“I’m pretty diverse stylistically,” says acoustic troubadour Ben Owens, who refers to himself as “primarily a finger-style guy that likes to be competent at swing and jazz and some blues and that kinda stuff too.”

One of his most memorable early gigs was playing onstage with Tommy Emmanuel. “I was just 17, we were at the East County Performing Arts Center and it was a pretty big crowd and he asked me to play a tune with him and just to get up and to feel, you know, his guitar pulsing the way it does just impeccable time. And then to be right there playing with him, you know, just as close as I am to you, was just amazing, and I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever forget. It was really pretty life changing.”

His Ben Owens Trio is a family band with brothers Joseph and Jameson. “The rehearsal dynamic is fun. You know, I’ve been in rehearsals with people where you have to play with them, but you don’t necessarily get along with them that great, and fortunately it’s nothing like that. It sort of tends to the other end of the spectrum, where it’s like we gotta try not to goof off too much and try and focus on the tunes a lot of times, because you know we get each other’s sense of humor.”