Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Insomniac Minstrel

'The problem with music is musicians" is Aaron Bowen's motto on his page at myspace.com.

He took up the violin in the first grade, but the guitar became his instrument of choice. Aaron suffered a work-related injury in 1999, severing tendons in his right hand. After several surgeries and a lot of physical therapy, he regained 40 percent movement in his right thumb. Aaron had to relearn the guitar and come up with his own technique and hung up the electric for the acoustic.

Aaron often performs at Twiggs Tea and Coffee Company.

TRICKIEST PROBLEM PLAYING LIVE?

"My biggest problem is trying to keep my energy level up...I feel like I need to be pushed. If you put me onstage every night with people that could kick my ass, I could give 110 percent. When I play with people I look up to as artists, I feel like I play a lot better."

Sponsored
Sponsored

INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT?

"I have a Dana Bourgeois acoustic guitar, a Northwood 12-fret 000 acoustic, a custom handmade Tele, a 1923 tenor banjo, 1930s Electromuse lap steel, a cheap $100 Martin knockoff (one of my faves), a 1970s Japanese P-Bass copy, and an autoharp."

DREAM INSTRUMENT AND GIG DREAMS?

"My dream instrument is definitely a clarinet (and the ability to play it). I don't dream about gigs, but sometimes I write music in my dreams, or dream about writing songs, but I rarely remember them when I wake up. Actually I don't dream much at all because I hardly ever sleep. I'm an insomniac."

BEST AND WORST GIGS?

"[The best was] when I was invited to play at Grossmont College. I thought I was going to be playing for the recording class, but when I got there they had a stage set up in the middle of the quad. The previous night I had a migraine headache and had taken one too many Vicodin to knock it out. I was a mess that morning. When I started playing there were approximately 20 people; by the middle of my first song there were roughly 200. They stayed for my short set and then dispersed. My worst gig was definitely at the Mint in Hollywood. It went something like this: Gas, $20; lunch, $10; playing to a room of 30 people who wouldn't listen to me even when I screamed in the microphone, priceless."

BRUSH WITH THE FAMOUS?

"I seem to meet a lot of famous people under the strangest circumstances. I went to see Rufus Wainwright when he opened for Tori Amos a few years back. After his set I ran into him in the lobby. He invited me backstage, where he proceeded to hit on me. Let's just say that I like his music a lot, but I don't want to date him."

BEST FAN STORY?

"I was scheduled to play a show and put it on a website. Somebody contacted me and said they liked my sound clip and wanted to buy my CD (this was before I had a CD). The show got canceled, but I ended up meeting [the interested person] Kris at another one of my shows. I gave her a demo CD, and ever since then she's been my guinea pig for all my new songs, and boy, am I glad to have met her."

GINGER OR MARY ANN?

"If my memory serves me correctly, Ginger is the debutante and Mary Ann is the farm girl, right? Since I'm not big on high-maintenance dames, I'll take the farm girl."

TOP FIVE END-OF-THE-WORLD CDs?

1. The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour. " 'I Am the Walrus,' 'Fool on the Hill,' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' -- need I say more?"

2. The Band, "The Brown Album." "They are one of my favorite bands of all time, and the album is a timeless masterpiece. It feels like a piece of American history."

3. Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life. "I like to think of it as songwriting that is bigger than one man."

4. Paul Simon, Negotiations and Love Songs. "I know it's a best-of CD...."

5. "Choosing a final CD sucks. I'm going to have to say Rufus Wainwright's self-titled first album. I love that disc."

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Larry Turner – the man who would be San Diego's mayor

Ex-Marine, cop answers the personal questions
Next Article

Frank Zane has already won

But don’t call former Mr. Universe retired

'The problem with music is musicians" is Aaron Bowen's motto on his page at myspace.com.

He took up the violin in the first grade, but the guitar became his instrument of choice. Aaron suffered a work-related injury in 1999, severing tendons in his right hand. After several surgeries and a lot of physical therapy, he regained 40 percent movement in his right thumb. Aaron had to relearn the guitar and come up with his own technique and hung up the electric for the acoustic.

Aaron often performs at Twiggs Tea and Coffee Company.

TRICKIEST PROBLEM PLAYING LIVE?

"My biggest problem is trying to keep my energy level up...I feel like I need to be pushed. If you put me onstage every night with people that could kick my ass, I could give 110 percent. When I play with people I look up to as artists, I feel like I play a lot better."

Sponsored
Sponsored

INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT?

"I have a Dana Bourgeois acoustic guitar, a Northwood 12-fret 000 acoustic, a custom handmade Tele, a 1923 tenor banjo, 1930s Electromuse lap steel, a cheap $100 Martin knockoff (one of my faves), a 1970s Japanese P-Bass copy, and an autoharp."

DREAM INSTRUMENT AND GIG DREAMS?

"My dream instrument is definitely a clarinet (and the ability to play it). I don't dream about gigs, but sometimes I write music in my dreams, or dream about writing songs, but I rarely remember them when I wake up. Actually I don't dream much at all because I hardly ever sleep. I'm an insomniac."

BEST AND WORST GIGS?

"[The best was] when I was invited to play at Grossmont College. I thought I was going to be playing for the recording class, but when I got there they had a stage set up in the middle of the quad. The previous night I had a migraine headache and had taken one too many Vicodin to knock it out. I was a mess that morning. When I started playing there were approximately 20 people; by the middle of my first song there were roughly 200. They stayed for my short set and then dispersed. My worst gig was definitely at the Mint in Hollywood. It went something like this: Gas, $20; lunch, $10; playing to a room of 30 people who wouldn't listen to me even when I screamed in the microphone, priceless."

BRUSH WITH THE FAMOUS?

"I seem to meet a lot of famous people under the strangest circumstances. I went to see Rufus Wainwright when he opened for Tori Amos a few years back. After his set I ran into him in the lobby. He invited me backstage, where he proceeded to hit on me. Let's just say that I like his music a lot, but I don't want to date him."

BEST FAN STORY?

"I was scheduled to play a show and put it on a website. Somebody contacted me and said they liked my sound clip and wanted to buy my CD (this was before I had a CD). The show got canceled, but I ended up meeting [the interested person] Kris at another one of my shows. I gave her a demo CD, and ever since then she's been my guinea pig for all my new songs, and boy, am I glad to have met her."

GINGER OR MARY ANN?

"If my memory serves me correctly, Ginger is the debutante and Mary Ann is the farm girl, right? Since I'm not big on high-maintenance dames, I'll take the farm girl."

TOP FIVE END-OF-THE-WORLD CDs?

1. The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour. " 'I Am the Walrus,' 'Fool on the Hill,' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' -- need I say more?"

2. The Band, "The Brown Album." "They are one of my favorite bands of all time, and the album is a timeless masterpiece. It feels like a piece of American history."

3. Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life. "I like to think of it as songwriting that is bigger than one man."

4. Paul Simon, Negotiations and Love Songs. "I know it's a best-of CD...."

5. "Choosing a final CD sucks. I'm going to have to say Rufus Wainwright's self-titled first album. I love that disc."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Larry Turner – the man who would be San Diego's mayor

Ex-Marine, cop answers the personal questions
Next Article

More on San Diego inventions – Spike Bite and disappearing ink

The scandal of county supervisors at the library
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader