Donning a black cowboy hat, white shirt and black vest, a Chilliwack tribute singer is going all country for Waylon Jennings fans in Black Diamond later this week.
Robert Rowan and the Drinkers and Dreamers will spend the evening of Nov. 16 at the Black Diamond Hotel & Bar portraying “The Outlaw” in a tribute performance starting at 7:30 p.m.
Ticket-holders can expect such hits as Are you Sure Hank Done It This Way, Honky Tonk Heroes, Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line and Mommas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.
These, and other Jennings songs, are what attracted Rowan to the American country music legend’s music.
“I’m a big fan of storytelling through songs and Waylon Jennings sang about life,” said Rowan. “A lot of his songs are autobiographical.”
In tribute to Jennings the past five years, Rowan said rather than pretend to be Jennings he celebrates The Outlaw.
“I try to emulate his vocals as best I can and I tell good stories that I got to know about his songs or things that people don’t know about,” he said. “He was pretty crazy in his day.”
Rowan gained this information from watching interviews with the singer on YouTube and reading biographies of Jennings’ life.
Jennings began playing the guitar at age eight and performing on the radio by age 12.
He later formed the band The Texas Longhorns and then the rockabilly club band The Waylons.
In the 1970s, the singer/songwriter was instrumental in the inception of outlaw country music and won numerous awards from Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year to being inducted into the Country Music Fall of Fame in 2001, shortly before his death.
A fan of more traditional country music, Rowan has been playing country since 1984 in the British Columbia band Savage West, playing mostly cover tunes.
“I find the new country today almost like rock and roll used to be as far as what the sound is and it’s about partying and driving trucks and chasing girls,” he said.
Rowan and his band started its touring career riding in cars, jammed with six or seven people, across western Canada.
“At one time we were all working six nights a week and travelling, working the club circuit,” he said. “You had to book time off.”
With the music industry being so saturated, Rowan said it’s a struggle for musicians to make a living, which is why he’s putting more focus on his tribute gig.
“It has a market,” he said. “People come to hear the music of their favourite artist, be it Waylon Jennings or Merle Haggard or whoever else it might be. People really enjoy it. The energy you give off they give it back. We feed off each other.”
Rowan said he’s going “big guns” with The Outlaw tribute show this coming year, hoping to bring the musician to life in numerous venues and communities across the country.
“I portray the image as best I can,” he said of his tribute act. “I try to emulate his vocals. I’ve got the hat, I’ve got the signature guitar, the black vest and white shirt.”
Tickets to see Robert Rowan and the Drinkers and Dreamers perform as The Outlaw cost $35 (cash only).
Tickets can be purchased at the Black Diamond Hotel & Bar and Okotoks Sobeys.
For more information about the show call 403-612-7046.
