From Vandalia Farm Kid to Nashville Stage
Bones Owens Talks New Album, Hometown Pride
Bones Owens. Image courtesy of BowesOwens.com
“Growing up in and around Vandalia, I was surrounded by family and friends who worked hard for everything they had. I’d like to think I’ve carried that same dedication and eat what you kill mentality on to my music career.”
Audrain County native and Vandalia’s own Caleb “Bones” Owens keeps his rural Missouri roots close to his heart whether performing on tour or filming spots for a recent Harley Davidson/Realtree collaboration.
The Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist took a break from his busy schedule to share some experiences with the Tribune and offer advice to aspiring musicians.
Bones grew up in Vandalia, spending his early years in town before moving to a farm between Vandalia and Perry. He later graduated from Van Far in 2002 and attended UCM in Warrensburg before heading to Nashville in 2005.
Along the way, he soaked up classic country records from his grandparents (Gus and Nelva Owens and Dean and Martha Baker), his dad Tony Owens’ rock collection, and the buzz of 1990s alternative. That mix continues to shape his music and work ethic on his latest album, Best Western.
“Growing up around a farm, you see all the care and work that goes into raising a crop,” Bones shared. “It’s not a job you clock out of at 5. You lose sleep, you obsess over it, you wonder if you could do more or different, and at the end of the day it’s a big gamble as to how things will turn out. I find parallels to all those things in my time in the music industry. Equal parts hard work and faith are necessary components.”
For first time listeners pressing play on the new record, Bones frames the sound in plain terms. “It’s a mix of classic rock and roll, blues and R&B influences. All original songs. I wrote 12 of the 15 songs myself and co-wrote the other 3 with friends (‘Come Down to It’ with Matt Thiessen from Relient K, ‘Time Bomb’ with Kevin Griffin from Better Than Ezra, and ‘Best Western’ with Yelawolf). I self-produced the album and played all the instruments except for drums and organ.”
Asked to pick a single track that captures the heart of the record, he pointed to one that carries both feel and theme. “It’s hard to pick just one. ‘In the Wind’ has a melodic, bluesy swagger to it that carries through the album. Thematically it’s consistent with a lot of other songs on the album too: heartache, changes, hitting the open road.”
Those themes trace back to Vandalia and the people who first put instruments in his hands.
“I was fortunate to grow up in a musical household,” he explained. “My parents both sing. My mom also plays piano, and she started me in piano lessons at six. I found my way to guitar by ten.”
Beyond learning various instruments, Bones said that attending a small town church provided the opportunity to perform onstage at an early age. And he had several musical influences that helped along the way. “I’d like to acknowledge my first piano teacher, Dorothy Cahill in Vandalia, my guitar teacher Patti Grimmett in Perry, my second guitar teacher Dave Reetz in Mexico, and my music teachers throughout my time at Van-Far, Ruth and Dennis Calcaterra.”
Best Western marks another milestone in his creative independence. “Self-producing was kind of the final frontier for me in terms of taking complete control over the album-making process… I’ve already written the songs and played most of the instruments on my previous albums, so self-producing was just a way of testing myself creatively and seeing if I was capable of wearing all the hats. Thankfully, it worked out, and I’m happy with the final product.
“I’ve considered what it might be like to self-produce an album for a while, and the timing worked out perfectly. My long-time producer and friend Paul Moak was in the middle of a world tour with Heart for a long period of time, and his studio was available, so I basically rented his studio and his engineers and went in to make the record on my own.”
His view of success is steady and unvarnished. “There’s no ONE way to ‘make it’, regardless of what some people might tell you. If they think they know, they don’t, because it’s different for everyone – also keeping in mind that the concept of making it is different for different people. For me, it’s been a slow burn. I’ve never achieved anything like overnight success. I’ve slowly chipped away at a career doing something I love, one day at a time.”
When it comes to songwriting, he said his voice goes back to those same roots. “I think growing up in rural Missouri shaped my perspective greatly. From experiencing blue-collar, working-class America on a daily basis, to learning how to harness the isolation of living out in the sticks and trying to express my ideas and feelings with a guitar and words.”
Homecomings remain special.
“I love coming back to Missouri and playing shows, seeing family, old friends and classmates. It always feels like a homecoming.”
This past summer, he returned for a St. Louis show and made room on the bill for a young local artist, Bodhi Eskew.
“Bodhi’s dad and I grew up together,” Bones explained. “We’ve been friends since childhood. I would see him share videos of Bodhi as a kid playing guitar, and I could tell right away he was going to be really good. Fast forward a few years and Jordan would bring him out to my shows. He joined us onstage for a song at the Pageant in St. Louis and Knuckleheads in Kansas City. When this last St. Louis show came up, I remember my manager sending me some local bands that were available to open up, and I immediately thought of Bodhi because he’d recently put together a band of his own, Sundown Shot. I just thought, man, these kids are good and they’re out here hustling, playing a bunch of shows, they deserve this opportunity to do a proper club show in the city. They were great.”
For other aspiring musicians in Pike County, he offered simple and practical guidance. “Surround yourself with people who can play better than you, sing better than you, and people who know more than you. They’ve already learned things that you need to know. Your proximity to those people will raise the bar and force you to get better at your craft more quickly.”
Fans hoping to catch a hometown show should keep an eye out. “I don’t have anything in the books yet for next year, but you can bet I’ll be playing my way through Missouri at least once in the coming year, hopefully a couple times. My last remaining tour of 2025 is with my friends Whiskey Myers, and it’s all taking place in the northeast U.S. in December.”
Besides his new album, Best Western, fans can also check out a brand new song he co-wrote with buddy Koe Wetzel called “Werewolf” that was recently released.
Best Western can be purchased anywhere albums are sold. Fans can also keep up with him on all social media platforms along with YouTube and Spotify. Find out more at www.BonesOwens.com.
