song where he cast himself as an old-time coach and horses driver, the strumming driving things along like an old coachman with his whip. His third "Chasing The Dragon" I'd also heard Pete play before, but he again confounded me by producing a re-worked jazz-tinged, almost swing version, which knew how to groove. It's sometimes easy to forget just how good a musician Pete is, but this was demonstrated quite beautifully on Thursday.