Bones Owens

Drawing on a variety of genres and his diverse work as a session and touring guitarist for artists like Bon Jovi, Mikky Ekko, and Yelawolf, Bones Owens makes eclectic alternative roots rock as a solo artist. After nine years as a working musician and songwriter in Music City, his first EP, Hurt No One, arrived in 2014. He issued a sophomore EP, Make Me No King, in 2017, followed by the bluesy and nostalgic eponymous full-length effort in 2021.

A native of rural Missouri, Caleb Owens was raised on country and gospel music, and later learned bluegrass, folk, and rock after taking up the guitar at the age of ten. He was writing songs by age 13 and played in bands throughout high school and college. One of those bands led to a publishing deal with EMI, and he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 2005.

Once in Nashville, Owens found work as a studio and touring guitarist for acts as diverse as Bon Jovi, alternative singer/songwriter Mikky Ekko, and hip-hop artist Yelawolf, while also hitting the bars and clubs with his own music. In the meantime, Owens had co-written all but one of the tracks on that year’s Yelawolf LP, Trial by Fire, which included the Kid Rock collaboration “Get Mine.” In March 2018, he released his own song, “Keep It Close.”

On 2024’s sophomore album Love Out of Lemons, Bones Owens continues to evolve his cultured rock songwriting while capturing the energy of his renowned live shows. Releasing on July 12 by Black Ranch Records, Love Out of Lemons collects deeply grooving snapshots of carefree times and top-down drives with subtleties that linger long after the party’s over. “This record sort of picks up where my debut full-length left off,” offered Owens from yet another hotel room on yet another tour. “Energetic rock very typical of my live show.” Owens’ self-described chameleon-like approach has not only played a pivotal role in his own music, but the ability to collaborate with artists across all genres, having worked with Yelawolf, Mikky Ekko, and Grammy-nominated, Jelly Roll.

​Like Eighteen Wheeler, Love Out of Lemons was produced by Paul Moak at his Smoakstack studio in Nashville. But while the EP was something of an introspective departure for Owens, Love Out of Lemons is a blithe dive into his eclectic, nuanced rock and alt-roots sensibilities, from the genre-fluid grooves of heyday War to the lean bluesy influence of Creedence Clearwater Revival. “I wanted to do another record that was largely rock, but also for it to have more than one gear,” said Owens. 

Love Out of Lemons features co-writes with Henry Brill (Phantogram, Jack Garratt) on “Born Again” and Austin Jenkins (Leon Bridges, White Denim) on “Higher Than I Wanna Be.” Drums throughout were played by Julian Dorio (The Whigs, Eagles of Death Metal), with all other instruments handled by Owens and producer Moak. The album’s intentions are clear from the first bars of the opening title track; an irresistibly head-bobbing, outdoorsy strut that explores relationships from which love will never bloom, no matter how hard one or both parties try. “I was thinking of Eric Burdon or War as kind of the starting point for that song,” Owens recalled.

​“I think it’s perfect that the record is coming out in the Summer,” he concluded before heading out to the night’s soundcheck. “Because it very much feels like a sunny day, drivin’-down-the-road soundtrack to me.”

REF: Artist website and  AllMusic