Bowman’s country ballad ‘Maple’ shows the singer recalling memories of childhood adventures in a haunted house.
Bowman – Maple (Ft Shari Rowe)
The weeping violins that open the song and carry its melody all along set the elegiac tone, which is given a cosy, familiar aura by the country strings that accompany them. Extremely fitting, as Bowman wrote the song as about his late grandmother’s allegedly haunted house on Maple Street, in Lexington, Tennessee.
Our countryman talks of some eerie ghost figure, who both captivates his fascination and stirs his deepest fear. “I dare not climb that crooked staircase/Past the angles where it hides”, he chants right before turning to the Lord above. “Heal my mind”, he prays for help. Like a child as drawn to mystery as he is frightened of it, Bowman describes unexplained “footsteps in the night” and some unholy “shadow that we do not speak of”. Still, as a true stoic churl, not once does he lose his grip or slip into soppiness. He maintains the most muted, austere tone all through while unearthing his tales of yore next to his fire at dusk. To the extent that, despite the somewhat gloomy premise, the tune remains enchantingly heart-warming until its last note.
Based in Nashville, TN, and proud of his country roots, Steven Bowman has been playing the violin since the age of nine and currently works as a strings player and arranger. His friend Shari Rowe (who helped him pen Maple) is a constant musical partner.
This is the first single off his upcoming 5-song EP due in the summer of 2024. Each track is to revolve around a specific house that has been a part of Bowman’s childhood and will take the name of its respective street. The second single “Sunset” is out this summer.
“The violin-infused ballad creates an enchantingly warm and comforting atmosphere as Bowman revisits his childhood memories”.
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