Regular Dublin gig-goers (or Thumped members at least) will know and will have seen Owensie lately. Formerly of Terrordactyl and Puget Sound, Owensie has shorned his trademark dreads and decided to return to playing the classical guitar again after picking one up in a charity shop on Francis St. in Dublin.
The result is a gentle and emotional introspective vibe, somewhere between the American twang of Sam Amidon and the guitar picking of Jose Gonzalez. The dude sings in a falsetto too – you wouldn’t have known he had it in him, especially if you’d seen Terrordactyl or his other band Realistic Train.
He has released a five track demo EP on Bandcamp and I recommend you download it. He has some gigs coming up this month in Dublin too.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
He also happens to be one of the soundest blokes I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in the last few months!
That he is.
This is amazin stuff. quite a transformation from the intricate hardcore of Puget Sound.