Bare Essentials Amarillo Review

Brent Rowan

Title: "Bare Essentials"

Label: RoWest

Grade: A

Did you like the incidental scene music in television shows like "The Wonder Years," "thirtysomething" and "I'll Fly Away"? Then you'll love this CD.

The light jazz acoustic guitar of W.G. Snuffy Walden, composer of music for the aforementioned shows, may not have been an influence on Brent Rowan, but boy, do these guys sound an awful lot alike.

Rowan, a veteran Nashville studio musician, shows off the spare beauty of fingerstyle acoustic guitar in his debut album. After working on more than 10,000 sessions for the likes of Shania Twain, George Strait and Sting, Rowan establishes his own identity and musicality here.

Listening to the reverent simplicity in the album's 12 tracks, it's not hard to believe that Rowan grew up hearing almost nothing but church music in his deeply religious parents' Waxahachie home. And home is important to Rowan. He based the songs on the improvisational tone poems he plays at home for his little boy.

The open tunings favored by Rowan are reminiscent of Windham Hill Records in their gorgeous, minimalist landscapes of sound. It's hard not to like such a simple, well-crafted album that has the side benefit of working on your nervous system like sonic Valium.

Shanna Foust-Peeples is a Globe-News features writer. She can be reached at 345-3339 or by e-mail at sfoustpeeples@amarillonet.com.