Owen Temple is a Kerrville, Texas-born singer-songwriter, troubadour, and storyteller who now calls Austin home, where he records warm and thoughtful albums for the El Paisano label. Whether playing in an acoustic folk style or with the punch of honky-tonk, his are songs that mine the landscapes of America, its geography and the heart of the people who live here. If that’s not the definition of americana music, it’s about as close as you can come.
Whether his music captures the rugged beauty of small towns, family ties, or simply moments of quiet revelation, these are deeply personal and universally relevant songs that bring depth to the seemingly simple moments we all share.
His second album, “Passing Through,” produced by Lloyd Maines, is a good example of Temple’s down-to-earth approach to writing about the understated beauty of small, ramshackle towns across the country and the quiet dignity of people who live in them. “Stories to Tell” is his seventh album, the third with producer Gabriel Rhodes, after “Dollars and Dimes” and “Mountain Home.” He drew inspiration from Neil MacGregor’s “A History of the World in 100 Objects,” threading his songs with observations of the things people make, and also about getting older and remaining an individual in this modern, invasive world.
“You could argue that stories – a way to learn second hand from the experiences of others – are the best tools we’ve made yet – the ultimate in technological innovation,” Temple says. “It’s what humans do: we make things – tools, songs, and stories – to understand the world and our times.”
His latest album is “Rings on a Tree,” released in 2023, in which he collaborates once again with Gordy Quist of Band of Heathens, among others. It’s a concept album organised into three, five-song sets: “Big Bang,” “Pantheon”, and “Tree of Life.” Tree rings represent the annual growth of a tree, and in Temple’s album, reflect on the cycle of life from its beginnings, investigating the consciousness we all share. It also contains songs about connecting with our ancestors and our lineage, as well as our connection to nature.
Temple makes great use of the polychromatic lens of metaphor and simile to deepen the listener’s understanding. And the production and engineering are of the highest quality. You get to hear the space between the voices and instruments.
In this AUK Mini-Gig recorded in Austin, Temple plays his songs on a classic 2013 model Gibson J-45. After his set, you can take a digital journey over to his website or Bandcamp page to browse his excellent albums or sign up for his mailing list. You won’t regret it.
- Looking For Signs (written by Owen Temple): We humans, over our history, have been vain and self-centred enough to believe that eclipses, earthquakes, and floods are all merely responses to our personal actions — comments from the gods on what we just did. I wrote this song as somebody looking to persuade a lover that what he wants also happens to be what heaven and earth wants too. I don’t know if she bought that argument.
- Turquoise Blue (written by Owen Temple and Walt Wilkins): As modern, technologized land dwellers, we sometimes forget that oceans and their water make life on Earth possible. Scientific evidence indicates that deep in the oceans is where life first began, too. After spending a few weeks on the water and coast, I wrote this love song to the oceans with Walt Wilkins. Oceans are 2/3 of Earth’s surface, and their immensity, beauty, and power can’t be overstated. I haven’t recorded this yet on a studio album.
- Rings on a Tree (written by Owen Temple and George Ensle): Most of us can describe various eras in our lives, and the beginnings and ends of those periods do seem to leave a mark on us– like the fires, rains, and droughts that are visible in the annual rings of a tree. Watching my kids grow up, I noticed that sometimes they appear to suddenly launch into the next phases of their lives, even though it was mostly gradual. The sudden difference also seems like – feels like – a new ring on the tree.
