Here’s the premiere of the latest video from Kevin Bowe & The Okemah Prophets. The intriguingly-titled ‘I Hate Falling in Love’ begins with Bowe’s smooth-toned, beautifully-melodic and resonant voice, and this remains the ethereal focus throughout the song. Meanwhile, warm layers, including percussion, soothing bass and guitar give depth to the song and gently sway and shuffle with easy rhythms. The artfully-shot video, directed and edited by Darin Back, is simple but effective, placing all of the emphasis on Bowe and his affecting vocal performance.
Over the years, Bowe has played guitar with many artists, including Gary Louris of The Jayhawks, and his songs have appeared on various platinum and GRAMMY-winning albums, collaborating with the likes of Steve Van Zandt, Joe Cocker and Etta James. His songs have been performed by Bruce Springsteen and Lucinda Williams – it doesn’t get much better than this. Also, his work has been placed in many films and television shows, including The Sopranos, Ray Donovan and Shameless. It is, indeed, a stellar musical CV and evidence of all that experience and varied influences can be found in his latest material. This single is taken from the fifth album from Kevin Bowe & The Okemah Prophets, released in May 2023. Used to writing and engineering music for others, Bowe wasn’t intending to record his own album, but then the pandemic arrived and ‘Half Past Never’ followed. This is a selection of songs that hadn’t yet been placed on his own records or those of other artists. There’s a real mix of material but what all the songs have in common is the quality of the songcraft and arrangements. This is equal parts dreamy atmosphere and timeless, tuneful song-writing. Engrossing stuff. Enjoy.
I Hate Falling In Love is one Boss tune!