Owsley

William Reese Owsley III (March 6, 1966 – April 30, 2010), known professionally as Owsley, was an American singer and songwriter. His two solo albums won critical acclaim, and his debut album was nominated for a Grammy Award, as was the song "Threaten Me With Heaven". Owsley was also a record producer, a recording engineer, and the guitarist in Amy Grant's touring band.

Early life and influences Owsley was born and raised in Anniston, Alabama, in a musical household. His father was the drum major of the Million Dollar Band, the marching band of the University of Alabama; his mother was a singer and stage actress; his sister was a classically trained pianist, and his brother was a rock guitarist. Owsley graduated from the Rectory School and attended the Blue Ridge School.

He was a guitarist and singer in the Southeastern rock club band Baghdad in the mid-80s that played both covers and original work, before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1987.

Owsley started playing guitar at age nine. He was a fan of Kiss and of Todd Rundgren, but mostly practiced Eddie Van Halen and Steve Morse licks note-for-note. With his father's mentorship, he played snare drum in the Anniston High School marching band, while continuing his passion for guitar, playing in his high school jazz band and in top-40 cover bands at local venues.

Together with Millard Powers, he founded the power pop band The Semantics, which included Jody Spence and Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey. They were signed to Geffen Records by John Kalodner. Fine-tuning the album under the tutelage of producer and manager Peter Asher for four years taught him much about the production process and about management. He would later also co-write and record various songs with her. Through his work with producer Mutt Lange, Owsley was introduced to Shania Twain. Over the years, he would tour with her as guitarist and harmony singer, with appearances on many national television shows and awards programs. During the 1990s, he among others worked with Vince Gill, (for whom he also produced), In 1998, it led to the release of his self-titled solo album distributed by Not Lame Recordings. The eponymous album Owsley got re-released on March 23, 1999, under Giant Records.

Many of the songs on the album are about Anniston, Alabama, where he was born and lived until he was 21, ) tape machine in his home studio on Hobbs Road in Nashville, Tennessee, it garnered him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album. During the ensuing tour, he among others joined the Pat McGee Band whose bassist Adam Schlesinger Owsley recorded with in later years.

The Hard Way (2004)

Owsley released his second album, The Hard Way, on the indie record label Lakeview Entertainment on February 24, 2004, five years after his first solo album. It was ready in 2003, but got delayed in part due to legal difficulties with his former label, Giant Records. The album had a heavier and more mature sound compared to his debut. It was entirely mixed by Paul David Hager, and dedicated to Owsley's maternal grandmother, the late Alys O. Boozer. was included as a hidden track.

Psycho / Upside Down (2005) In 2004, he entered into an agreement with UMe Digital, a new label in the Universal Music Group, and the first major label to distribute music only through digital downloads. It led to the release of the combined single Psycho / Upside Down in 2005. That same year, Owsley contributed the cover song "Got a Lot on My Head" to Substitution Mass Confusion, a tribute album in honor of The Cars.

Session work (2005–2010) Will Owsley laying down a guitar track at the Bennett House studio. In the 2000s (decade), Owsley continued work as a session guitarist, (backing) vocalist, mandolin player and less frequently as bassist and keyboardist. He among others recorded with Faith Hill, He played various instruments on Chris Sligh's 2008 album Running Back to You In the last two years of his life, Owsley occasionally worked as a session guitarist for Andy Sturmer's movie soundtracks. In 2009, Owsley made a version of "When Lonely Comes Around" (Grant/Owsley), sung and recorded by himself, available to fans for free. Also in 2009, Owsley co-produced and played on Popfilter Boston's debut release Pop This.

Personal life In sports, Owsley was a University of Alabama football fan. He played soccer and lacrosse and competed in cross country running in his formative years. As an adult, Owsley was a golfer and tennis player, as well as a table tennis and billiard player. Whenever he was on tour and playing a club that had a billiard table, he'd often pick-up a game prior to going on stage to perform. He was also a horseman and owned several Tennessee Walking Horses over the years.

Owsley had a passion for telling jokes. He was widely known for his sense of humor, as well as being a terrific mimic, skilled at closely imitating people. He also was a fan of card tricks and coin illusion tricks and worked for years to hone his skills in illusion. Whenever he was in Los Angeles, he frequently visited the Magic Castle, located in Hollywood.

Owsley was an American Civil War buff. He was very knowledgeable on the subject and loved to interact with others who were interested in it as well. On many occasions, he helped to reenact specific battles.

Owsley was a Christian and was a member of the Village Chapel in Nashville, TN.

Owsley was an collector of vintage guitars, amplifiers, microphones and mic preamps for his studio.

Death Owsley died on April 30, 2010, at Williamson County Hospital in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 44. The Tennessean reported the cause of death was "an apparent suicide." The song was recorded prior to Owsley's death recorded his own version of Upside Down (Morgan, Dillon O'Brian, Owsley) as the opening track for Wonderlight (2004).