Edinburgh's finest singer/songwriter? Naw, scrub that. Leith's finest singer/songwriter. There, that sounds better, and gives the man the importance he deserves.
It must be more than a decade since we first happened upon Dean, playing solo as support act to the magnificent Capercaillie, and we loved his voice and songs immediately. The beautifully sad My Town, his anthem to Edinburgh, became the track on his CD that always got to me. We haven't had many opportunities to see him since, but he's never made us doubt that initial assessment.
Tonight saw the launch of his new album, Into the Sea, in front of a packed out home town crowd. Backing him were the Whisky Hearts, his five piece band with drums, bass, keyboard, fiddle and guitar. We got songs from the new album, and some old favourites. For the opening tunes of the second set Dean came on solo, just voice guitar, and mouthie, to give us some sadder numbers, with the band coming back out half way through the third song.
And that voice was in fine form tonight. Mellow, heartfelt, with a harder edge when the going gets rockier, Owens has a distinctive tone, East of Scotland with a Nashville slant to it. The backing band was tight, with wailing lead guitar to lift the spirits and gentle fiddle adding romance to the ballads.
There are some memorable tunes, but it's the lyrics that are the most important part of the deal, telling tales from real life and connecting emotionally. It was a genuinely moving moment to hear the whole audience join in with the chorus from A Man From Leith, Dean's tribute to his father.
The gig ended with the band in full rocker mode and the crowd fully fired up. Exhilarating. Dean Owens deserves to be much, much better known.
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