Dean Owens & The Sinners

West Barns Live hosts Dean Owens , one of the UK’s finest troubadours, with fans including Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin “Whispering” Bob Harris.

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Dean Owens is one of UK’s finest troubadours, with fans including authors Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and Ian Rankin (whose iconic character Rebus has Dean’s CDs on playlist), and BBC legend “Whispering” Bob Harris. His 11 (official) solo albums, mostly recorded in the US, have seen him collaborate with some of the most respected musicians and producers around, including Al Perkins, Will Kimbrough, Neilson Hubbard, Grant-Lee Phillips, Gaby Moreno and Latin rock legends, Calexico, and most recently, Don Antonio (Alejandro Escovedo, Sacri Cuori) recording his next album Spirit Ridge in the hills of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, the land of his lion tamer ancestor).

Following directly on from his highly acclaimed collaborations with Calexico, the songs on Spirit Ridgeare both monumental and deeply personal, rooted in a liminal hinterland which connects the lush Italian hills, the US desert states and post industrial Scotland.

Dean is a consummate live performer, with a searingly soulful voice and a wealth of stories, earworm inducing melodies and songs; the heart of a rock’n’roller and the spellbinding delivery of folk’s best storytellers, with his influences ranging across country, classical and punk, through jazz and roots. Recent live highlights include performances at Cambridge Folk Festival 2024, the iconic Edinburgh Castle, as well as festivals and sell out tours in Scotland, Germany and the Netherlands. 2025 plans include tours to Australia (including Port Fairy Festival) and USA.

His 2022 album, Sinner’s Shrine (recorded in Tucson with members of Calexico) received superlative-laden reviews from publications throughout Europe, described as an intoxicating, innovative, perfect, “marriage made in heaven” collaboration. 2023’S follow up (with some tracks recorded at the Sinner’s Shrine sessions, some long distance with the Calexico musicians), El Tiradito (The Curse Of Sinner’s Shrine) is a double CD release, including an all instrumental “soundtrack for an imaginary Western”.

There are stories of love and lust, sinners and saints, the displaced, the wanderers and the border ghosts, infused with the dramatic Panavision desert sweep of Calexico, with Joey Burns’ guttural guitar, John Convertino’s masterful drumming and percussion, and sweeping mariachi horns.

Dean’s music has been described as a unique blend of Scottish roots and Americana, but in truth it’s hard to pin down to a single genre. With each album he has pushed his own boundaries, constantly exploring, as his travels have taken him from Scotland’s post industrial heartlands to Nashville, New York and the panoramic vistas of the US deserts.

Dean’s music has taken him around the world – from Arizona to Adelaide, from Leith to Louisville to Lerwick. He has toured with The Mavericks, Grant-Lee Phillips, Will Hoge and opened for artists including Roseanne Cash, Jason Isbell and Patty Griffin.

In March 2020 he created and curated a new festival Cash Back in Fife celebrating the legacy and inspiration of The Man in Black. In October 2021 he was invited to participate in The Official Johnny Cash Heritage Festival (broadcast online from Cash’s boyhood home in Dyess, Arkansas, USA)

He is a member of Buffalo Blood collective (“a US/UK Americana supergroup” – Paul Sexton BBC), with Grammy nominated, award winning producer/musician Neilson Hubbard, Audrey Spillman and Joshua Britt. Their debut self-titled album was released in 2019, and premiered at Celtic Connections. It was recorded on location in the New Mexico desert, with songs about displacement, migration, refugees and the trails of tears.

Dean also works occasionally as a producer, including Ags Connolly‘s acclaimed first two albums and most recently with Scottish singer songwriter Kirsten Adamson for her album Landing Place.