As his six-song EP Where Phones Don’t Work continues to impress fans and critics alike, Wade Bowen celebrated the return of his annual charity concert, with the two-day Shiner Bock Presents Bowen Musicfest 2022 Benefitting the Bowen Family Foundation taking place this past weekend at Baylor University’s McClane Stadium Touchdown Alley and raising over half a million dollars for local nonprofits.
Performing along with Bowen himself on Saturday, April 9 were reigning ACM New Male Artist of the Year and fellow Texan Parker McCollum as well as multi-Platinum songstress Deana Carter, while Sunday, April 10 featured performances from reigning ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year winner Lainey Wilson as well as GRAMMY Award-winning band Shenandoah. The musical celebration then closed out the weekend with the ever-popular Wade Bowen & Friends All-Star Jam featuring Josh Abbott, Deana Carter, William Clark Green, Casey Donahew, Stoney LaRue, Jamie Lin Wilson, Lee Roy Parnell and Randy Rogers plus surprise guests Cledus T. Judd, William Beckmann and Cody Jinks.
“When we launched our annual Bowen Musicfest and Bowen Classic golf tournament, I never dreamed that we’d still be at it twenty years and millions of dollars later,” reflects Bowen. “I’m so proud of the way my family, friends and hometown continue to step up with hearts and hands to help make Waco a better place. At the Bowen Family Foundation, we believe that Music Heals and I can’t wait to see the good we can do for the community with the funds raised thanks to this incredible group of musicians.”
To date, the annual Bowen Musicfest has allowed the Bowen Family Foundation to help children and families in and around Waco by raising a total of more than $6 million for beneficiaries including March of Dimes Waco, CASA of McLennan & Hill Counties, City of West Disaster Relief, Boys & Girls Clubs of Waco, Inspiración, The Mentoring Alliance and more.
Bowen took the stage at this year’s event with an arsenal of new music after finding a renewed sense of focus and passion over the past year-plus. “Two decades into his music career, Bowen's music retains a newcomer’s energetic fervor, melded with his signature blend of sounds from across the wide spectrum of Texas music,” praises Billboardof the musical reawakening. Meanwhile, MusicRow reminds us that “the perennially popular” singer/songwriter “can always be counted on for Country excellence” as demonstrated by lead single “When Love Comes Around” and follow-up “Phones Don’t Work,” with the title track celebrated in the publication’s latest “DISClaimer” Awards as “a perfect performance” from the “steadfast, real-country Texan.”
For more information, visit www.WadeBowen.com and follow on Facebook @TheWadeBowen or Twitter and Instagram @WadeBowen.
About Wade Bowen
Twenty years and some 4,000 shows into his career, the name Wade Bowen has become synonymous with authentic Country music – and for good reason. An artistic descendant of American icons like Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen and more, Bowen is a contemporary link in a Texan chain of roots-rock poets stretching back more than 50 years – yet his ambition never ended at the state line.
Seen as one of the genre’s finest and most authentic modern voices, Bowen’s approach stays rooted in tradition, but also stands on the creative cutting edge. His focus remains on writing unique songs with a literary quality and shifting his sonic territory to match his life, as evidenced by uplifting lead single “When Love Comes Around” and follow-up “Phones Don’t Work” off his forthcoming EP, Where Phones Don’t Work, available everywhere now via Thirty Tigers.
Wielding a knack for direct, poetic songwriting that never panders, Bowen matches his gravel-road growl to an organic sound spanning the whole of Texas and beyond, tapping both country and rock influences. A dozen albums have shown his sonic diversity – including six studio sets, two live collections, a gospel album and an ongoing series of buddy-country hits with fellow Texan, Randy Rogers. Along the way, he’s scored hits and accolades based on quality, not quantity, and continues to perform around 200 nationwide shows each year – including multiple appearances on the venerated Grand Ole Opry stage.