Making the cd, "Hi Love"
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producer, Danny Kadar
"Kev Rowe e-mails producer Danny Kadar (The Avett Brothers, My Morning Jacket, Trey Anastasio) who digs him for sounding like Paul Simon. They combine forces with crack team of unique studio musicians at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC to create "hi love"!" Well, that's the glamorous version of the story. The above statement is true, but really the making of the cd was two things - I took a chance, and hard work. First, the chance part... Basically, I sent the e-mail. One that I never expected to hear back from and on a particularly dreamy day where I've got my head in the clouds and out of reality. So, I send this e-mail to this producer working out of Asheville, NC at a studio called Echo Mountain Studios, Danny Kadar who has at the time co-produced the last Avett Brothers cd "Emotionalism" (which is an amazing cd) and worked for Subpop Records, Sony, and a ton of amazing artists along the way. The guy's a lifer/studio artist with more experience at making records in his pinky than I'll ever have. Like I said, I never expected to hear back from him...
But I did. So, like 2 months later, Danny calls me and has listened to a couple demos I sent him and wants to record together. Nice! So, I go up to Asheville, NC and he's got a vision of bringing in a certain group of guys to record with me throughout the next year. And I already have in mind other musician friends to add too.
So, back to the not-so-glamorous process. Basically, "hi love" took 2 years to make. I made 15 trips to Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC, for recording sessions. In addition, there were sessions in NY, PA, and the numerous hours spent in my own little studio here in SC. I ended up recording 25 tunes and these 10 made the cd. Lots of people made it happen and I feel very fortunate to have been there to watch it and be a part of the process.
The musicians...
First, there's River Guerguerian, percussionist guru... 
He's got more rhythm toys than you can imagine. It takes 5 trips to his car just to get them all into the studio. You name it - frame drums, congas, duffle bags full of shakers, little dried out shells on a wire, djembes, cajons, Kanjiras, box drums he's made himself, and a whole bunch more instruments with names I can't pronounce and that I would have ignorantly guessed were all from Africa, which they aren't. Watching the guy record is utterly amazing and kind of like black magic. Love this dude. Check out his awesome instrumental project Free Planet Radio.
Next, the electric bass player. His name is Alex Hornbake...
Alex is in these great bands on Echo Mountain Records called Arizona and Wages. They've made some amazing music and are touring like crazy and Alex has done some great recordings for me in his off-time with his bands. The cool side about working with Alex is that we have a very modern recording relationship in that we're never in the same room, or the same state, at the same time. Basically, I send him songs digitally (through the computer), he records bass lines, and sends them back to me. It's beautiful. The guy's a whiz and I trust him with every artistic direction he goes. And he's efficient, which I love.
The upright bass player. His name is Robert Widlowski... 
One of the cool recording aspects of the cd, to me, is that the bass players kind of split the duties. Robert lives here in Charleston, SC, where I live. He plays upright bass and is amazingly mature and proficient on his instrument, especially for his age - 19! Robert and I are friends and he comes over to my small home studio, and we do bass lines. He also does most of the cool-sounding atmospheric string sounds and bowing that you hear on the record. I love playing with him cause he kind of represents Charleston's music scene to me - jazzy, rootsy, and soulful!
The drummer. His name is Mike Rhodes...
Mike was in a very popular Asheville, NC band called The Blue Rags. He's a great musician who really knows the roots scene in Asheville. Actually, Bill Reynolds (a bass player I know fromDonna the Buffalo and Band of Horses) was in The Blue Rags with Mike. Mike adds a lot to the cd and kind of brought me back to my band days.
Violin. Her name is Amanda Barton...
I love this picture of Manda. Now Amanda and I certainly have paid some dues together. We were in a band out of my hometown, Jamestown, NY, called Big Leg Emma. I'm not gonna lie, it was an awesome band and all of us in the band grew in many ways because of it. Much of my heart still lies with BLE, both musically and personally. Aside from that, Amanda has played on every one of my solo cds and helps out with some string parts on "hi love". Also, check out her current band, The Steve Johnson Band. Thanks Amanda, love you girl!
The horns. Ward Buckeister and Russell Clarke...
These awesome horn dudes are in a great band from Charleston, SC called Sol Driven Train. They are the first musician-friends I made upon moving to Charleston. They let me sit in with them and play electric guitar at shows and I was on their latest cd, entitled "Lighthouse". They tour a ton and they've got a new cd coming out soon. Look for it. On my cd, they are on the song "I'll Love You Either Way".
Piano, Anthony Brown
Anthony is a great piano player, engineer, and studio guy. He engineered my session with Amanda at Allsound Studio in Warren, PA, and since we had some extra time he was nice enough to lay down a piano part for me on the song "Walk Through Town With Me". It's a part I couldn't play in my dreams, so thanks Anthony! Check out his bands, The Charlie Wheeler Band and Lareau.
B3, Cale Hawkins
I've saved the dude with the brightest future for last. Cale's a super-talented musician from my hometown, Jamestown, NY. He plays lots of instruments and is great at all of them, and he's only 17 years old! It's freaky. Here, he plays B3 organ on the tune "Something's Going Down". My favorite memory of Cale is back when I was hosting a songwriter's showcase for the Infinity Program in Jamestown. He came and blew us away with his natural abilities at the age of 12. He should be fun to watch for years.
Also, all these friends had huge roles in the making of the cd...
Julian Dreyer - an awesome engineer Danny introduced me to and whom I spent every recording session with in 2009. It was he and I in studio B (a tiny room) doing acoustic tunes for a year.
John Ashley - another awesome engineer.
Jessica Tomasin - the studio manager and head of Echo Mountain Records. And she let me sleep at her house for many of my trips and helped me out in ways way beyond what a studio manager is expected to. She's a real friend and down with the cause, for sure.
Dave Harris - mastered the cd at his studio, Studio B, in Charlotte, NC.
CJ Schoenbaechler - my graphic designer and artistic partner in the trenches of packaging.
Chris Rosser - we recorded some of River's percussion tracks at his studio, and although Chris was primarily engineering, he is also a very well known singer/songwriter and musician in the Asheville area. Great guy too. We really gelled and had fun in those sessions. He and River also have a band called Free Planet Radio where they do some great instrumental acoustic music.
Doug Moog - took some of the great studio pictures you see on this website while he was hanging with us at Echo Mountain Recording during my sessions there. And a longtime original music supporter. Thanks Doug.
Todd Dalton - my longtime music friend and road warrior. We've toured together for years. And we co-write when we get the chance ("Burn Away").
Ron Lorenc - another longtime friend. He also co-wrote the lyrics for the song, "Light In My Life", and I often think of him on the road.