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OSWEGO, NY – The Ontario Center for Performing Arts wraps up its spring 2008 Oswego Music Hall season with the authentic Maine music of the Dave Rowe Trio, live at 8 p.m. June 7, in the McCrobie Civic Center, 41 Lake St.
The Dave Rowe Trio is a high-energy musical freight train that blends in-your-face, three part harmony with hot guitar pickin’, jaw-dropping fiddling, and dry Downeast wit.
The result is a show that grabs an audience and makes them hold on for dear life through the final chord of the encore.
The band started soon after Rowe’s father passed away in 2004.
His dad, Tom, was a founding member of the revered folk group, Schooner Fare, and was also his bandmate in the roots band, Turkey Hollow.
Needing some uplifting and a new direction, Rowe asked Kevin O’Reilly and Ed Howe to join him to become the Dave Rowe Trio.
They held their first rehearsal on St. Patrick’s Day in 2004 in front of a live audience.
After this trial by fire, the trio started on a path of CD production and live shows all over the country, recording five critically-acclaimed CDs in three years and leaving audiences from Maine to Milwaukee gasping for air.
At the same time, the boys found themselves performing on stage with some of the brightest stars in folk and acoustic music including Christine Lavin, Tommy Makem, Noel Paul Stookey, The Shaw Brothers, Bill Morrissey, The Nields, Gordon Bok, Tom Paxton, and Schooner Fare.
Rowe began performing professionally with the Makem Brothers when he was 15 years old.
Since then, he has toured both as a solo artist and with many highly regarded acts including both Rowe by Rowe, Don Campbell, Murphy’s Lawbreakers, Maine’s own local-legendary Silver Dollar Band, and now the Dave Rowe Trio.
Howe is a fiddle wünderkind who started to play the instrument at the tender age of 4.
With his younger brother, Thomas, and his engineer father, John,
he performed bluegrass shows all over his home state of Maine with the Howe family band.
Later, he joined rising star Lissa Schneckenburger in a band
called Wake the Neighbors.
He became the driving force behind the band after Lissa left to go to college and continued to play with WTN until he joined the Dave Rowe Trio in 2004.
O’Reilly spent his formative years in local Maine rock bands including many with names unfit for publication (one of the tamest was Love Cactus)  suffice it to say he had a lot of fun.
After several years of trying to make a go of it in rock, he reconciled himself to the fact that there was more money and fame to be gotten as a high school guidance counselor.
So he played at jam sessions and did a few pickup gigs here and there for several years.
It was at a jam session near his home that Rowe first heard him play.
Two weeks later, the Dave Rowe Trio began.
With their varied experiences and influences coming to bear, it is easy to see why this trio is a force to be reckoned with.
One reviewer recently observed “…they are a three-legged Hot Rize with a musical accent, thanks to the superior songwriting and lead voice of Rowe, not to mention the excellent musicianship of all three legs” (Frank Gutch Jr., Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange).
Another referenced the connection to Rowe’s dad and Schooner Fare by saying, “In their youthful zest, pulsing melodicism, and pedal-to-the-metal energy, Rowe and his pals prove there’s nothing retro about carrying on the family name” (Scott Alarik, Boston Globe).
This trio is a fresh, welcome voice in folk and acoustic circles, perhaps best summarized by the comment recently left on the trio’s MySpace page by fellow Maine musician and songwriter, David Phillips, “You guys are perhaps the best live act I’ve ever seen, very fun!” he said.
For more information about the trio, go to www.daverowetrio.com
Admission to this show is payable at the door – $10 for Music Hall members and $14 for non-members.
Children under age 12 are half-price and under five are free.
Call 315-342-1733 for reservations, which are recommended and held
until 7:50 the night of the show.
Please note that reservations can only be made for this show at this time.
Reservations for future shows will be accepted beginning two weeks prior to the show date.
Upcoming Fall Oswego Music Hall shows:
September 20 – Tanglefoot (hell-bent folk) www.tanglefootmusic.com
October 4 – Cheryl Wheeler (contemporary folk) www.cherylwheeler.com
October 18 – Sarah Milanovich
November 1 – David Roth (songwriter extraordinaire) www.davidrothmusic.com
November 15 – Jim’s Big Ego (rocking intelligent folk) www.jimsbigego.com
The Music Hall is an all-volunteer, family-friendly venue featuring
primarily folk and acoustic music.
The atmosphere is intimate with candle-lit tables surrounding a small stage.
Homemade desserts, popcorn and beverages are available for purchase.
Call 315-342-1733 for more information or to be placed on the Music Hall mailing list.
OCPA events are made possible in part with public funding from the New York State Council on the Arts.
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