ABOUT
Ross Owen, an artist based in NYC, grew up performing most daily tasks with an acoustic guitar over his shoulder. Although a funky folker at heart, Owen is a songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and engineer who refuses to limit himself to one genre. Obsessed with the music creation process, he often finds himself fusing acoustic textures such as banjo, open tuned guitars, and world percussion together with sampled, live, or layered drums, soundscapes, and synths. Owen coined the genre "Funky Folk" for his music, not only because of head-bobbing grooves that are present, but also left-field choices that compliment traditional folk tendencies. The postmodern alt-folk sound continues to develop in Owen's catalog, as he merges influences such as Beck, Radiohead, and Wilco with Neil Young, The Doobie Brothers, and Crosby Stills, & Nash.
Owen's newly released album, Deep Breath, Hurry Up (June 28th, 2024) was crafted during his final year studying business at college while simultaneously starting his professional career in music at Atlantic Records as a recording engineer. The album's track listing acknowledges that time is scarce, and thus stresses the importance to live optimistically in the present. Holding arrangements that are delicately ornate yet feel dense with live energy in the instrumentation, Owen produced and mixed the record himself, while also playing the majority of the instruments. Themes including childhood dreams, consumerism, and growing up find themselves spoken through the album's lyrics, with the song 'Two of You' honoring his parents and 'At the Dawn' acting as a check-in with your younger self.
Georgi James and Owen co-released an EP titled Trail Mix in April 2023. Acting as the couple’s love letter to the great outdoors, the collection of songs was inspired by their travels up and down the US’s North East Coast, camping on top of Owen’s Subaru in their rooftop tent. The Aquarian Weekly described the work as “grounded and so atmospheric that it, in itself, celebrates the power of human connection and humbleness this planet grants us” (read the entire article here). Owen and James bring this raw acoustic energy to their live performances, having been harmonizing vocally and playing music with each other for over a decade since they were both teenagers.
Owen has developed his craft as a producer/engineer over time through his own studio albums along with having the privilege to be a part of the process in other artist’s work, such as producing Jessica Browning’s two studio albums Into Me Sea (2021) and Her Odyssey (2023) and engineering across Joe P's album Garden State Vampire (2024). Dwelling between his home studio, Avenue B in New Jersey and Atlantic Record’s studio in Manhattan, he finds himself on both sides of the creative process often, whether it be producing his own material or working with artists on Atlantic’s roster. Being a multi-instrumentalist, he loves to be given the opportunity to perform any instrument in the room and construct the sought-after part that best serves the song. Owen is always utilizing his intuition and creativity alongside knowledge to bring the artist’s vision to life through all steps of the production process.
When not in the studio, it’s safe to assume Owen is camping somewhere in the North East US with partner Georgi James. The outdoors continues to keep Owen grounded on his path as he makes music and finds peace by always holding the planet’s natural offerings up high.
Click here to learn more about Ross’s record label, Virtually Atomic.