Wade Bowen‘s new album, Flyin, will be out on May 10. The record includes the feel-good new song, “Mary Jane,” a song that Bowen, a talented tunesmith, did not write for the new record, but knew it was an important addition to the project.
“I don’t cut a whole lot of outside songs,” Bowen tells Everything Nash. “I got a couple of songs pitched to me. I always get songs pitched to me for every record. I usually just don’t cut a whole lot of outside songs, because the reason I make records is because of the songs I’ve been writing. But I’ve been lucky enough to become buddies with Chase Bryant and Jon Randall, two fantastically talented people. They both wrote this song and sent it to me, and the moment I heard that, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ That song is simple and catchy, and the moment I heard it, I was like, ‘I could hear our crowds singing that for the rest of my life.'”
Bowen praises the songwriters for capturing a new sentiment to the common country music theme of the man chasing the woman.
“It’s so sweet,” Bowen boasts. “I can’t imagine a young woman hearing this song and not going, ‘That is so amazing’ … I think it’s what every woman would want a man to say. I would hope. ‘I don’t want what the other boys want. I want to treat you nice and take care of you.’ There’s such a melody behind it that’s beautiful and singable and anthemic. I hope it catches on like I think it will.”
Bowen doesn’t cut a lot of outside songs, but he has in the past. Although far from his norm, Bowen is always open to recording other people’s songs, at least when it makes sense. He also recorded “Friday Night” for Flyin, a song Bryant wrote by himself.
“Probably for two reasons I guess,” Bowen says, explaining when he will cut songs from other writers. “Either it’s because it’s a song that blows me away, a song that I wish I would have written, or because it’s a song that is nowhere near what I would write. Like, no way would I write that. I think there’s elements of both on here. ‘Friday Night’ and ‘Mary Jane’ are songs that I definitely would write, and wish I’d been in the room with Chase when he wrote them, because I think they’re fantastic songs.
“Mary Jane” is part of Bowen’s tenth studio album, staying true to his Texas roots, while continuing to expand his creativity through his music.
“I try just a little bit to change it,” Bowen shares. “I really have a hard time making the same record over and over. I hope that’s a good thing. I hope people hear that. I try, with every record — I know there is a style and a sound that is probably always going to be Wade Bowen, but I still feel like every record has a different personality, and it should be. I try really hard to do that.”
Bowen produced both Flyin and his former record, Somewhere Between the Secret and the Truth, finding a new creative freedom when he takes full responsibility for the sound of the record.
“The last record I produced on my own, so it was a little easier to do that, create a sound there,” Bowen explains. “With this one, having a little knowledge with producing a second record on my own, I had a little more of a grasp of that. I definitely wanted to create a little bit of a new sound. The only thing I can think of to explain this record over everything I’ve ever done is, an artist and a songwriter, we always say that the last song we wrote is always our favorite, and the last album is always our favorite album.”
Bowen is rightfully proud of all of the numerous records he already released. But even he admits that there is something special about Flyin, which differs from his previous projects.
“I do think there is an energy to this record that I’ve never had,” the Texan says. “I think there’s something special in that record that fans of ours, or people that listen to us and listen to this record, I think that they’re going to hear this energy that I am very proud to have captured somehow with the new project. Whether we meant to or not — I feel like we meant to — but there’s something about this live aspect, or how we carried over what I do live into the studio — there’s an energy; there’s a feel-good aspect to this project which kind of flies off of the page, and I love that.”
Download or stream “Mary Jane” here. Find all of Bowen’s music and upcoming shows, and pre-order Flyin, at WadeBowen.com.
Photo Credit: Nick Livingston