Kevin Bowe
singer • songwriter • instrumentalist • producer

Kevin Bowe is a writer/producer whose songs have sold over 12 million units in the last few years. He got his start in the Minneapolis music scene that spawned Prince, The Replacements and Husker Du in the 1980’s. After being discovered at a club gig by uberproducer David Z (Prince, Fine Young Cannibals, Big Head Todd), Kevin began writing for other artists. His first cut ("Riverside" on Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s Warner Bros. debut "Ledbetter Heights") went gold and led to a major publishing deal. Kevin became the first writer signed by legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in over twenty years.

On a typically sub zero February night in a charming little town we like to call Fargo, Kevin had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time; he was the first out of towner to hear a 13 year old blues prodigy named "Kid" Jonny Lang. One sound check was all it took and they became friends and writing partners. When he invited Lang to Minneapolis they hooked up with David Z and a writing/producing team came together that resulted in two platinum albums on A&M Records, including the top 5 single/video "Breakin’ Me". Word got out about Kevin’s writing leading to collaborations with Leo Kottke, Robben Ford, The Rembrandts, Peter Case, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dan Wilson (Semisonic), Richie Sambora, Chuck Prophet, John Mayall, Three Dog Night and Delbert McClinton.

You can take the punk out of Minneapolis but.... whatever. In 2005 Kevin (to the dismay of thousands of other more gifted guitarists) became the lead guitarist for Paul Westerberg & His Only Friends on their US tour.

Kevin’s first production credit appeared on Shannon Curfman’s Arista debut "Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions"; he wrote seven songs for the album including the single/video "I Don¹t Make Promises". He also wrote four songs on Etta James’ RCA release ³Let¹s Roll² which won the Grammy for best blues album. The move into producing has proved successful as well; Kevin¹s demos got Shane Henry signed to Shanachie Records and he produced Shane’s debut album "Deliverance" as well as Renee Austin’s Blind Pig debut "Sweet Talk", her follow up release and Tommy Castro’s #2 charting album "Soul Shaker" which Billboard calls his "best ever".

The world of film and television has embraced his work as well; Kevin’s songs have been featured in many movies and shows like The Sopranos, Where The Heart Is, Steal This Movie, The Tonight Show, Letterman, Boston Public, The Young & the Restless, Austin City Limits, ESPN, VH1, CMT and MTV.

Kevin’s latest studio projects include developing artists like Joanne Shaw Taylor (UK soul rocker) and Caroline Smith (indie pop singer/songwriter). He is also scoring for television, writing frequently in Nashville and producing several regional midwestern bands.

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The Okemah Prophets
Kevin Bowe • songs, guitar, vocal Andy Dee • steel, guitar, tic tac
Marv Gohman • fiddle, mandolin Dik Shopteau • bass John "Bongo" Haga • drums

The Okemah Prophets (Oh-kee-mah) are a group of loose cannons out of Minneapolis, led by singer/songwriter Kevin Bowe. The group came together for a showcase of Kevin’s songs at SXSW ’98 in Austin, Texas. It worked so well that the band started doing shows in Minneapolis (including bookings with BR549, Jonny Lang, Czech folk stars Druha Trava, Peter Case, Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie, Semisonic, Jayhawks, Los Lobos and Bob Mould), and released a CD, RESTORATION. The album includes songs Kevin has written with Leo Kottke and Duane Jarvis along with guest shots by Jonny Lang and Shannon Curfman. The band returned to perform at SXSW ’99 and is now being booked at clubs and festivals all over the midwest including headlining the Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma and The Western Beat Roots Revival at the Exit/In in Nashville. The Prophets have performed often (and loudly) as an acoustic trio which has built them a big following in songwriter/folk festival circuits. Their second release Love Songs & Murder Ballads has joined "Restoration" on Miles Of Music’s bestseller list. The band kicked off the new year (’03) by signing a recording contract with Corazong Records out of the Netherlands. The new European release "Angels On The Freeway" will be followed by a European tour.

Mixing influences like Steve Earle, The Replacements and The Byrds, the Okemah Prophets have their hearts in what some call Americana or alt.country music, but their energy level, their complete disregard for "music politics", their original playing style, gut-wrenching songwriting and diversity of roots influences make this band impossible to pin down.

Andy Dee is Kevin’s partner in musical crime; well known for his tenure with Molly and the Heymakers (Warner Bros.) and many major session credits as a producer and player. Dik Shopteau is one of the most successful engineer/producers in the midwest, with many major label credits to his name; he also held down the bass position in bands such as Judd and Daisy Dillman. Bongo is nothing short of a local legend for his contributions to The Hypstrz and Curtiss A during Minneapolis’ punk rock heyday. Marv Gohman (ex-Rembrandts) is the frosting on the Prophets’ cake, providing the 12 string guitar, jangling mandolin and plaintive fiddle lines. The band often performs as a 3 piece with no rhythm section, creating a unique and remarkably full sound that has been blowing festival audiences out of the water.

The group was nominated for several awards by the Minnesota Music Academy, including Best Americana Band, Best Americana Album, Artist Of The Year, Songwriter Of The Year, Song Of The Year (for "Breakin’ Me" w/ Jonny Lang, which won) and Multi-Instrumentalist Of The Year (Andy Dee). After fronting his former band The Revelators, Kevin Bowe became widely recognized in publishing circles as the first staff writer in over twenty years to be signed by legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. He has written several gold and platinum cuts for artists like Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd along with writer, session and producer credits with Shannon Curfman, John Mayall, Peter Case, The Proclaimers, Etta James (her Grammy winning "Let’s Roll") and many others for a total of over 12 million copies sold to date.

The debut album, "Restoration" has already sold over 5000 copies and quickly became one of the most critically well-received albums of the year. International press and radio has jumped on board, creating a sizable word-of-mouth club following. Their albums have received airplay in almost every major market around the world. Unlike most up and comers, the following for the Prophets’ spontaneous, irreverent live shows is being created by the songs and the album rather than the other way around.

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