Lance Cowan

celebrated pedal steel wizard Dan Dugmore (Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor), drummer and percussionist Vinny Santoro (The Cicadas, The Highwaymen, Rodney Crowell), bassist Jay Turner (Demola Adepoju, King Sunny Ade, Joanna Cotten) and pianist / keyboardist Todd Smith (Days of the New).  Paschall reached out to Nashville’s own Chip and Billy Davis (Alabama, Dolly Parton) to lend background vocals.  Clark Hagen (Chet Atkins) flew in from Colorado to record the tracks at Music City’s famed Sound Emporium.  

In just two days, 10 basic tracks were recorded before heading to Wooden Cloud Studios for final touches. “We wanted a cohesive, live sounding record,” he continues.  “So that’s how we recorded – straight through with very, very few overdubs.  When you are dealing with musicians of this caliber who are having fun playing together and care about what they are playing and like the songs they are playing, well, you can’t help but get great results.”

Against The Grain kicks off with the West Coast Country-influenced “One More Chance,” co-written with Sam Gay, before heading to the South Dakota Old West for a tragic love song, “Will Belinda,” written with John Tirro.  Cowan takes an edgy turn on “Ragged Edge Of Nothing,” written with longtime writing partner, Terry Clayton.  “Goin’ South,” is a song written with Maine’s celebrated songwriter, the late David Mallett.  The quirky title cut was written with Gay.

The five remaining tracks were written solely by Cowan, including his nod to his native Kentucky and the plight of coal miners in “Old King Coal.”  He bemoans the cold weather in “I Can’t Stand The Winter,” and worries about taking on the role of parenting with “Prayer For A Child.” On “More or Less,” Cowan’s emotional vocal is backed sparsely by piano, cello and bass.

The final track, “Love Anyway,” was inspired by growing divisions in our world, dominated by hate and violence. “Sometimes people can be so mean,” he sings, before adding ‘If we ever hope for change, love anyway.”

For more than three decades, Cowan has worked quietly behind the scenes promoting celebrated artists, most completely unaware that he was writing and performing his own songs. 

“I never wanted to use my clients to advance my songwriting career,” he says. “It’s been important to me to keep separate my pr business and my songwriting aspirations. ​“But aside from making a living doing pr, there are a number of reasons, really, why I am only just now releasing my songs, not the least of which is that I consider these songs to be gifts I’ve been given,” he explains.  “By letting them sit on the shelf, so to speak, I was not being a good steward of those gifts.  They need to be heard.“

But the real kicker came when I was in Toronto in ’97,” he continues.  “I was on a bill with Chip Taylor (“Wild Thing,” “Angel of the Morning”) at Folk Alliance.  There must have been 1,000 songwriters walking around with their homemade cds and I realized that if I was going to chase this thing, I’d miss seeing my two young boys grow up.  I’d be on the road constantly.  So I refocused on being a dad and was lucky to be allowed to work with - and learn from - so many artists I respected. The best part is that I have a great relationship with both of my sons, so it was worth waiting.”

Still, knowing well how rough critics can be, he worried about the response SFSG would receive. “I had no idea what to expect,” he says. “In fact, I was sweating every time a new review showed up.”

He was sweating for nothing.  The album topped several critics’ best of 2024 lists, and reviews were overwhelming.  “It stinks of quality,” wrote Duncan Warwick of Country Music People. “Cowan is a remarkably talented singer/songwriter who’s every bit as capable and credible as the artists he represents,” echoed Lee Zimmerman in American Songwriter. “Cowan is a superb troubadour tunesmith,” noted critic Robert K. Oermann wrote in Music Row’s DISClaimer. For the cover of Against The Grain, as he did for So Far, So Good, Cowan used an old family photo, this time of his 1932-era grandmother holding his dad while his young aunts and uncle stand by.  

In his three decade career as a music publicist, Cowan has worked behind the scenes with some of the country’s finest artists and songwriters, including Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Michael Martin Murphey and many more. Along the way, he has quietly honed his own songwriting skills, learning from those artists and influences Jackson Browne, Mark Heard and John Prine to name a few. His works have been performed and / or recorded by such respected artists as Joan Baez, Janis Ian, David Mallett, and several independent artists.