Shari Rowe has been singing her whole life. And for the pretty-much native Arizonan – she’s lived in the state since she was 2 – country music was a natural place for her to land, thanks to the musical influence of her father and the region in which she came of age.
“I did sing in church for a while, and then I sang with my sisters and we toured a little bit, doing some contemporary Christian music. We were signed to a record deal and that was a great time. It was a great season, but ultimately, landing in country music as a solo artist, it was very natural,” she said. “(Growing) up, my dad loved all the classics, so I’d be in the backseat, windows down, and he’d be listening to Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash, Johnny Paycheck, all the classics. And being from Arizona, being from the West in general, it’s the backdrop we all hear in this part of the country.”
If you go
WHAT: Shari Rowe performs at White & Bulls True Western Roundup.
WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.
TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION: Visit https://truewesternroundup.com/red-white-and-bulls.
Rowe will be in Durango on Saturday night when she performs at the Red, White & Bulls True Western Roundup at La Plata County Fairgrounds.
Music was always a big part of her family’s life growing up, Rowe said; she and her sisters would put on shows for their family in the living room, and she sang her way through school and in choir.
“As soon as I could start singing and singing in contests – wherever I could find a place to use my voice, I was just always drawn to it,” she said. “I grew up riding horses and camping and all that good stuff in Arizona, and I was always either trying to write my own songs or trying to find harmonies with my family.”
Sitting down to write songs, Rowe said to begin, she taps into what’s coming from her heart, “what can be that vulnerable, honest song.” She also puts herself in the shoes of her audiences and the type of show she wants to give them.
“I start thinking about the show, and I start thinking about the flow – what do people want to experience? What, ride do I want to take them on from beginning to end when they’re at a show? So we’ve got a little bit of everything,” she said. “But for me, I think if you ask anybody, it always comes back to those things that really pull on your heart, about helping each other and being there for one another, and faith and family. I feel like country music is the place to bring a story to life in music. So I think for me, it’s always about the heart stuff. That’s usually where I land well.”
And when it comes to shows and touring, Rowe said it’s a fun way to make a living, especially considering her husband is the band’s bass player, so the two get to travel and perform together.
“We met wanting to put a band together, so we’ve been able to tour and see the world together,” she said. “My entire band, we really are a family. We talk about that a lot, and I have some of the best players and some of the best people, so to be able to do this together. ... This industry is full of ups and downs, and you don’t always have the crowd that you thought you were going to have, or the scenario that you imagined. Even in the times that are filled with any kind of struggle, we’re always looking at each other and we’re like, we were getting paid to play music together, and we just love each other so much. So, yeah, we have a lot of fun.”
While Rowe and the band have a full slate of shows scheduled through December, she’s also set to release new music, including the single, “Too good to go,” set to drop at the end of the summer. Fans should also keep an eye – and ear – out for singles expected to be released throughout the holidays, including a new Christmas song. Also on deck are a remake of a song Rowe recorded years ago called “Family gathering,” planned for release around Thanksgiving for the holidays, and then a couple of new singles after the first of the year.
“It’s been a minute since I dropped a single, and these songs, are coming from a place of real life. I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs in the last few years,” she said. “My mom passed almost exactly a year ago. That was obviously painful ... but, you know, there’s a beauty that comes when you’re going through something so hard. Being a person of faith, God really met our family in that situation. And there’s a lot that can come from that as a creative person, if you let it do its work. So some of the songs are going to reflect some of what I’ve gone through, and others are just some really fun, roll down the windows kind of songs.”
katie@durangoherald.com
