Beth Rowley
@ the Pizza Express Jazz Club
@ Southbank Centre / The Ballroom
1 December 2011 - 16 November 2007

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Biography

Beth Rowley was born in Lima, Peru, October 1981.When she was two years old the family moved back to their hometown of Bristol, England. Although Rowley’s parents were not professional musicians, music has always been a big part of their lives. Playing music around the house and exposing her to many different styles, particularly blues, country, folk, gospel and Latin American music.

Having known from a very early age that she was destined to sing Rowley started writing and recording music and experimenting with different styles. At sixteen she formed ‘The Apogee’ an original 5-piece funk/soul/acid jazz group. It was during this time that she discovered her real passion for performing, and started to make an impact on the local music scene.

Rowley went on to study music and art at Weston-super-Mare College. She attended an open mic night in the renowned Bristol music pub ‘The Old Duke’ and, needing somebody to accompany her, she happened across local Pianist/Songwriter Pete Roe, who that night was working behind the bar. After busking through some Carole King songs, Rowley and Roe continued to write and gig together for the next two years.

Rowley left Bristol for a year to study at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, where she gained a massive insight into the music business and had invaluable training in vocal and performance techniques with soul singer Carleen Anderson.

Rowley now performs with a 5-piece band to packed venues and is fast becoming a highlight in the Bristol and London live music scene. Performing many of her own self/co-written songs, their sound is an earthy rough round the edges live experience, drawing from Folk, Soul and Blues. You can hear where Beth gets her inspiration from with hints of Emmy lou Harris, Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, PP Arnold, Jill Scott and Karen Carpenter all making an appearance.

Alongside work with her own band, Rowley has performed and recorded with a range of other artists. In the summer of 2004 she toured with Ronan Keating, performing duets and singing his backing vocals at music festivals and television shows across Europe and the UK. She carried out similar work with Enrique Iglesias during his 2004 UK record release promotion.

It was through Carleen Anderson that Rowley met saxophonist Ben Castle, who is well known for his work with Jamie Cullum. Rowley would eventually sing on Castle’s album “Blah Street”.

Castle would assist on Rowley’s own music, and in February 2004 along with Mark Edwards, produced a 4 track EP for her. Castle has since been co-writing with Rowley working on her forthcoming EP.