For nearly a decade, John Andy Bowen took classes at Delta State University during the day and chased his musical dreams at night and on weekends.
The Shaw native has played in several bands and continues to pursue his passion of playing and teaching.
The 2003 Cleveland High School alum got a free ride in tuition to Delta State with both of his parents working for the university. The music program was morphing and part of Bowen’s dream was to be part of the school’s world-renowned music team, Renaissance, as a guitar player. Initially he thought Renaissance had too many guitar players but Director Gene Ayers prodded him to try out.
Bowen joined them onstage for three years until the school’s administration did away with the highly entertaining and world-class DSU promotional band due to budget cuts.
Bowen’s musical education adventure began when the program required students to be in band and take music theory classes – two things Bowen had no clue about. With lots of visits to the dean’s office to figure things out, the program came through on the initial promise of recording classes.
“They finally come out with one recording class the second semester of my junior year,” Bowen said. “And in my senior year, they decided that this recording program is no longer going to be in the music department. Somebody's donated some money and now it will be called the Delta Music Institute and it will be in its own department. Now the whole program of study has changed. My first five years I took a bunch of music classes and then I was lost until they started the DMI.”
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He finally picked up a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Music Theory and Music Production. After three department chairs and plenty of classes trying to follow their lead, he got his degree in 2012.
“In the meantime, I had started playing live music when I was 18 or 19 and had my first band when I was 20 – Back 40,” he said. “We played a lot of shows in Cleveland and didn’t travel too far. I met a singer and then it was me and the drummer for Renaissance. Then we met with this guy and he just asked us, ‘What are y'all doing next weekend? Meet me at this restaurant.’ And man, we just started gigging like that. Never knew what song we were going to play. Just, ‘hey man, what's next? Y'all ever heard this? No. It's in G.’ And then they just start playing and singing, and we just fall in. And we eventually, after three months of doing that, we kind of had a system.”
Bowen played in other bands and became increasingly popular and needed.
“We opened up for a lot of folks and I got to meet Charlie Daniels and HARDY, the big-name country musician these days, used to open for us. I’ve met Lainey Wilson – she opened up for us – and Confederate Railroad, Joe Nichols, and a lot of other cool folks,” Bowen said.
At the time, Bowen was working odd jobs that allowed him the flexibility to play music at night and on weekends. He applied for grad school at DSU but wasn’t accepted. But that application opened the door for another opportunity. Someone at IA had called DSU seeking a music teacher and they gave them Bowen’s name and contact info.
“They tried me out part time. Within like the same week, Miles Flatt (another band) was calling me to play with him. And so, I changed jobs and got with another band at the same time and started teaching. And it fell in my lap. I started out getting paid very little but I was only there three days a week. And it was a blessing. It was very much a big blessing. I've never worked anywhere where everybody was so excited to see you. I've never been in a place of welcoming. ‘We're so happy you're here. Oh, my God, we're so happy. God, we're so thankful that you're here.’”
Bowen started teaching K3 through sixth grade music classes without much in the form of teaching aids.
I did what I could with what little instruments they had and my guitar, and, man, they liked me,” he said. “So next year, Miss Jackie Burkhalter, stepped down as junior high music teacher and they offered me her position, which made me full time. I took over the seventh grade music program. That is the biggest challenge of all – seventh grade music every day.”
Using items such as five-gallon buckets as drums and incorporating boom whackers and hand bells, Bowen has helped spread musical knowledge to each of his students.
“A kid doesn't have to play an instrument for the rest of his life in order to have a nice musical memory of something,” he said. “I also teach a history of rock and roll in my seventh grade class. At least that's what I'm calling it. We do a lot of music history. We started in the classical period and we work all the way up to 2020, all the way up. When I get to the ‘50s, I go by decade.”
His love of music came from his family as he remembers his dad and others yodeling and playing guitar. And his brother’s tape deck pushed him further.
“I was constantly around it, and I wanted to be down there with them most of the time. And I didn't know it was the music. A few years later, I’m maybe 9 or 10, my brother listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Give It Away.’ And he had to leave, and it was just me upstairs with that tape deck. And I hit rewind and I probably listened to that song probably 20 times while he was gone. I didn't know that it was the music, really. I just thought I liked the song a lot.”
One of his favorite musical memories is going to a B.B. King Homecoming concert. And he brought his guitar with him.
“We were trying to get B.B. King somehow to sign it. And he was leaving the stage and my buddy said, ‘give me your guitar.’ It was on a strap, and he took it by the strap and he slung it over the fence holding the strap and it was just dangling on the other side. And this dude comes jogging up to get it. And I put a Sharpie on it and that dude ran back, and I watched B.B. King sign my guitar.”
When Bowen isn’t teaching or playing, he enjoys deer hunting on his family’s property around Shaw.
“I just grew up deer hunting. Grew up with a rifle in my hand from the time I was about 3 or 4 years old. I don't get to shoot any monster deer or anything. But, man, I can go out behind my house right now, and there's probably going to be two or three standing out there. I'll get close to it. I get to hunt around my house. And I love to fish. I'm a crappie fisherman. Okay I love the kayak fishing. Now I got big into kayaking and crappie fishing.”
Playing and teaching music, IA’s John Andy Bowen.
