Sentimental Favorite

You've probably heard of Amy Grant, Shania Twain, Kenny Loggins, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers. Heck, you may even know who Ben Folds is. What about Will Owsley? No? Ok, some of you out there may know of him, but for most of the world he's not a household name. And that's what adds to the sadness in hearing the news that he committed suicide last night.

Will Owsley made his musical mark largely under the radar of the public, having played in Amy Grant's band for years. This led to other high profile gigs playing and singing with Shania Twain on TV appearances and, more recently, with Kenny Loggins. But, while Owsley established himself in Nashville, he wasn't a country artist. The Anniston, Alabama native grew up teaching himself Eddie Van Halen guitar solos by ear and in the early '90s formed the power pop band, The Semantics, with Millard Powers and Ben Folds (on drums, of all things). Folds left to form the Ben Folds Five and was replaced by Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr. With their debut album recorded, the record company decided the shelve it. The album, "Powerbill," was eventually released in Japan and was well-received by critics, but without label backing the album went nowhere and band split up.

Will and Millard joined Amy Grant's touring band and Owsley managed to save enough to record his first solo album. The record, simply titled, "Owsley," was released in 1999 and, with his Cars and Wings influences evident, was heralded by power pop fans, but still failed to gain him deserved notariety. Never the less, the album garnered Owsley a Grammy nomination for Engineering.

Owsley contributed a song to The Cars tribute album, "Substitution Mass Confusion," and also recorded a faithful cover of Wings' "Band On The Run" for a Paul McCartney tribute.

He returned to his bread and butter gig with Grant and five long years passed before the release of his second album, "The Hard Way," in 2004. The title track was featured in the failed Rob Lowe series "Dr. Vegas." Again, despite critical acclaim, the album didn't catch on. His cover of "Band on the Run" turned up on "The Hard Way" as a hidden bonus track. Owsley then, attempting to embrace the future of music, joined Universal Music Digital, becoming one of the first artists to be signed to an all digital deal. He would release double A-side digital singles to outlets such as iTunes. The first of these was "Psycho"/"Upside Down." It was also the last. Other songs were known to have been completed, but never released. I asked him about this in an online chat a few years ago and he confirmed he had more material ready, but had to continue earning a paycheck elsewhere to support his family, including an autistic son.

In recent years, Owsley became a session musician for Disney, where he co-wrote, played guitar and sang on the albums of several teen sensations, such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and The Jonas Brothers. He played the mandolin that strums through most of Miley's "7 Things."

Owsley co-wrote a song with Amy Grant and Vince Gill with the intent to sell the demo for another artist to rerecord. It hasn't turned up yet as far as I know, but Owsley's demo for the song, called "When Lonely Comes Around," was leaked and is, at the moment, Owsley's swan song. Though, in light of his passing, I have a feeling his unreleased material will surface.

As an artist, Will Owsley was a much underappreciated pop rock genius. I'm still in disbelief that he's gone. He will be greatly missed.