story by Sean Foran
photo by Scott Thompson

If you stumble upon a Todd Bowie show, rest assured the Thin White Duke hasn't spawned a love child. This local artist is actually a descendent of early American frontiersman Jim Bowie, and maintains the survival skills to back up the lineage. A multi-instrumentalist, Bowie spent years on the road fronting bands and touring as a guitar tech for the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Beck and the Flaming Lips. Making the move from backstage to front, Bowie released LuckySpacePeople on Machine Records, offering up one of the elite local discs of 2004.

"Working as a technician was actually a means of survival," said the musician from his home in Lake Geneva, Wis. "I was hungry to learn about production and threw myself into it. All the time though I wanted to be playing in a band again." The journeyman also acquired vital experience working at a studio co-owned by Glen Fry in Los Angeles. "When I wasn't gigging, I was writing and recording a lot and had plenty of time to work on my production skills."

Equally important to his current success, Bowie witnessed firsthand the chemistry and dedication it takes to perform at heightened levels. "I was inspired by watching and working directly with those artists," remembered the singer. "The Eagles were a very dynamic band that taught me a lot about rehearsal habits. They would sit around what they called the 'circle of doom' before gigs and during practice, just hashing out vocal harmonies for hours. That's why they sounded so good. They spent the time perfecting their music." (Ashlee Simpson, you might want to take a few notes…)

BOWIE'S INNER VIEW "The record tries to mirror life's trials and tribulations. Sometimes depression is fuel for the best music in the genre I write in and pain is unfortunately the best vehicle to bring out the beauty in those songs."

Bowie's close relationship with Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh gave him his first lesson in stage fright. "I used to have to bring out Joe's Les Paul for his talk box solo on 'Rocky Mountain Way,'" reminisced Bowie. "In front of about 80,000 people I got my glasses, which were attached to a rope around my neck, tangled with his guitar. We were tugging back and forth for a few minutes and I'm freaking out. I see Don Henley staring at me out of the corner of his eye and Joe's cracking up, just enjoying me in terror. I finally said, 'fuck it' and took my glasses off and walked away. He did the whole solo with them swinging back and forth from his guitar. At least the video director gave me a tape of it."

While on a recent tour with Beck and the Lips, Bowie was persuaded by his manager, Chris Buttleman, to assemble eleven of his 200 songs for an album. The road warrior camped out with John Munson (Semisonic), Derek Crawford (Starch Martins) and Verve Pipers Donny Brown and Doug Corella at Buttleman's Victorian home studio in Lake Geneva. "It was our version of the Exile on Main Street recordings," laughed Bowie. "We used the entire house. The control room was in the basement and we ran snakes up the stairs to all the different rooms. It was a blast."

LuckySpacePeople marks the ascension of a musician graduating from apprentice to master craftsman. Layering stomping piano melodies with sublime string arrangements, Bowie is equally adept behind the boards as he is with the numerous instruments he contributes to the album. The end result is a deeply personal diary of his path to the present. "I've been through a lot," recalled the singer. "The record tries to mirror life's trials and tribulations. Sometimes depression is fuel for the best music in the genre I write in and pain is unfortunately the best vehicle to bring out the beauty in those songs."

Bowie, however, packages a luminous output, tinged with lustrous melodies that evoke Revolver-era Beatles. Songs like "Victoria" and "Eiffel" are hook-heavy pearls that satisfy a healthy craving for radiant pop music.

Bowie will remain busy, touring and producing throughout 2005. The record is receiving airplay on several college radio stations and selling copies in Japan, which should keep the New Hampshire native agreeably at center stage. "I'm at a point in my life where I love what I do and can't stop doing it," mused the frontman. "I'm a prisoner to it but there's no better feeling than getting up there, feeling confident and just bashing it out. If I can move a few people like I've been moved by music and scrape out enough to eat, that's fine with me."

Todd Bowie :: Schubas :: January 11.