Meet Jamie Rowen | Musician and Songwriter for Stray Local

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jamie Rowen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamie, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
The single biggest decision that has changed the trajectory of our career as indie musicians has been the choice to combine our two passions of music and running. Often on our tour route we will perform and participate in running events around the country. We took the risk to become full time musicians in 2019 and since we are independent we needed to figure out how to book a national tour without the support from a label or team. Hannah and I looked to reoccurring run clubs and racing events as new potential gigs. These types of events gave us the ability to book shows all over the country. Booking these has allowed us to perform in cities where we do not have a following. The race coordinators that we communicate with understand the benefit of us participating in the running event as well as performing for the participants since it gives more meaning to the choice of entertainment. Because of this we have been able to build a fanbase in a niche environment of runners and connect with them on a deeper level having shared a mutual love for running and fitness. And when we perform for them they hear our original music and our story.

Incorporating our running story into our musical journey has been fun and feels authentic. The entertainment industry is tough and making a living is not guaranteed but we continuously adjust and forge ahead. We sometimes worry that this decision alienates us from the normal music scene but we’ve found that targeting our audience like this helps keep our focus. Sometimes as artists we try and cast a large net to try and gain fans, wanting anyone and everyone to listen, but that can be detrimental when trying to gain true fans. We are true to who we are and not portraying a fake image. We’ve found that the runners who then follow our journey and listen to our music after discovering us have more reasons to keep up since we connected with them through our shared hobby. It gives Stray Local something to be remembered by.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My wife, Hannah, and I have been writing songs together since graduating from UNCG School of Music in 2012. Our style of indie rock/alt pop has been shifting and shaping over the years and I feel has really started to settle over the last year. We have a small home studio in our house and spent lots of time honing our songs and production skills while at home all of 2020 due to Covid-19. We now oftentimes craft our songs and mold them through our recording software, where we can spend as much time as needed trying options and crafting the vibe we envision in our minds for our sound.

Some days are better than others for our creative process and we have really had to work on our communication between each other when songwriting. The process of creation is a vulnerable one and when working directly with a songwriting partner you have to understand and respect that. We make sure each idea is heard equally and if we find ourselves at a stalemate in a creative decision it is best to take a break from it and return later.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would certainly take them to the RiNo neighborhood for a night out for dinner and drinks and to check out all the awesome street area. We’d probably then take the light rail to union station and hang out around that area of town and along the river walk the next day. It would be super fun to go to one of the Denver professional sports teams play depending on the season. And our personal favorite would be to go check out a Sofar Denver show and see three amazing musical acts in a pop-up location that is only revealed on the day of the event. We have played Sofar shows all around the US and the UK and they are so intimate and special. Finally, to finish the trip I would have to take my friend on a run on one of the many awesome trails in the Denver area!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Dan Keller and the Charlotte, NC running community definitely deserve a shoutout. Dan is a regional manager of the NC running store chain, Omega Sports, and has been extremely supportive of our efforts to combine our music and running passions. He was one of the first to organize a concert/running event at his running store in 2019 and got the word out. We immediately connected with many runners from that event who now continue to follow our journey and come out to support whenever we are back in town. Through Dan we also met the Charlotte Brooks Running Guru field rep, Cara, who encouraged us to apply to become Brooks Ambassadors on the Run Happy Team, which we have been since 2020.

Website: www.straylocal.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/straylocal

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-rowen-5131a715/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/straylocal

Facebook: www.facebook.com/straylocal

Youtube: www.youtube.com/straylocalband

Image Credits
Photo in front of blue/green wall – Justin Hall Photo in running gear – Thomas Beck Photo of us performing – Justin Hall