Owen & McCoy

Owen & McCoy

Biography

Currently, Owen & McCoy has been an established band for two and a half years making remarkable progress and growth in a short span of time. The band’s two members have both been musically active in many different genres, styles, backgrounds, and have collegiate technical training and instruction. Nate Owen, lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist, began his musical training originally as a classical vocalist. With instruction from numerous teachers of varying musical experiences, Owen continued his passion for musical excellence by learning guitar and expanding his ability to sing in multiple genres including jazz, blues, classical, folk, and rock. Brenden McCoy, lead guitar player, songwriter, and backup vocalist grew up with influences from the genres of rock and blues and discovered a taste for hard rock music from idols such as Slash, Kirk Hammett, Eric Clapton, and Neil Young. He began playing guitar at age nine and developed a unique style of lead guitar that was a result of his influences while also stemming from his own sense of unique and passionate guitar playing. After the start of Owen & McCoy, Brenden began to expand his musical abilities by learning the stylistic complexities of jazz guitar and acoustic finger style music allowing him to convey complex musical ideas in many different forms. McCoy has never taken a guitar lesson and his own experiences with self discovery and original innovation has led to a blend of styles that breeds creative musical ideas. Also an innovator, Owen created has created his own dynamic and percussive rhythmic style of guitar playing and blended his vocal training in classical music to create a powerful and impressive array of vocal talents that mix the rawness and passion of blues, jazz, and rock, with the precision and beauty of classical singing. Together the two form a combo that brings breathtaking spontaneity and the most powerful moments of raw feeling in their music that is often unrivaled.

In 2015 Owen & McCoy was introduced to owner and operator of  Bunker Studios, a non-profit studio run by Larry Milner. Through Larry, the group was introduced to recording engineer and musical producer Kevin Dorin. Working with Owen & McCoy, Kevin and Larry became essential in the production of Owen & McCoy’s first album titled “Growing Pains”. Throughout the project, the two engineers taught invaluable studio knowledge and recording techniques to the duo expanding their technical and practical knowledge of the recording industry. With the production of “Growing Pains” the band was able to grab three live shows a week in the summer of 2015 after they graduated high school. They also officiated Owen & McCoy as an LLC, and ultimately stepped into a much larger music scene than they had previously experienced. Owen & McCoy was featured at the Schweitzer Mountain Music Festival and Huckleberry Festival, was featured in the Spokane Folk Festival, opened for Nu Jack City, and played numerous other concerts and shows eventually getting admitted into the Festival at Sandpoint and opening for International Grammy Award winning band Wilco. Working alongside Wilco and their band leader Jeff Tweedy, along with Vetiver lead by Andy Cabic helped introduce Owen & McCoy into the professional music scene, while also letting them perform in front of a crowd of over 3,000 people.