Growing up with his parents’ sizable collection of folk and country records, Rowan gained a serious appreciation for traditionally based music early on but didn't actually devote serious time to learning music until high school. Starting with the guitar, Rowan delved into multiple aspects of the instrument, learning solid rhythm, flat-picking, and fingerpicking, taking his inspiration from both older sources like Mississippi John Hurt and slightly more contemporary sources like Bob Dylan and John Fahey.

Though Rowan doesn't really recall him playing it, his father had a mandolin laying around the house that Rowan picked up at one point and started to play with. Very soon he was spending significant time with the mandolin, and hanging around legendary local music store, The 5th String. Inspired by the thriving local bluegrass scene Rowan began more thoroughly exploring bluegrass, doing his best to be internalizing the sounds of The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, and most significantly, Bill Monroe. After a few months of saturation Rowan started working at the 5th String and hosting their longstanding bluegrass jam.

It was there at the 5th string, surrounded by such gorgeous instruments, and with significant down time, that Rowan picked up the banjo. Inspired by musicians like Clarence Ashley, and Dock Boggs, he focused on the old time ways of approaching the instrument rather than the more modern bluegrass styles. 

Rowan now splits his time between the old time and bluegrass communities. Putting on a suit, tie, and cowboy hat and donning a mandolin for a bluegrass show one night, and putting on his leather-soled shoes for a square-dance the next night, Rowan straddles that line between bluegrass and old time, often bringing an aspect of one to the other.

Photo by Mike Melnyk