The Drop: Judith Owen

With Special Guests Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar and Waddy Wachtel; Sponsored by AmoebaThat Judith Owen’s new album Ebb & Flow evokes the spirit of the halcyon days of the great 1970s troubadours is not accidental. In a set of potent songs about love and loss, pain and joy, dreams and despair, the Welsh singer-songwriter fearlessly explores the duality of the human condition – and to do justice to the songs she turned to the legendary musicians who created the seventies troubadour sound. Between them her core band of drummer Russ Kunkel, bassist Lee Sklar and guitarist Waddy Wachtel played on many of the landmark albums from the era by the likes of Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne. The songs on Ebb & Flow touch on the deepest emotions of Owen’s own storied life with an unswerving honesty. The theme of how to make it through the darkest night informs several other compositions on the album, including “Under Your Door”, “You Are Not My Friend” and “Train Out Of Hollywood”, songs about emotional vulnerability, but always shot through with glimpses of hope and salvation. A trademark of Owen’s career has been her irreverent ability to subvert well-known songs with unexpected and improbable covers. Over the years she has turned-inside-out songs by the likes of Deep Purple and The Police to render them almost unrecognizable from the originals. Here it’s Mungo Jerry’s 1970 smash hit “In The Summertime” that gets the unique Owen makeover treatment, rendered as it might have sounded if the song had appeared on Joni Mitchell’s Ladies of The Canyon. The result is the most confident and assured album of Owen’s career to date. After immigrating to America in 1993, Ebb & Flow is Owen’s eighth album since her 1996 debut Emotions On A Postcard. Married to the actor and humorist Harry Shearer, in addition to her acclaimed solo work, she has for many years been Richard Thompson’s female foil of choice. Join us in The Clive Davis Theater as we celebrate the new record with our latest installment of the popular The Drop series.  After an interview, moderated by Vice President of The GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares Scott Goldman, Owen will perform along with Kunkel, Sklar and Wachtel.