Bryan Bowers (born August 18, 1940 in

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Cou ...

) is an American

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

player who is frequently credited with introducing the instrument to new generations of musicians.

Career

Bowers became very popular with the audience of the comedy radio program ''The

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Show'' with his 1980 recording of Mike Cross' song "The Scotsman". In 1993, Bowers was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame whose membership includes Mother

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Kilby Snow Kilby Snow (May 28, 1905March 29, 1980) was an American folk musician. A virtuoso Autoharpist, he was awarded the title of Autoharp Champion of North Carolina at the age of 5, but recorded only a single album for Folkways Records Folkways Rec ...

, and

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. In two consecutive years, 2006 and 2007, he released new recordings: ''Bristlecone Pine'' and ''September in Alaska''. "Although such guests as Tim O'Brien,

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, and Enright and O'Bryant play and sing on a number of cuts, this is a Bryan Bowers disc all the way, with his exquisite autoharp flavoring many of the tunes," wrote a November 2006 ''

Bluegrass Unlimited ''Bluegrass Unlimited'' is a monthly music magazine "dedicated to the furtherance of bluegrass and old-time musicians, devotees and associates."

'' reviewer of ''Bristlecone Pine''. "Bowers selects thematically diverse and lyrically strong material. There are powerful love songs ("When You And I Were True" and "Magnolia") and non-cloying meditations on life and death ("Bristlecone Pine," "Friend For Life," and "When I Go"), as well as haunting instrumentals. He nicely avoids the hackneyed stuff of so many folk/bluegrass/country performers." He maintains an active performance and teaching schedule.

Awards

*Contemporary Inductee, Autoharp Hall of Fame, 1993. *Lifetime Achievement Award, California Autoharp Gathering, 2006. *Induction into Frets Magazine's First Gallery of the GreatsBryan Bowers - Master Autoharpist, Storyteller, singer/songwriter/performing artist

Select discography

*''The View from Home'', Flying Fish, 1977 *''Home, Home on the Road'', Flying Fish, 1980 *''By Heart'', Flying Fish, 1982 *''For You'', Flying Fish, 1990 *''Friend for Life'', Flying Fish, 2002 *''Bristlecone Pine'', Seattle Sounds, 2006 *''September in Alaska'', Seattle Sounds, 2007 *''Crabby Old Man'', 2011 *''Live at Winterfolk'', 2015 *''Woodland Dream'', 2019

References

External links

www.bryanbowers.comHome Page for Bryan Bowers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowers, Bryan American autoharp players 1940 births Living people People from Yorktown, Virginia Musicians from Virginia 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians Flying Fish Records artists