WILL OWSLEY
If I Leave Here Tomorrow
by Ed Turner
(October 2018)
In the early morning hours of Friday, April 30, 2010, in an upstairs bedroom at his home in Franklin, TN, Will Owsley hung himself. Family members discovered his lifeless body swinging from an exposed ceiling beam, a suicide at forty-four.
All of that promise, casually snuffed out in one reckless moment. For what? A dream of fame that drove him so deep into pain he couldn't go on.
Welcome to the music industry.
Today, eight years after his death, music blogs and websites pay tribute to an artist the world is only now beginning to catch up to.
Andy Leschnik, from PowerPopSquare: "Back in 2002, I had a university friend who introduced me to a new song. I listened to it... and the song went into constant rotation for the next few weeks at my flat. The song was “Coming Up Roses." I bought the CD, simply called Owsley, and was surprised by the crafty, terrific lyrics, superb arrangements and melodies - this record has power pop written all over it. 'Oh No The Radio' is a great opener with powerful vocals and chorus, dominant guitar solo. Epic! 'I'm Alright' could have been a hit on the radio. 'Coming Up Roses' still blows me away. I could go on how good every song on this record is, but that would be a bit repetitive. To sum it up: Owsley is an exceptional record."
"When I first heard Owsley," recalls eighteen-year-old singer-songwriter John Ricano. "It was a completely new sensation, an unknown flavor, something innovative... a revolutionary sound." Significantly, Ricano's website places Will in the company of John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan as one of the young musician's formative influences.
20 years after its release, the album Will "sweated my life over" may finally be getting its due. Sadly, he will never be here to see it.
In the end, Will Owsley never achieved that elusive, star-making moment he so achingly felt he deserved. Throughout his career, chart success eluded him. Yet the outpouring of tributes following his death tell a different story, that of a uniquely gifted artist whose music reached people.
Blair R Fischer, writing for entertainment:"His songs were beautiful, uplifting and nearly any one of them would have been a proud addition to the solo canons of Lennon or McCartney." Hooks and Harmony's Peter Lee: "Will Owsley was part of a rising Nashville pop scene. He was part of my new hope for music, one that valued melody and chord progressions over style and hype. He got it." From Addicted to Vinyl:"Will recorded two wonderful albums of power pop perfection. Both albums were filled with lyrics that addressed both the hardships and joys of life, with a lyrical positivity drawn no doubt from his own faith. Listening to those albums offered me a personal new perspective for where I was in life at the time that I first heard each of those albums."
Perhaps the most fitting epitaph, though, belongs to the artist himself.
Busy making the rounds promoting his sophomore release, The Hard Way, Will was interviewed by The Birmingham News' Mary Colurso one Summer-bright day in 2004, before the years of regret that would follow.
"Not only do I love what I do, I believe in it," he said. "This is all I know how to do. Every time a door has been slammed in my face, I get a huge bit of good news the next week. It's tough but also great. You grow and it makes you stronger."
Play on, Will.