John Cowan (born 1953) is the electric bass player and lead singer who gave New Grass Revival its voice. He joined the band in 1974 and stayed until it broke up in 1990. He is often called the Voice of Newgrass. He entered the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of New Grass Revival.
Why Cowan matters
Cowan brought rock and soul into bluegrass from the bass chair. He came to New Grass Revival with no bluegrass background, and he played electric bass in a band of acoustic pickers. Bandmate Courtney Johnson said Cowan gave the band the strong lead singer it had lacked. The Hall of Fame credits New Grass Revival with starting the newgrass movement, and Cowan was its bass player and main voice for 16 years.
Life and career
Cowan was born on August 24, 1953, in Minerva, Ohio, and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. He began on bass in a high school rock band called Everyday People.
New Grass Revival formed in 1971. After its first two bass players left, the band hired Cowan on electric bass in 1974. He learned bluegrass from his new bandmates. He stayed through the Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, and Pat Flynn years, including the 1984 Sugar Hill album On the Boulevard.
After the band ended in 1990, he joined Rusty Young and Bill Lloyd in the Sky Kings. He played bass for the Doobie Brothers from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2010. He also toured in Sam Bush’s band and did session work for Travis Tritt, Steve Earle, Garth Brooks, and Wynonna. In 1998 he formed the John Cowan Band, whose members over the years included Scott Vestal, Jim Hurst, Randy Kohrs, Noam Pikelny, and Luke Bulla. He released Fiction on True Lonesome in 2024.
Playing style
Cowan plays electric bass guitar. In a 1981 interview he described New Grass Revival’s approach as taking roots music and making it current, with electric bass and drums where they fit. A newspaper account quoted by the Hall of Fame said he played bass and sang in a rhythm and blues style.
Influences and legacy
Cowan came to bluegrass from rock and learned the music from his bandmates Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, and Curtis Burch. Later he played beside Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. Before him, Butch Robins played bass in the band for a short time.
Signature tunes and songs
Can’t Stand to Lose, which he co-wrote with Rusty Young.
Essential recordings
On the Boulevard, New Grass Revival (Sugar Hill, 1984) Always Take Me Back (Sugar Hill, 2002) Sixty (Compass, 2014) Fiction (True Lonesome, 2024)
Awards and honors
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, as a member of New Grass Revival (2020)
What to learn from Cowan
Put on a New Grass Revival record and play along on bass with a rock feel. Hold some notes longer, push the beat with eighth notes, and lock with the mandolin chop instead of the banjo roll. Then sing while you play. Cowan’s lesson is that the bass player can also be the lead voice, and that takes practice at doing both at once.
Sources
John Cowan, Wikipedia Cowan, John, BluegrassBios.com New Grass Revival, Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum Awards by Category, IBMA
Related players
See the bass players hub and the bass guide. Sam Bush and Curtis Burch were his New Grass Revival bandmates. Todd Phillips took the bass into jazz and newgrass on the acoustic side.