Saturday, November 23, 2019 / 7:00 pm
Doors open at 6:30 pm
Tickets $25.00
LOGAN HOUSE
at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts
The Rowan Brothers
Ken Emerson
The Rowan Brothers are known for their acoustic roots and modern day Americana, influenced by the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - with a splash of Bluegrass-tight harmonies and haunting melodies. The brothers were raised near Boston, but in the beginning of 1970, they moved to the West Coast to pursue their music. In 1971, they opened for the Grateful Dead as their first gig in San Francisco. Signed by Clive Davis, their first album, The Rowan Brothers, was issued on Columbia Records and included such guests including Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead.
Following problems after the first record, they were signed to Asylum Records as The Rowans and issued their next album in 1975, and joined by their more famous brother, Peter Rowan. After releasing three albums as a trio, Peter left the group to pursue bluegrass music.
Since that time, Chris and Lorin have continued playing as a duo, with Peter joining them from time to time.
Ken Emerson is an exceptional guitarist who often performs at the Center, and we are pleased that he is bringing the Rowan Brothers to perform.
Watch Videos:
Circa 1972. The Rowan Brothers perform "Hickory Day"
The Rowan Brothers Perform "Circle of Friends" 2018
Ken Emerson is one of the world's most highly regarded traditional Hawaiian slack key & steel guitarists living today. He is a monster player of both and he switches easily between them during his performances, laying his guitar on his lap and picking up a steel bar for an instrumental interlude. Emerson is famous for his one-of-a-kind slack/steel style playing of vintage acoustic steel bodied National Resonator guitars.
Emerson's unique playing style reflects the Hawaiian guitar's grassroots origins of over a century ago. He has developed his unique style through many musical genres. He has played his special blend of Blues/Jazz Hawaiian guitar for 40+ years. Born into a musical family, Emerson grew up with his fathers’ extensive record collection of jazz, swing, Hawaiian and world music styles.
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Emerson played the folk and blues songs of the early ‘60s, a lefty learning right hand finger-style techniques that led to his development as a finger-style picker. With the explosion of the San Francisco sound of the mid-later ‘60’s Ken also immersed himself into rock and electric blues styles. He was particularly drawn to bottleneck and slide guitar.
In 1968 Ken’s family moved to Hawaii. Absorbing the Hawaiian culture, Ken began studying Hawaiian language and music emulating the players of the 1920’s and ‘30s era by listening to vintage Hawaiian 78 rpm records, zeroing in on the jazz and blues styles of Sol Ho’opi’i and Sol K. Bright. Soon Emerson was playing alongside such legendary performers as Gabby Pahinui, Genoa Keawe, Raymond Kane, Moe Keale and Auntie Alice Namakuela.
Emerson won the prestigious Kahili Award for perpetuating Hawaiian culture, and was a featured artist and composer on the first-ever National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Grammy Award winning Best Hawaiian Album. Emerson's playing was also featured on Donald Fagen's (Steely Dan) Grammy Award winning Morph the Cat. He has many additional touring/recording credits including Jackson Brown, Boz Scaggs, Charlie Musselwhite, Taj Mahal, and Elvin Bishop.
Emerson has helped lead the way in resurrecting the traditions of vintage Hawaiian music, tapping into classic jazz & blues influences along the way. Emerson has performed on at least a dozen Cord International - Hana Ola Records compilations with five solo releases on that label. Dividing his time between Kaua’i and San Francisco, Ken plays many Hawaiian venues and festivals and frequently tours the United States as well as Europe and Asia.
