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After driving 4,000 miles to gigs this year, folksinger Debra Cowan is really looking forward to her 25-minute drive this evening to sing at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham.
The Shrewsbury resident with the rich voice will be the featured performer at tonight's Folk Open Mic.
"I've been touring all over the U.S. and England but this will be my first local show in a long time," said Cowan. "I love to travel to perform but it's nice to be home."
Hosted by singer-songwriter Dan Cloutier, the 7:30 p.m. Thursday evening open mic sessions provide a supportive venue for "folks who just want to sing" all types of music.
Cowan expects to sing five or six songs from her album, "Fond Desire Farewell," which was released in April and includes a dozen folk songs ranging from traditional to contemporary.
"I'd love to do more performing locally," she said. "Everywhere I go, audiences have been wonderful."
That's not surprising considering Cowan sings in a voice one critic described as "smooth as burnished mahogany."
Raised in a musical family, she's been playing guitar and singing most her life. As a teenager growing up in Chicago, she sang folk songs in Old Town clubs where the legendary John Prine got his start. Cowan moved to California where she spent several years singing folk songs in coffeehouses, bars and small clubs.
After a decade teaching high school math, Cowan followed her musical muse to England where she spent six months singing in local clubs before catching on as a featured performer at Sandy Bell's Bar, the most prestigious club in Edinburgh, Scotland.
She has since incorporated into her repertoire traditional English, Irish and Scottish ballads which she sings in a folk-rock style.
Cowan said she'll perform some songs from "Fond Desire Farewell" but doesn't come to a show with a predetermined set list.
In each show, she usually includes a song or two that the audience can sing along with such as "Ruins by the Shore," which, she said, "has a nice refrain."
"I stopped using a set list because it frees me up almost like a stream of consciousness," said Cowan. "It's not that I'm unprepared. I just want to feel the vibe of the room."
THE ESSENTIALS:
Amazing Things Arts Center is at 160 Hollis St., Framingham.
Tickets for Folk Open Mic are $6 and $5 for members and students.
To sign up early for the Folk Open Mic, e-mail Dan Cloutier at Dancloutiermusic@hotmail.com.
For information about Amazing Things, call 508-405-2787 or visit www.amazingthings.org.
To learn more about Debra Cowan, visit www.DebraCowan.com.
After driving 4,000 miles to gigs this year, folksinger Debra Cowan is really looking forward to her 25-minute drive this evening to sing at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham.
The Shrewsbury resident with the rich voice will be the featured performer at tonight's Folk Open Mic.
"I've been touring all over the U.S. and England but this will be my first local show in a long time," said Cowan. "I love to travel to perform but it's nice to be home."
Hosted by singer-songwriter Dan Cloutier, the 7:30 p.m. Thursday evening open mic sessions provide a supportive venue for "folks who just want to sing" all types of music.
Cowan expects to sing five or six songs from her album, "Fond Desire Farewell," which was released in April and includes a dozen folk songs ranging from traditional to contemporary.
"I'd love to do more performing locally," she said. "Everywhere I go, audiences have been wonderful."
That's not surprising considering Cowan sings in a voice one critic described as "smooth as burnished mahogany."
Raised in a musical family, she's been playing guitar and singing most her life. As a teenager growing up in Chicago, she sang folk songs in Old Town clubs where the legendary John Prine got his start. Cowan moved to California where she spent several years singing folk songs in coffeehouses, bars and small clubs.
After a decade teaching high school math, Cowan followed her musical muse to England where she spent six months singing in local clubs before catching on as a featured performer at Sandy Bell's Bar, the most prestigious club in Edinburgh, Scotland.
She has since incorporated into her repertoire traditional English, Irish and Scottish ballads which she sings in a folk-rock style.
Cowan said she'll perform some songs from "Fond Desire Farewell" but doesn't come to a show with a predetermined set list.
In each show, she usually includes a song or two that the audience can sing along with such as "Ruins by the Shore," which, she said, "has a nice refrain."
"I stopped using a set list because it frees me up almost like a stream of consciousness," said Cowan. "It's not that I'm unprepared. I just want to feel the vibe of the room."
THE ESSENTIALS:
Amazing Things Arts Center is at 160 Hollis St., Framingham.
Tickets for Folk Open Mic are $6 and $5 for members and students.
To sign up early for the Folk Open Mic, e-mail Dan Cloutier at Dancloutiermusic@hotmail.com.
For information about Amazing Things, call 508-405-2787 or visit www.amazingthings.org.
To learn more about Debra Cowan, visit www.DebraCowan.com.
