May 12, 2025 • 51 mins
What happens when Arizona's rugged landscapes and life's harshest challenges shape a country music artist's authentic voice? In this captivating conversation, Shari Rowe takes us behind the curtain of her musical journey, revealing how personal tragedy transformed into creative resilience.
Shari opens up about recording at Nashville's renowned Ruckus Room studio with producer Jamie Tate, working alongside session legends like Tommy Harden, Jeff King, and Jimmy Mattingly. Her stories paint a vivid picture of Nashville's recording scene while offering fascinating insights into the collaborative magic that happens when talented musicians gather in a studio.
The heart of our conversation explores how Shari's upbringing in a challenging Phoenix neighborhood and painful family experiences became the foundation for her songwriting approach. After losing both parents, she made the conscious choice to channel grief into creativity rather than pausing her career. This led to writing "The Woods," a deeply personal song about her father and the mountain escapes where her family found moments of redemption amidst difficult times.
What makes Shari unique is her ability to straddle two worlds - maintaining her Arizona identity while navigating Nashville's commercial music industry. Together with her husband Kevin on bass, she's built a tight-knit "band family" that tours internationally, finding particularly enthusiastic reception for country music in Poland. Her recent production work with fiddle player Stephen Bowman reveals yet another dimension to her artistry.
Whether you're fascinated by the inner workings of Nashville's music scene, inspired by stories of turning pain into art, or simply love authentic country music with depth, this episode delivers powerful insights about perseverance and finding your creative voice. Shari's message resonates beyond music: discover what you love, don't give up on it, and use your unique experiences to connect authentically with others.
Links
- Jay Franze: https://JayFranze.com
- Shari Rowe: https://www.sharirowe.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tony Scott (00:05):
Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
insights you can't pay for andstories you've never heard.
Now here's your host, JayFranze.
Jay Franze (00:33):
And we are coming at you live.
I am Jay Franze and this isyour source for the latest news,
reviews and interviews.
So if you would like to join in, comment or fire off any
questions, please head over tojayfranzycom.
All right, my friends, tonightwe have a very special guest.
I said it once, I will say itagain we have a very special
guest.
We have an actual country musicrecording artist with us
(00:55):
tonight, hailing from the greatstate of Arizona.
We have Sherry Rowe.
Sherry, my friend, how are you?
Shari Rowe (01:02):
I'm doing great, Jane.
Thanks, Shari, my friend.
How are you?
I'm doing great, Jay.
Thanks for having me on theshow.
Jay Franze (01:05):
It is my pleasure.
I cannot wait to talk to youtonight.
All right, I've been divingdeep into your music and I have
some questions.
Shari Rowe (01:13):
All right, fire away .
Jay Franze (01:14):
Let's start with Knight Riding.
Shari Rowe (01:17):
Yeah, what was it like working with Jamie Tate?
So Jamie is gosh.
I've worked with him on severalprojects and he's become a
friend.
He makes me feel reallycomfortable in the studio.
You know, especially trackingthat vocal.
He works great with the band.
He has a lot of greatrelationships that he's built
with the players that he bringsin.
It just creates a really goodatmosphere in the studio.
(01:39):
And when you've worked withsomeone a few times on vocals
and they get to know kind ofyour tells, they know when to
push, when you need a break,when they know you have like a
better one in you and you knowit's all those things that make
a great record.
It's that relationship.
Jay Franze (01:58):
So let's take that a step further.
When you're working with him,does he take a very hands-on
approach?
Shari Rowe (02:07):
He does, but he's a really good communicator.
So he's uh, he's just very goodat communicating, which it you
can finesse something and youcan really get you know,
especially working withcreatives, because I've been in
a little bit in the productionend of things too, and when
you're working with creatives, Ithink getting to know someone
and knowing what's going tobring out the best in them,
(02:28):
being able to use those socialskills, is really important.
And Jamie's great at that, sohe's hands-on, but he's really
great at knowing how to get whathe's looking for out of the
artist.
Jay Franze (02:39):
Does he play any instruments himself?
Shari Rowe (02:42):
That I don't know.
I have never asked him that andI've never seen him in that
capacity.
But yeah, he definitely knowshow to convey what he's needing
from each player.
Jay Franze (02:52):
Well, you mentioned that he brings in the musicians
based on his relationships.
Do you remember any of themusicians that were brought in?
Shari Rowe (03:00):
Well, Tommy Harden on drums.
Jay Franze (03:02):
Drummer, for sure, yeah.
Shari Rowe (03:07):
And well, tommy harden on drums, drummer for
sure, yeah, and session leader.
He's killer.
You know only guitar, or jeffking?
Jay Franze (03:10):
sorry, jeff king jeff king's another one, holy
cow.
He's amazing, isn't?
He yeah he's just the funniestguy in the world too oh my gosh,
jimmy mattingly on fiddle.
Shari Rowe (03:19):
I mean we, you know jamie works.
I mean you know nash is like somany A players.
It's like no matter who youhave in the session.
They've got a long list of whothey've played for, who they've,
you know, maybe toured with,and so I've been really, really
fortunate to have amazingmusicians in that room.
Jay Franze (03:39):
It's funny.
I mean you mentioned those,just those few, and I've had a
chance to work with all of themand they are just amazing people
.
But you mentioned Jeff, andJeff is just the funniest guy in
the world to me.
Shari Rowe (03:50):
You know, I didn't get to know him very well, you
know.
You know, sessions sometimesare just like they go by.
So fast a couple of sessions ofmine.
But, yeah, just phenomenal.
And these guys you know, andyou know how it is like they can
play anything.
They have this amazingencyclopedia of stuff to draw
from from all the years ofexperience.
That's what makes them so greaton the fly, like that, you know
(04:12):
.
It's like a lot of people canemulate things that they hear
and and play covers of it andthey're great players.
But to be able to create on thefly under that, you know, with
the time pressure, and I thinkthat's the most beautiful thing
about what those players bring,but they're so chill about it.
It's like you know that justcomes, I think, with the
seasoning and maturity and justknowing you know.
(04:35):
Well, they do it all day, everyday, yeah, and they're so down
to earth about it and it's likethat's the best.
Jay Franze (04:41):
Yeah, those guys are great and you know, and Jeff
has worked as a session leaderon a lot of the sessions I've
been on and Jeff is just one ofthose guys whose sense of humor
keeps everybody calm.
So that's what I remember mostabout Jeff.
And he's out with Brooks andDunn so he's on the road with
them and I had a chance to takemy daughter.
(05:02):
He gave us passes.
We went to see him play withBrooks and Dunn and took her up
on stage and just gave her thetour around and she was nine
years old at the time.
So, she just had a blast.
Shari Rowe (05:13):
I love it.
Jay Franze (05:13):
Do you remember what studio you were in?
Shari Rowe (05:16):
Well, gosh, we've been at a ruckus room mostly,
yeah, but ruckus room wasrecently sold.
Jamie isn't.
Jamie isn't doing it anymore,and I know Caleb Fisher who's in
that space now, but I haven'thad a chance to talk to Caleb
about that.
I mean, I would love to be ableto go back to that room just
because I have such historythere and memories there, and,
(05:39):
uh, I'm going to miss Jamie,that's for sure.
But you know Caleb's beenputting out some great stuff.
I think he was set up out ofhis house before.
It's Farmland, I believe, isthe name of the studio.
Jay Franze (05:51):
Jamie's worked at the Ruckus Room forever.
Shari Rowe (05:54):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (05:55):
He was doing all the demos out of there.
I mean, he's been mixing demosout of there for years.
Shari Rowe (06:01):
He's very, very talented, yeah, but you, you
know I get it.
Man, life, life just uh tookhim down a different road and
he's ready for something new.
Jay Franze (06:10):
so I get it.
You talk about the peoplecoming in and out, in and out
when you're in the studio.
Life moves fast.
When you're in the studio andjamie has to keep up with the
speed of the way things go,especially at the rook is from
yeah where they're doing so manydemos in a day.
He's got to just churn them out,and churn them out, and churn
them out.
So for him to be able to movethat fast.
(06:32):
It doesn't matter how good ofan engineer you are, but to be
able to move that fast is justimpressive.
Shari Rowe (06:38):
It's very impressive and when you're there you don't
feel rushed, so kind of likewhat you said about Jeff, with a
sense of humor, keepingeverybody calm.
Jamie's really good with thattoo.
He has a great sense of humorand he's just very chill and you
know, he's probably thinking ofa million things and he's got
this thing he's got to keep upwith, but he's not putting that
(06:59):
on anybody else, which is abeautiful thing, yeah.
Jay Franze (07:03):
And I mean, that's a small little machine.
There too, I mean, they havemultiple rooms and they take
projects from one room and thenmove it over to the next room
when the next people come intothe first room.
So it's just constant movements.
It's a very impressive machinethey have over there for sure.
Shari Rowe (07:19):
Yeah, for sure.
Jay Franze (07:20):
So I mentioned at the beginning that you're from
Arizona.
Yeah, so how did you make theconnection to the beginning that
you're from Arizona?
Shari Rowe (07:25):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (07:25):
So how did you make the connection to the people
that are in Nashville?
Shari Rowe (07:31):
Oh man.
Well, my first experience withit was I sang with my sister and
my sister-in-law in acontemporary Christian trio for
a while.
Jay Franze (07:39):
Very nice.
Shari Rowe (07:40):
And we got a deal through Q Records, which was
owned by a QVC network anddistributed through Atlantic,
and our first project wasrecorded at.
This is going way back beforeBlackbird was Blackbird, it was
Creative, so we tracked it thereand that was when I first
really started buildingrelationships out there with
(08:01):
everybody, and I mean everybodywas so welcoming and I remember
even some of my first co-writesbecause I, you know, I didn't
consider myself a songwriterinitially.
You know I had this littlething here and there and it was
one of my first producers kindof helped me understand the
formula and the you know how toput the work in, to take those
(08:23):
pieces and make them intosomething.
And and it was so beautifulbecause he was so excited to
teach me that.
And I remember when he firstkind of showed me he said this
is your song, you just do this,this and this.
He was like you're a songwriterand he literally had a twinkle
in his eye and he was likealmost choked up.
You know I was like that's beenmy experience with everybody in
(08:43):
Nashville and now we have a hugecommunity there, my husband and
I.
My husband plays bass in theband, so we get to tour together
and it's, it's been amazing.
I mean, we've lived out therefor short spells at a time and
we even considered, you know,fully relocating.
But you know, to be honest,arizona inspires me so much and
(09:04):
it's so much of who I am and Ifeel like I wouldn't be who I am
as an artist if I left here,and so we made the decision a
while ago to just keep goingback and forth and do our thing
and these days it's pretty easyto do.
Yeah, it is, it is.
Jay Franze (09:19):
What part of Arizona ?
Shari Rowe (09:21):
The Northwest Valley , like outside of Phoenix
Glendale area, so still kind ofin the city but on the outskirts
.
Jay Franze (09:28):
I was in Phoenix for quite a while.
I went to Arizona.
Shari Rowe (09:30):
State.
Oh really yeah.
Jay Franze (09:33):
So all around Phoenix and Glendale and Mason.
You know, 122 degrees the day Igot there.
I know.
I have no desire to rush back.
Shari Rowe (09:43):
I'm so sorry you don't get used to that.
Yeah, that's still.
You know, open the oven doorwhen you're baking cookies, kind
of feeling that's what I say,everyone says.
Jay Franze (09:53):
But it's a dry heat.
I said well, stick your arm inthe oven and tell me how dry it
is yeah, no, it doesn't matteronce it gets above.
Shari Rowe (10:00):
I think once it's above 110, it's just like just
too hot we just recently movedback from California outside of
San Francisco, but over themountain in the desert.
Jay Franze (10:11):
We get up to about 115 every day.
Wow, but for some reason itdidn't seem as bad as Phoenix.
Yeah, I don't know Phoenix justseems like the extreme heat.
Shari Rowe (10:21):
It is for sure, for sure.
Yeah, we're seeking shelter inthe summer.
Every you know, most people areseeking shelter from snow.
We don't have that Right.
We do.
That's.
One thing I do love aboutArizona is you can.
There's a certain time of yearwhen you can water ski in the
Valley, snow skiing up in Flag.
Jay Franze (10:38):
So I actually drove to Phoenix and I hit Flagstaff
and I got out to pump gas and Iwas like, wow, this is what they
must mean by dry heat.
This is nice.
It was like 80 degrees.
I'm like this is 80 degrees andit feels real nice.
A few hours later I was inPhoenix.
At the time I had to get outand use a payphone because I'm
old and I grabbed the payphoneand burnt my hand.
Shari Rowe (11:01):
Oh no.
Jay Franze (11:06):
Okay, it's hot.
Shari Rowe (11:07):
Yeah, you just kept going down down down.
It was a good time, though Goodtime spent there, I did
transfer all my classes tonighttime classes, though.
Jay Franze (11:17):
All right, so your first time to Nashville was
quite a while ago, if you were acreative yeah, and then you
start meeting these people, youstart developing this network.
So tell me what it was.
Well, first of all, let me justgo back Christian band.
Let's talk about that for aminute.
What was that like?
Shari Rowe (11:35):
It was one of those things where, you know, I grew
up singing, like as far back asI can remember, just like
putting on shows for the familyin the living room, the whole
thing, right.
And so my sister and I werealways trying to find harmonies.
It just was something we justwere drawn to do.
And then my sister-in-law mybrother is like almost 20 years
(11:57):
older than me, so mysister-in-law and my sister and
I literally just would sitaround.
I mean, our spare time was.
It was just fun trying to comeup with, you know, all these
different ways to harmonize andsinging, along with with songs
on the radio.
And then we went to church andwe put a song together to sing
at church and one thing led toanother, literally.
And, uh, my sister and I were,we started a cleaning business
(12:20):
in Scottsdale and we'd cleanhouses and we'd be in these
giant mansions, we'd meet in thekitchen to like write songs,
like we'd come up with an ideaand I'd be like I know what the
next line should be, you know,and we just we loved it.
You know, that's just what wedid.
And, um, one of the houses thatwe were cleaning that the owner
(12:41):
of the house knew somebody, whoknew somebody, and she said you
know this guy.
He was a producer in Nashvilleand he's out here, he's from
here and set up a meeting and wewent to his office and we sang
and he listened and he was likehow did I not know you guys
(13:03):
existed?
I'm like, well, we weren'treally trying to do this, so it
just kind of fell into placereally and it was great touring,
like we did a bunch ofChristian festivals, we had a
bunch of radio play and went onQVC selling our music, people
calling in, you know the wholething.
Jay Franze (13:24):
That's a whole different approach to selling
music, for sure.
Shari Rowe (13:27):
Yeah, it was.
It was crazy old school likethis really, but really fun, I
mean, cause I'm with my family.
You know that family harmony,you know, and even though my
sister-in-law wasn't related byblood, we just found this blend.
That it's still, you know,every once in a while we'll sing
together at the holidays andstuff, and.
But it's still, you know, everyonce in a while we'll sing
together at the holidays andstuff, and it's just magical
when you get to do that.
Jay Franze (13:48):
Tell us a little bit more about that.
You talk about just coming upwith harmonies.
That's not something mostpeople can do.
So the fact that not only canyou do it, but they sound good
and you're coming up and you geta record deal and all that fun
stuff- so how did you even findout you were good at harmonies
in the first place?
Shari Rowe (14:12):
Oh, that's a good question.
I mean I can't remember notdoing it.
And then I do remember being inchoir in like junior high, and
this isn't specifically relatedto harmony, but it kind of made
me more like self aware of likeoh what, so I can do this thing.
You know, you know, sometimes,like in a choir, the director
will go like in front of eachperson, as everyone's saying,
just to kind of figure out areyou alto soprano?
Whatever?
(14:32):
You know those kinds of thingsthat they're figuring out.
And one day after choir, myteacher pulled me aside and she
said you know, you have thisreally great tone in your voice.
Can we put together a solo foryou?
Jay Franze (14:47):
for the program and.
Shari Rowe (14:49):
I was like sure, Sure, and it was in Italian, I
don't remember the name of it,but it was like an Italian opera
thing and I'm like okay, and sowe did that and I think that
was one of the first times.
I actually thought I think itwas one of the first times
somebody recognized something inme and it wasn't like in the
living room with the family, youknow, it wasn't mom saying oh
(15:11):
you sound beautiful, you know.
I think it just kind of made methink for a second and I started
writing songs not long afterthat, like they weren't good but
they were.
I was trying, I wanted to do it.
That was the first time Irealized I wanted to do it.
Jay Franze (15:28):
So what was the age at that point?
Shari Rowe (15:32):
12.
Oh, wow, yeah, yeah, I mean Idon't know, I just it's just
what I.
I take off Cause like we livedin the city we lived in.
Glendale, grew up in kind of anot really great area of Arizona
, but on the weekends I would goto my brother's property and he
had horses, so I'd take off onhorseback, follow the canal,
bank, riverbed, and I justremember writing songs.
(15:56):
I can't really say I knew atthe time I was becoming a
songwriter, I was just singingand coming up with words that
rhymed.
Jay Franze (16:06):
I can only assume that at that age it's basically
lyrics and melody.
Yeah, exactly If you're able tosing, then you're taking those
lyrics and you're able to make amelody out of it.
Shari Rowe (16:18):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (16:18):
So then, when you meet up with musicians later,
like your days in Nashville isthat how you do it now.
You come up with lyrics, yousing, and then somebody pulls
the chord changes out of that.
Shari Rowe (16:30):
Mostly yeah, and I've taken guitar lessons and
I've applied myself.
But the thing that I realizedearly on, I kind of got I don't
want to say thrown into it,because that almost sounds
negative.
I'm so grateful.
But everything took off reallyfast and I found myself
surrounded by these amazingmusicians.
So anytime I tried to put timein on the guitar I was like you
(16:53):
know, it's going to take meyears to have this talent to
draw on that all of these peoplehave around me.
So for the most part I'll writelyric and melody.
I know enough about music, justfrom what I've gleaned over
time, to understand.
You know chord structure andyou know tension and you know,
(17:13):
like, all the different ways youcan convey emotion through.
You know chord progression.
I understand you know hooks,melodic hooks, vocal hooks, I
understand all that kind ofstuff.
But I mostly say you know thisis what I'm trying to convey and
I'll get together with somebodyto do like that scratch track
and really just kind of talkthrough pre-production and think
(17:35):
about where I want the song toend up and kind of help lay the
groundwork that way.
But I'm definitely utilizingtheir encyclopedia of chord
structures.
So, and I have found, I'velearned over the years that
there are a lot of.
There are several writers whowrite that way, you know, and I
used to think of it as ahandicap and then I learned that
(17:56):
, you know, that's just, that'smy method and it works.
Jay Franze (18:01):
We all have strengths, right Strengths and
weaknesses.
Shari Rowe (18:03):
Exactly.
Jay Franze (18:05):
So you mentioned your record deal.
How long did that last, theChristian record deal?
Shari Rowe (18:11):
Oh gosh, we did.
We did one full length projectand and then after that we all
just kind of, we didn't go ourseparate ways.
We're still for our family, sowe're still close.
Our separate ways, we're stillfor our family, so we're still
close.
But we just did differentthings.
My sister is in banking now andyeah of course, very proud of
(18:31):
her and my sister-in-law is.
She just really enjoys thesimple life.
So she's like she's got horsesand she, you know she travels a
lot and she's, you know, that's,that's.
She's in her lane.
She sings a little bit here andthere, but I was kind of the
one who wasn't done.
Jay Franze (18:51):
So you decided to move on and go into the country
world.
Yeah, so how quick of aturnaround was that.
Shari Rowe (18:58):
There was a bit of a gap because it was during a
time my dad was battling cancerand my mom and I were his
caregivers.
So it was like, right at this,right around the same time, and
I was, you know, honestly, Iloved singing with my sisters
and you know, you're kind of,you know soul searching and
trying to figure out what you'remeant to do, and so I.
(19:20):
That process took a couple ofyears, honestly.
So I thought process took acouple years, honestly, and I
started writing again and, to behonest, it was hard getting
back into writing after losingmy dad.
That was like one of those.
I was just grieving and goingthrough those emotions and then
I was able to sort of processsome of that through writing and
in fact it's crazy, but Evenmoving forward these years later
(19:44):
, I just finished a veryimportant song to me about my
dad that I started back then.
It was very hard for me tofinish it because I felt like,
no matter what I said, it wasn'tenough, it wasn't truly telling
the story.
It almost felt like too sacredto kind of.
(20:05):
I felt like I was limiting itby putting it in this song.
And then a good friend of mine,who's also a collaborator
fiddle player in my band,stephen Bowman.
He told me you know he's likeyou know you have to remember
this is the only song you'regoing to write about your dad.
It's like you don't have to sayeverything in one song and I
don't know that.
Just kind of like that openedit up for me, freed me up,
(20:28):
finished the song, actuallybrought him in on the co-write
and finished it with him.
Jay Franze (20:34):
What were the emotions like when you were
writing that song?
Shari Rowe (20:39):
There were some times I actually I had to stop
like it, like it got me and I'mlike okay, yeah, so it's
interesting because my dad, uh,my dad had a rough life and you
know how it is with all families, Like we're all just trying to
do our best with what we have.
We're trying to help, you know,the next generation be better
(21:00):
than before and learn.
And I love my dad, you know,when he passed away we were, we
were very close, but growing upit wasn't necessarily that way
and, as I said, we lived in thecity and horseback riding, going
up to the mountains in Arizona,camping.
That's always been a realescape for me and early on that
(21:22):
was established because we livedthis life in the city, in a
really bad part of town and, youknow, going through a lot as a
family.
But then every so often we'descape up to the woods and in
the woods we were different.
In the woods there was a sparklein my dad's eye, you know, and
and so the song is called thewoods and it's really a story
(21:44):
about redemption.
It's really about, you know, aprodigal situation.
I think we all were kind of ourbest selves up there on the
mountain.
So those emotions for mewriting that song were it was
very freeing to be able to kindof give my dad's story some life
(22:05):
and maybe help people to seehim and maybe people like him in
their humanity, Like he had hisstory and he had a lot of, a
lot that he went through.
That kind of will definitelyaffected us, but there was
redemption there.
Jay Franze (22:25):
How old was your dad ?
Shari Rowe (22:27):
He was 70 when he passed 70.
Yeah, All right.
I mean, even if I was askedearlier today.
You know what do I do?
Just like to stay grounded, andif I'm not up in the woods for
a couple of weeks off grid, I'mjust going outside my backyard
for 10 minutes Like I got to seethe sky.
Jay Franze (22:47):
I got to like, put your feet in grass.
Shari Rowe (22:50):
Yeah, I got to put my feet in the grass.
That's funny.
Jay Franze (22:56):
All right, so you've mentioned it a couple of times
now.
Growing up in a not so niceneighborhood, yeah, how do you
feel that affected yoursongwriting?
How do you?
Shari Rowe (23:06):
feel that affected your songwriting.
Well, I'd have to say I'd haveto speak to more how it affected
me in general, Because,hopefully, you know, I've really
been trying to be sointentional about being
authentic in what I'm puttingout and I think how it affected
me, it helped me to have empathy.
(23:27):
I really do.
I think how it affected me ithelped me to have empathy.
I really do.
Especially, you know, I'm aperson of faith and I don't
think I could have gottenthrough a lot of things that I
did without that personally.
And I think it's odd because,you know, I go back to those
neighborhoods sometimes and I'llsay, you know, that's the house
, that's one of the houses welived in, and some people are
like, whoa, it's like there'sbars on the window.
You know that's the house,that's one of the houses we
(23:47):
lived in, and some people arelike, whoa, it's like there's
bars on the window, you know,and I'm like, yeah, like, but
there's a certain comfort beingthere.
Jay Franze (23:53):
Right, it's where you grew up.
Shari Rowe (23:55):
It's where I grew up and I think it helped me to be
grounded, to understand that atany given time, in any room,
there's somebody going throughstuff, you know.
It helped me to not feel, youknow, disconnected, because I
was just seeing, I wasexperiencing a lot.
I was seeing a lot just veryreal, you know, and so I think
(24:18):
that helped me to be maybe morerelatable and a little more
vulnerable when I'm talking topeople and listening to people
well, that's a good point.
Jay Franze (24:26):
Do you think the ability to relate helps you when
you sit down in a room full ofwriters?
Shari Rowe (24:32):
Absolutely yeah, yeah, for sure.
Jay Franze (24:34):
Do you think you're able to connect with their
struggles because of that?
Shari Rowe (24:40):
Yeah, I think so.
I mean, I would like to thinkso.
That's who I want to be and so,yes, I think that that is how I
grew up has played into mewanting to be present for people
and hear them and see them andbe seen well, there's something
about when you sit down to writea song.
Jay Franze (25:01):
Everybody wants to write the hit song or the next
big thing which a lot of timesis emotionless.
It's just something you cansing to it's just a poppy thing,
but to be able to sit down andtake it to a deeper level.
Those are the songs that reallyconnect with people and they
actually go a step higher thanthose poppy songs, because not
(25:22):
only are they good songs, butthen they connect and people
relate to them.
So I think it says something tohave that kind of connection and
to have a history like yours.
If you don't have something todraw on, then you're just
guessing and it's almost fake.
Shari Rowe (25:35):
Yeah, and you know there is a formula for a
commercial song and you know,and I get that, and at times I
have to remind myself, you know,that like the lighthearted, fun
stuff is great.
I mean, when I'm up on stagewith the band and there's all
that energy and you know it'sall fun, right, then it's like
that's magical too in its ownway, you know.
(25:55):
So I, I know I need to have youknow to be diversified in what
I'm putting out, but, butespecially lately, I've been
leaning into the authenticityand the vulnerability because,
yeah, I mean, we all havesomething to say and we all have
our own story and I can't tellsomebody else's story.
Jay Franze (26:16):
Why would you want?
Shari Rowe (26:17):
to.
I wouldn't want to.
Jay Franze (26:19):
You mentioned, there's a formula to writing a
hit song, and that's especiallytrue when you're in Nashville.
Everything is a formula.
I mean from the writing to therecording, to the studio.
I mean, it's a process for areason and don't get me wrong
it's the best process in theworld.
It has the best musicians inthe world and the most talented
singers.
(26:39):
However, you're not fromNashville.
You're from Arizona.
So do you feel like the factthat you are outside of the
system helps you stay groundedand write in a different manner
than people inside the system?
Shari Rowe (26:56):
That's a great thought.
Maybe I honestly, though, Iseek out even like in Nashville,
like I'm a big fan of SeanMcConnell and Brett Shiroki and
Natalie Hemby, and I, just I II'm drawn to people who write
about deep things.
(27:17):
So, you know, I I think I thinkit helps me stay grounded in a
way that I don't lose myidentity as far as my background
and my history.
I'm not being changed.
I'm staying in my environment,so I'm sure that has an effect
(27:39):
on it reality, even with thisnew stuff that I'm putting out
I've been saying it out loudeven to my husband and different
people I'm working with I'mlike I'm not going to pigeon
hole myself into an indie cornerjust because I want to be
artistic and vulnerable and kindof explore some things.
I understand that there's anaudience and I understand
(28:01):
there's a balance.
Jay Franze (28:03):
That's just it.
There is a balance.
You don't have to be way off inthe corner to be artistic.
Shari Rowe (28:10):
Right.
Jay Franze (28:10):
Every song I've ever written has been commercial,
but I like to think I take anartistic approach to the way I
write a song.
Shari Rowe (28:17):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (28:18):
I think all of your songs are very commercial, very
easy to to sing along to.
So I don't think you're off ina corner.
I think that you're takingcreativity to a new level.
So it's not just surfacecreativity, you're taking it
deeper.
You've mentioned your husband acouple times and my wife is
called wife.
(28:38):
However, does your husband havea name?
Shari Rowe (28:41):
He absolutely does, Kevin.
Kevin is an amazing bass playerand we're a great team.
I'm we're just really blessed,Like we love being together
because we're together a lotLike we play music together we
started businesses together.
We've, you know, we, we arereally, we're really blessed.
Jay Franze (29:03):
That's a good thing, right.
It's good to have thatconnection.
Shari Rowe (29:13):
So what is that dynamic when you're on the road?
Our band is literally a bandfamily.
Like the guys in my band are,like my brothers, I feel like
I've always just been the girlin a room full of guys and it's
been great.
Everybody has respect for oneanother.
We eat together.
We, you know, even forrehearsal.
You know everybody eats first.
Everybody's talking aboutwhat's happening in their life
first and you know if we need tostop everything and just talk
(29:35):
about what somebody's goingthrough, I mean we just really
love each other.
It's.
It's pretty cool, yeah.
Jay Franze (29:43):
It's very cool.
Yeah, my wife and I, I would.
I would take her every day ofthe week wherever I go.
If I could, even though she's apain in my neck, I would still
take her.
Shari Rowe (29:51):
What is your wife's name?
Jay Franze (29:53):
It's Jennifer.
Shari Rowe (29:55):
Jennifer However.
Jay Franze (29:56):
I can probably count on one hand the amount of times
I've ever called her by that.
Yeah, it's always the wife.
You know, my grandfather alwayscalled my grandmother wife and
it's just stuck.
It's just what I do that'sgreat.
But I met my wife in theindustry.
I worked as an engineer and mywife worked as a graphic artist
and a photographer.
So we met working on the sameprojects and we ended up dating.
(30:22):
And here we are, 15 plus yearslater.
Shari Rowe (30:25):
Awesome.
Jay Franze (30:26):
But when we travel around, we each have our role in
how we do things.
She drives all day long on herown, but if we're together, I
have to be the one driving.
Shari Rowe (30:36):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (30:37):
Not because of me, but she would prefer that I
drive and honestly, I'd ratherdrive because I like driving,
there you go, we all have ourroles for sure.
So tell me about the rest ofthe band.
Shari Rowe (30:51):
Oh man, alan Wells on lead guitar.
He was a metal shredder beforehe was a picker and he's just
like phenomenal.
I mean, the guy's just nuts.
He's great and great sense ofhumor.
And you know just a really,really great guy, sean Raynard
on Rhythm, electric and Acousticand Vocals.
(31:11):
He grew up singing SouthernGospel, so his harmonies are
spot on and he's just, he's likemy little brother just
harassing me all the time and Ilove it, wouldn't have it any
other way.
Rocky is my MD and he's on keysand he's just phenomenal, you
know he's.
He's great at what he does andhe's so invested.
(31:32):
You know the guys are soinvested, I mean I thank God
every day that they care so muchabout their roles and they love
making things better.
And Rocky is great at that MDrole.
He's always thinking ofdifferent transitions and
different creative things andhe's just, you know, just love
it.
And he's, you know, all theguys are there at the end of
(31:54):
these long shows that wesometimes play and they're there
winding cables and loading gearand just, you know, we're still
laughing and harassing eachother the whole time.
And David on drums I meanDavid's like he was a drum tech
in Nashville for quite a whileand he and his wife Priscilla
just had a baby, and you know,newest little band member.
Jay Franze (32:18):
So were they all out in Arizona with you, or are
they in Nashville?
Shari Rowe (32:22):
So most of them are.
Bowman, my fiddle player, livesout there.
He lived out here.
He's kind of gone back andforth quite a bit.
Our house is like his secondhome, so he flies back and forth
a lot.
I actually co-wrote andco-produced his most recent
project that he did.
It's kind of an Indy Americanathing and we tracked some of it
here and some of it in Nashville.
So have a studio here and inthe house and that was that was
(32:47):
really freeing for me to.
I was really excited to do thatproject with him and when we
were done I kind of realizedthat I was able to be more
vulnerable, helping someone telltheir story, and I was able to
kind of like put these storiestogether that were very, very
honest.
Not that I haven't been honestin my writing, but it definitely
(33:09):
took.
It kind of took down some wallsfor me, for myself, for the
stuff that I'm about to put out.
So that was that was a reallycool lesson to learn from that.
Jay Franze (33:18):
Well, again, I think it's all that experience and
the you know, everything you'vedone up to this point has led to
your ability to be able to dothat.
Yeah, so you mentioned youhelped him produce the record
and you mentioned that you havea studio in your home.
Shari Rowe (33:32):
I want to talk about those two things real quick.
Jay Franze (33:33):
What type of producer do you find yourself
being?
Shari Rowe (33:37):
It was a fairly new role for me, other than just
like sideline chiming in before.
This was like more official, youknow, and so I kind of got my
feet wet on the process thistime and I would say it was very
exciting for me because I'vehad a lot of ideas.
It kind of opened up the gatefor me to just kind of like oh,
(33:57):
you know, wow, this is, this isa blast.
Like I've never picked aparteverything as much as I have on
this, because I've never pickedapart everything as much as I
have on this, because you go inand you track in a session and
those sessions do move reallyfast and you can have an idea of
pre-production but there's nota whole lot of really
contemplating the direction ofthings in those sessions when
(34:18):
you're doing something as anindependent artist like Bowman
was that's his last name, it'sreally his last name, he's a
fiddle player, it's really hislast name, he's a fiddle player,
it's not made up.
But it was fun to have the timeto really pick things apart and
layer things in and kind ofbuild the songs over weeks and
kind of live with the versionthat you had and go.
(34:39):
You know, I think maybe weshould go back and do this.
So what kind of producer?
I think that's yet to bedetermined.
I feel like it was a greatexperience and Bowman and I were
really happy with the endresult.
Jay Franze (34:51):
So Well you mentioned your ability to help
craft the songs.
Shari Rowe (34:56):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (34:56):
Did you help out with harmonies and melodies?
Shari Rowe (34:59):
Yeah, I sang back up on everything and I went out
with him when he had one of hissingle releases and we did some
rounds together and I was ableto jump in and sing with him on
them and so, yeah, bowman and I,we figured out man, we're great
friends and he's an amazinglytalented musician.
But he's honestly my favoritecollaborator.
(35:20):
Like we just we make a reallygood team.
He's he's really great at hethinks outside the box, or I
should say outside of what mybox would be, and we compliment
each other well in that way andhe he really appreciates what I
bring to the table and I thinkwhen you have that collaboration
and you know each one isbringing something that you
(35:42):
probably couldn't come up withon your own it's it makes for
such a fun experience creatively.
Jay Franze (35:48):
Well, it's also good too when you're both at a
certain level of talent and thenyou both have respect for each
other and you've both beenfriends long enough that you are
able to open up to each other,so it allows a lot of comfort.
Shari Rowe (36:03):
Yes.
Jay Franze (36:03):
And that way you can sit there and you can work with
each other and you can giveideas without feeling like
you're going to hurt somebody'sfeelings yeah, yeah, safe place
yeah, of course.
Now let's talk about the studiofor a second.
Is the studio intended forwriting purposes and demos, or
is it intended for you to to beable to actually craft a record
in the future?
Shari Rowe (36:24):
Yeah, well, it's in transition.
The room isn't built forcrafting a record, because it
wasn't originally intended forthat, but we find ourselves in
this spot where there is a needfor that here, not even just for
ourselves, but I also co-host aradio show called Arizona on
the Rise with my manager and hiswife, and Kevin produces the
(36:48):
show and edits it down, andwe're finding a lot of up and
coming talent here and it'sreally fun for me to be able to
get to know some of theseartists that maybe I've just
passed and you know, coming onand off stage and get to know
their story and kind of see whatthey're writing and to kind of
help facilitate that.
So we're about to have someconstruction projects right here
(37:12):
.
Jay Franze (37:13):
Trust me, that part will be fun.
Shari Rowe (37:15):
Yeah, yeah, kevin's built a couple studios in other
places for people.
He is a builder.
I mean, we've built homesbefore and stuff like that, so
it'll be fun to dive in thatinto that again I always have my
rooms built because not mything.
Jay Franze (37:31):
You mentioned the artists that you cross coming on
and off stage.
Let's talk about some of thepeople you've had an opportunity
to open up for yeah so one thatI haven't heard the name in
quite a while but I absolutelylove as an artist is Leanne
Rimes.
Shari Rowe (37:48):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (37:49):
What was that like?
Shari Rowe (37:51):
Oh my gosh, it was a blast.
It was at Scottsdale CulinaryFestival, which is always.
That's a huge event, you know,and it's fun.
I mean it's any, anyopportunity like that is.
I mean you know you're hopingto get to meet them and hang out
and kind of pick their brain oryou know anything like that.
But even just sharing theplatform, sharing the ticket at
(38:11):
all, is like it's an honor andit's just one more opportunity
to kind of refine your show andget better.
Jay Franze (38:21):
I saw a picture of you with Reba.
Did you play alongside Reba oropen for Reba?
Shari Rowe (38:27):
So she was supposed to perform that night, but she
actually had strep throat thatnight and she was also emceeing.
So she was emceeing CelebrityFight Night and Barry Manilow
was playing that night, brianMcNight, barry.
Manilow was awesome, by the way.
Oh, my goodness, yeah, toscano,like it was a really cool.
(38:49):
I mean, that night wasfantastic.
In fact, that was the weekend Iwas releasing Night Riding and
Jimmy Walker started CelebrityFight Night with Muhammad Ali
and it was from Parkinson'sResearch and they were really
good friends and it was the 25thanniversary and you know the
song's coming out, and so I wasable to sing that song the
(39:10):
weekend that it came out and I'mlooking down at this like
star-studded crowd.
I mean Quincy Jones is like infront of me Right there and Reva
and everybody.
You know it was one of thosemagical nights Like that was.
It was one of those magicalnights Like that was.
It was the red carpet withKevin and the whole thing.
And Reba was wonderful.
(39:30):
I talked with her backstage.
She was so sweet.
She's so down to earth, so niceyeah.
Jay Franze (39:35):
Well, you mentioned Jeff King earlier.
That's his primary gig, isgoing out with Reba.
Shari Rowe (39:40):
Yep.
Jay Franze (39:42):
Yeah, all right.
You travel around with yourhusband, your bandmates and you
get to hang out with some of thesome of the best people in the
industry.
Tell me the craziest story youhave.
Shari Rowe (39:51):
I mean okay.
So we did get pulled over bythe German police when we were
heading back from Poland toGermany to fly back home after
touring, and that was a funexperience, you know, and and
there was one girl that wastraveling with us, you know, and
and uh, there was one girl thatwas traveling with us and she
literally had the flu.
I mean she, her fever wasprobably like 103 and she was
sleeping.
(40:11):
And they, these guys, had to belike seven feet tall, like
these police officers.
They did not want to jokearound, they were not there to
small talk, so they, they likenudged her and got her up, cause
we all, we had to pull all theluggage out from underneath the
bus, then go through everythingto ask us a bunch of questions,
and then Kevin decides, beforethey leave, to shout we, right
(40:37):
before they're out of view.
Can we take a selfie?
No, was their answer.
Fair enough.
No, take a selfie.
No, was their answer.
Jay Franze (40:47):
Fair enough.
No, no, and it was pretty solid.
No.
Shari Rowe (40:52):
Pretty solid, no.
Jay Franze (40:53):
Okay, I just want to point out you said you don't
have any crazy stories and thenyou see you get pulled over by
the cops.
I'm thinking maybe someplace inUtah or someplace you know it's
stateside.
You talk about being pulledover by cops in germany yeah,
okay, that's insane to beginwith, but how scary was that
honestly, it was very scary Ididn't know what was happening,
you know it's like, and wedidn't have our translator with
(41:14):
us and this was the end of tour.
Shari Rowe (41:16):
We got the bus driver, that's it.
So yeah, it was.
It was scary, for sure.
Poland wasn't scary, though.
In general poland, people lovecountry music.
In Poland.
Those crowds were great Like.
We've been there a couple timesand we're planning to go back
in 2026, and I love it Do youthink country music's more
received over there than it isover here, more well-received
(41:51):
well-received.
There's a genuine like, there'sa genuine excitement that I
don't think we could see here.
I mean it's like they're like.
They're like Christmas morningexcited.
It's new to them.
They love Americans, I mean so.
My grandparents were born andraised in Poland.
I never met them because theypassed when my mom was young.
So I love the heritage.
That's a huge part of who I am.
(42:11):
But it's just so exciting justto like they want to hear me
talk.
They think I have a cool accentand I'm like you got it wrong.
I'm like no, but they really do.
They get very excited aboutAmerican culture and the
American dream and country musicand they're very intrigued by
it.
Jay Franze (42:30):
All right Now.
I know you've got plenty of acareer left to go, but what's
been the biggest setback to thispoint?
Shari Rowe (42:38):
Oh man.
Well, I hate to throw the oldCOVID word in there, but
honestly, 2019 was great.
It was a rough year, you know.
So I don't know that was foreverybody, obviously, but I
think, outside of that, I thinkit's the times that I, instead
(43:00):
of using life's challenges topropel me, the times that I've
let them slow me down.
You know whether it was youknow, and not that they should
or shouldn't you know, cause, Imean, everybody goes through
things in their own way andthat's you know.
We can't really dictate that.
You know, we're human.
(43:20):
But, looking back, I wishsometimes I would have kind of
just dug in.
And so, you know, I've had somechallenges.
Recently my mom passed and youknow different things happening
in the family, like within thelast year, and I have found
myself in a different mindset.
This time.
Things have been hard, but Iknew that I could either kind of
(43:49):
go inward and just kind of stopthings and kind of put things
on hold, put things on pause,which sometimes there's a time
for that but this time I didn'twant to look back and wish that
I had not stopped, so instead II kind of hyper focused on the
creative side of what I do, andeven if that wasn't always in
the public eye, I was alwayskind of trying to keep that
(44:13):
momentum going and it's beenreally healing for me.
And now, coming out on theother side of it, I've got some
songs that I'm really happy with.
I try not to let that be asetback this time.
Jay Franze (44:24):
No, I get that, and it's going to be tough to lose
your mother, you know,especially after losing your
father, and you had thatchallenge when you lost your
father, and it takes you a whileto get back in the groove and
then it happens again.
It's going to be hard to fightthat, to stay in the groove this
time.
Shari Rowe (44:42):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (44:43):
So I've lost both my parents.
I can understand how that'stough, it is tough.
Yeah, it's not only tough onyou personally, but just
everything that's around you.
Shari Rowe (44:54):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (44:54):
So, absolutely.
All right.
Well, let's talk about the, theaudience, for a minute.
You play these shows and you'replaying all over the world, so
what are you doing to grow andconnect with the audience?
I?
Shari Rowe (45:10):
like crowds, I like the meet and greets, you know,
and I I think accessibility isimportant.
(45:33):
Even if I haven't beenconstantly putting new content
out, I genuinely love connectingwith people when they comment
or message or and I've met even.
You know, I met some young kidsout on the road at meet and
greets and I still am talkingwith them on Instagram and
they'll randomly message me.
I even have a few that messageme when they're going through
stuff and it's like I reallyvalue the stuff that goes beyond
(45:56):
the show and I also think,coming alongside different
organizations that are doinggreat work in any number of ways
.
That's always been reallyimportant to me to stay
connected with people.
I think it's just it's reallycool to have those big moments
and those moments when you feellike the whole room is with you
(46:17):
when you're on stage and likeyou can feel the room change
when the music changes, and Ilove all that part of the
relationship.
But the stuff that goes onafter that is really special.
You know, that's the stuff thatI don't know just gets into
your heart less in a differentway.
Jay Franze (46:34):
Do you think a lot of that's because of where and
how you grew up.
Shari Rowe (46:39):
Probably.
Yeah, I mean I think I thinkanytime, cause we all go through
things and I think it's youknow what we do with that is
really important, and I think itcan, it can shut us down
because I mean, life can bereally hard sometimes.
I mean all of us, you know,none of us are strangers to
difficulties in life.
I think it's just you know whatyou do with it and I, I don't
(47:03):
know, I just I'm determined tofind a way to use these things
for good.
I just I don't know, I mean I,I I love what it does, I love I
can see it, you know, I can feelit.
You know, when you're withsomebody or you're talking with
somebody, or you know they findthemselves in a song that you
wrote, or I mean all of that isvery real to me, like that
(47:26):
matters.
Jay Franze (47:29):
So what do you hope they take away from your music
and your performances?
Shari Rowe (47:35):
I mean, hopefully, you know, at minimum, a little
escape and some fun from justlike the heaviness of life.
You know, initially music doesthat for all of us and I think
at minimum that.
And then beyond that, maybe youknow that little nudge to
(47:56):
persevere when they're having ahard time.
And you know, do what they wantto do, do what they feel
they're made to do, cause Ithink that's a huge part of like
me getting through a lot ofthings I have gone through in
life is, you know, find what youlove to do, and that may not be
music, it could be anything.
Find what you love to do anddon't give up on that Like just
(48:19):
you know.
That is.
You know we're made to do whatwe do.
You know we're made we're madeto do what we do and and when we
identify that and and dive intoit, we're our best selves for
everybody.
I think you know.
Jay Franze (48:33):
That's a great message.
I have three daughters and Itry to instill that message on
them every day.
Shari Rowe (48:39):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (48:40):
All right.
Well, we do this thing here wecall unsung heroes, where we
take a moment to shine the lighton somebody who works behind
the scenes or somebody who mayhave supported you along the way
.
Is there somebody that you'dlike to shine a little light on?
Shari Rowe (49:06):
with me and she's been on the road with me off and
on and she's currently raisingher kids and she works at their
school.
She's a single mom.
She is one of the best momsI've seen.
She loves music and loves themusic industry and she has
toured with different artistsand she's run merch for people
and she's you know, when she wasout with me, she knew she's run
merch for people and she's youknow, when she was out with me,
she knew, you know every socialmedia moment to catch and she
(49:29):
was thinking of everything andshe was the runner and she was
everything you know and she wasso great at it and she genuinely
loved everybody in the band andloves us and loves me and my
biggest supporter and fan.
And now she's like she's doing.
She's doing the work raisingthose babies and they're
(49:50):
wonderful kids and, yeah, I justappreciate all the time and
effort and love she's investedin what we do.
Jay Franze (49:57):
Thank you, allie.
All right, well, folks, we havedone it.
We have reached the top of thehour, which does mean we have
reached the end of the show, ifyou've enjoyed the show.
Please tell a friend, and ifyou have not tell two, you can
reach out to both of us over atjayfranze.
com.
We will be happy to keep thisconversation going.
We're happy to keep anyconversation going.
Shari Rowe (50:21):
You know, Sheri, my friend, I would like to leave
the final words to you, allright.
Well, thanks for everybodyjoining in.
Jay, thanks for having me onthe show.
I loved it.
I got new music coming out soon.
So, as I said, I loveconnecting with people online.
Shoot me a message, ask me somequestions.
I'll do my best to answer.
Jay Franze (50:36):
All right, folks On that note have a good night.
Tony Scott (50:40):
Thanks for listening to The Jay Franze Show.
Make sure you visit us atjayfranze.
com.
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Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
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Now here's your host, JayFranze.
Jay Franze (00:33):
And we are coming at you live.
I am Jay Franze and this isyour source for the latest news,
reviews and interviews.
So if you would like to join in, comment or fire off any
questions, please head over tojayfranzycom.
All right, my friends, tonightwe have a very special guest.
I said it once, I will say itagain we have a very special
guest.
We have an actual country musicrecording artist with us
(00:55):
tonight, hailing from the greatstate of Arizona.
We have Sherry Rowe.
Sherry, my friend, how are you?
Shari Rowe (01:02):
I'm doing great, Jane.
Thanks, Shari, my friend.
How are you?
I'm doing great, Jay.
Thanks for having me on theshow.
Jay Franze (01:05):
It is my pleasure.
I cannot wait to talk to youtonight.
All right, I've been divingdeep into your music and I have
some questions.
Shari Rowe (01:13):
All right, fire away .
Jay Franze (01:14):
Let's start with Knight Riding.
Shari Rowe (01:17):
Yeah, what was it like working with Jamie Tate?
So Jamie is gosh.
I've worked with him on severalprojects and he's become a
friend.
He makes me feel reallycomfortable in the studio.
You know, especially trackingthat vocal.
He works great with the band.
He has a lot of greatrelationships that he's built
with the players that he bringsin.
It just creates a really goodatmosphere in the studio.
(01:39):
And when you've worked withsomeone a few times on vocals
and they get to know kind ofyour tells, they know when to
push, when you need a break,when they know you have like a
better one in you and you knowit's all those things that make
a great record.
It's that relationship.
Jay Franze (01:58):
So let's take that a step further.
When you're working with him,does he take a very hands-on
approach?
Shari Rowe (02:07):
He does, but he's a really good communicator.
So he's uh, he's just very goodat communicating, which it you
can finesse something and youcan really get you know,
especially working withcreatives, because I've been in
a little bit in the productionend of things too, and when
you're working with creatives, Ithink getting to know someone
and knowing what's going tobring out the best in them,
(02:28):
being able to use those socialskills, is really important.
And Jamie's great at that, sohe's hands-on, but he's really
great at knowing how to get whathe's looking for out of the
artist.
Jay Franze (02:39):
Does he play any instruments himself?
Shari Rowe (02:42):
That I don't know.
I have never asked him that andI've never seen him in that
capacity.
But yeah, he definitely knowshow to convey what he's needing
from each player.
Jay Franze (02:52):
Well, you mentioned that he brings in the musicians
based on his relationships.
Do you remember any of themusicians that were brought in?
Shari Rowe (03:00):
Well, Tommy Harden on drums.
Jay Franze (03:02):
Drummer, for sure, yeah.
Shari Rowe (03:07):
And well, tommy harden on drums, drummer for
sure, yeah, and session leader.
He's killer.
You know only guitar, or jeffking?
Jay Franze (03:10):
sorry, jeff king jeff king's another one, holy
cow.
He's amazing, isn't?
He yeah he's just the funniestguy in the world too oh my gosh,
jimmy mattingly on fiddle.
Shari Rowe (03:19):
I mean we, you know jamie works.
I mean you know nash is like somany A players.
It's like no matter who youhave in the session.
They've got a long list of whothey've played for, who they've,
you know, maybe toured with,and so I've been really, really
fortunate to have amazingmusicians in that room.
Jay Franze (03:39):
It's funny.
I mean you mentioned those,just those few, and I've had a
chance to work with all of themand they are just amazing people
.
But you mentioned Jeff, andJeff is just the funniest guy in
the world to me.
Shari Rowe (03:50):
You know, I didn't get to know him very well, you
know.
You know, sessions sometimesare just like they go by.
So fast a couple of sessions ofmine.
But, yeah, just phenomenal.
And these guys you know, andyou know how it is like they can
play anything.
They have this amazingencyclopedia of stuff to draw
from from all the years ofexperience.
That's what makes them so greaton the fly, like that, you know
(04:12):
.
It's like a lot of people canemulate things that they hear
and and play covers of it andthey're great players.
But to be able to create on thefly under that, you know, with
the time pressure, and I thinkthat's the most beautiful thing
about what those players bring,but they're so chill about it.
It's like you know that justcomes, I think, with the
seasoning and maturity and justknowing you know.
(04:35):
Well, they do it all day, everyday, yeah, and they're so down
to earth about it and it's likethat's the best.
Jay Franze (04:41):
Yeah, those guys are great and you know, and Jeff
has worked as a session leaderon a lot of the sessions I've
been on and Jeff is just one ofthose guys whose sense of humor
keeps everybody calm.
So that's what I remember mostabout Jeff.
And he's out with Brooks andDunn so he's on the road with
them and I had a chance to takemy daughter.
(05:02):
He gave us passes.
We went to see him play withBrooks and Dunn and took her up
on stage and just gave her thetour around and she was nine
years old at the time.
So, she just had a blast.
Shari Rowe (05:13):
I love it.
Jay Franze (05:13):
Do you remember what studio you were in?
Shari Rowe (05:16):
Well, gosh, we've been at a ruckus room mostly,
yeah, but ruckus room wasrecently sold.
Jamie isn't.
Jamie isn't doing it anymore,and I know Caleb Fisher who's in
that space now, but I haven'thad a chance to talk to Caleb
about that.
I mean, I would love to be ableto go back to that room just
because I have such historythere and memories there, and,
(05:39):
uh, I'm going to miss Jamie,that's for sure.
But you know Caleb's beenputting out some great stuff.
I think he was set up out ofhis house before.
It's Farmland, I believe, isthe name of the studio.
Jay Franze (05:51):
Jamie's worked at the Ruckus Room forever.
Shari Rowe (05:54):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (05:55):
He was doing all the demos out of there.
I mean, he's been mixing demosout of there for years.
Shari Rowe (06:01):
He's very, very talented, yeah, but you, you
know I get it.
Man, life, life just uh tookhim down a different road and
he's ready for something new.
Jay Franze (06:10):
so I get it.
You talk about the peoplecoming in and out, in and out
when you're in the studio.
Life moves fast.
When you're in the studio andjamie has to keep up with the
speed of the way things go,especially at the rook is from
yeah where they're doing so manydemos in a day.
He's got to just churn them out,and churn them out, and churn
them out.
So for him to be able to movethat fast.
(06:32):
It doesn't matter how good ofan engineer you are, but to be
able to move that fast is justimpressive.
Shari Rowe (06:38):
It's very impressive and when you're there you don't
feel rushed, so kind of likewhat you said about Jeff, with a
sense of humor, keepingeverybody calm.
Jamie's really good with thattoo.
He has a great sense of humorand he's just very chill and you
know, he's probably thinking ofa million things and he's got
this thing he's got to keep upwith, but he's not putting that
(06:59):
on anybody else, which is abeautiful thing, yeah.
Jay Franze (07:03):
And I mean, that's a small little machine.
There too, I mean, they havemultiple rooms and they take
projects from one room and thenmove it over to the next room
when the next people come intothe first room.
So it's just constant movements.
It's a very impressive machinethey have over there for sure.
Shari Rowe (07:19):
Yeah, for sure.
Jay Franze (07:20):
So I mentioned at the beginning that you're from
Arizona.
Yeah, so how did you make theconnection to the beginning that
you're from Arizona?
Shari Rowe (07:25):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (07:25):
So how did you make the connection to the people
that are in Nashville?
Shari Rowe (07:31):
Oh man.
Well, my first experience withit was I sang with my sister and
my sister-in-law in acontemporary Christian trio for
a while.
Jay Franze (07:39):
Very nice.
Shari Rowe (07:40):
And we got a deal through Q Records, which was
owned by a QVC network anddistributed through Atlantic,
and our first project wasrecorded at.
This is going way back beforeBlackbird was Blackbird, it was
Creative, so we tracked it thereand that was when I first
really started buildingrelationships out there with
(08:01):
everybody, and I mean everybodywas so welcoming and I remember
even some of my first co-writesbecause I, you know, I didn't
consider myself a songwriterinitially.
You know I had this littlething here and there and it was
one of my first producers kindof helped me understand the
formula and the you know how toput the work in, to take those
(08:23):
pieces and make them intosomething.
And and it was so beautifulbecause he was so excited to
teach me that.
And I remember when he firstkind of showed me he said this
is your song, you just do this,this and this.
He was like you're a songwriterand he literally had a twinkle
in his eye and he was likealmost choked up.
You know I was like that's beenmy experience with everybody in
(08:43):
Nashville and now we have a hugecommunity there, my husband and
I.
My husband plays bass in theband, so we get to tour together
and it's, it's been amazing.
I mean, we've lived out therefor short spells at a time and
we even considered, you know,fully relocating.
But you know, to be honest,arizona inspires me so much and
(09:04):
it's so much of who I am and Ifeel like I wouldn't be who I am
as an artist if I left here,and so we made the decision a
while ago to just keep goingback and forth and do our thing
and these days it's pretty easyto do.
Yeah, it is, it is.
Jay Franze (09:19):
What part of Arizona ?
Shari Rowe (09:21):
The Northwest Valley , like outside of Phoenix
Glendale area, so still kind ofin the city but on the outskirts
.
Jay Franze (09:28):
I was in Phoenix for quite a while.
I went to Arizona.
Shari Rowe (09:30):
State.
Oh really yeah.
Jay Franze (09:33):
So all around Phoenix and Glendale and Mason.
You know, 122 degrees the day Igot there.
I know.
I have no desire to rush back.
Shari Rowe (09:43):
I'm so sorry you don't get used to that.
Yeah, that's still.
You know, open the oven doorwhen you're baking cookies, kind
of feeling that's what I say,everyone says.
Jay Franze (09:53):
But it's a dry heat.
I said well, stick your arm inthe oven and tell me how dry it
is yeah, no, it doesn't matteronce it gets above.
Shari Rowe (10:00):
I think once it's above 110, it's just like just
too hot we just recently movedback from California outside of
San Francisco, but over themountain in the desert.
Jay Franze (10:11):
We get up to about 115 every day.
Wow, but for some reason itdidn't seem as bad as Phoenix.
Yeah, I don't know Phoenix justseems like the extreme heat.
Shari Rowe (10:21):
It is for sure, for sure.
Yeah, we're seeking shelter inthe summer.
Every you know, most people areseeking shelter from snow.
We don't have that Right.
We do.
That's.
One thing I do love aboutArizona is you can.
There's a certain time of yearwhen you can water ski in the
Valley, snow skiing up in Flag.
Jay Franze (10:38):
So I actually drove to Phoenix and I hit Flagstaff
and I got out to pump gas and Iwas like, wow, this is what they
must mean by dry heat.
This is nice.
It was like 80 degrees.
I'm like this is 80 degrees andit feels real nice.
A few hours later I was inPhoenix.
At the time I had to get outand use a payphone because I'm
old and I grabbed the payphoneand burnt my hand.
Shari Rowe (11:01):
Oh no.
Jay Franze (11:06):
Okay, it's hot.
Shari Rowe (11:07):
Yeah, you just kept going down down down.
It was a good time, though Goodtime spent there, I did
transfer all my classes tonighttime classes, though.
Jay Franze (11:17):
All right, so your first time to Nashville was
quite a while ago, if you were acreative yeah, and then you
start meeting these people, youstart developing this network.
So tell me what it was.
Well, first of all, let me justgo back Christian band.
Let's talk about that for aminute.
What was that like?
Shari Rowe (11:35):
It was one of those things where, you know, I grew
up singing, like as far back asI can remember, just like
putting on shows for the familyin the living room, the whole
thing, right.
And so my sister and I werealways trying to find harmonies.
It just was something we justwere drawn to do.
And then my sister-in-law mybrother is like almost 20 years
(11:57):
older than me, so mysister-in-law and my sister and
I literally just would sitaround.
I mean, our spare time was.
It was just fun trying to comeup with, you know, all these
different ways to harmonize andsinging, along with with songs
on the radio.
And then we went to church andwe put a song together to sing
at church and one thing led toanother, literally.
And, uh, my sister and I were,we started a cleaning business
(12:20):
in Scottsdale and we'd cleanhouses and we'd be in these
giant mansions, we'd meet in thekitchen to like write songs,
like we'd come up with an ideaand I'd be like I know what the
next line should be, you know,and we just we loved it.
You know, that's just what wedid.
And, um, one of the houses thatwe were cleaning that the owner
(12:41):
of the house knew somebody, whoknew somebody, and she said you
know this guy.
He was a producer in Nashvilleand he's out here, he's from
here and set up a meeting and wewent to his office and we sang
and he listened and he was likehow did I not know you guys
(13:03):
existed?
I'm like, well, we weren'treally trying to do this, so it
just kind of fell into placereally and it was great touring,
like we did a bunch ofChristian festivals, we had a
bunch of radio play and went onQVC selling our music, people
calling in, you know the wholething.
Jay Franze (13:24):
That's a whole different approach to selling
music, for sure.
Shari Rowe (13:27):
Yeah, it was.
It was crazy old school likethis really, but really fun, I
mean, cause I'm with my family.
You know that family harmony,you know, and even though my
sister-in-law wasn't related byblood, we just found this blend.
That it's still, you know,every once in a while we'll sing
together at the holidays andstuff, and.
But it's still, you know, everyonce in a while we'll sing
together at the holidays andstuff, and it's just magical
when you get to do that.
Jay Franze (13:48):
Tell us a little bit more about that.
You talk about just coming upwith harmonies.
That's not something mostpeople can do.
So the fact that not only canyou do it, but they sound good
and you're coming up and you geta record deal and all that fun
stuff- so how did you even findout you were good at harmonies
in the first place?
Shari Rowe (14:12):
Oh, that's a good question.
I mean I can't remember notdoing it.
And then I do remember being inchoir in like junior high, and
this isn't specifically relatedto harmony, but it kind of made
me more like self aware of likeoh what, so I can do this thing.
You know, you know, sometimes,like in a choir, the director
will go like in front of eachperson, as everyone's saying,
just to kind of figure out areyou alto soprano?
Whatever?
(14:32):
You know those kinds of thingsthat they're figuring out.
And one day after choir, myteacher pulled me aside and she
said you know, you have thisreally great tone in your voice.
Can we put together a solo foryou?
Jay Franze (14:47):
for the program and.
Shari Rowe (14:49):
I was like sure, Sure, and it was in Italian, I
don't remember the name of it,but it was like an Italian opera
thing and I'm like okay, and sowe did that and I think that
was one of the first times.
I actually thought I think itwas one of the first times
somebody recognized something inme and it wasn't like in the
living room with the family, youknow, it wasn't mom saying oh
(15:11):
you sound beautiful, you know.
I think it just kind of made methink for a second and I started
writing songs not long afterthat, like they weren't good but
they were.
I was trying, I wanted to do it.
That was the first time Irealized I wanted to do it.
Jay Franze (15:28):
So what was the age at that point?
Shari Rowe (15:32):
12.
Oh, wow, yeah, yeah, I mean Idon't know, I just it's just
what I.
I take off Cause like we livedin the city we lived in.
Glendale, grew up in kind of anot really great area of Arizona
, but on the weekends I would goto my brother's property and he
had horses, so I'd take off onhorseback, follow the canal,
bank, riverbed, and I justremember writing songs.
(15:56):
I can't really say I knew atthe time I was becoming a
songwriter, I was just singingand coming up with words that
rhymed.
Jay Franze (16:06):
I can only assume that at that age it's basically
lyrics and melody.
Yeah, exactly If you're able tosing, then you're taking those
lyrics and you're able to make amelody out of it.
Shari Rowe (16:18):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (16:18):
So then, when you meet up with musicians later,
like your days in Nashville isthat how you do it now.
You come up with lyrics, yousing, and then somebody pulls
the chord changes out of that.
Shari Rowe (16:30):
Mostly yeah, and I've taken guitar lessons and
I've applied myself.
But the thing that I realizedearly on, I kind of got I don't
want to say thrown into it,because that almost sounds
negative.
I'm so grateful.
But everything took off reallyfast and I found myself
surrounded by these amazingmusicians.
So anytime I tried to put timein on the guitar I was like you
(16:53):
know, it's going to take meyears to have this talent to
draw on that all of these peoplehave around me.
So for the most part I'll writelyric and melody.
I know enough about music, justfrom what I've gleaned over
time, to understand.
You know chord structure andyou know tension and you know,
(17:13):
like, all the different ways youcan convey emotion through.
You know chord progression.
I understand you know hooks,melodic hooks, vocal hooks, I
understand all that kind ofstuff.
But I mostly say you know thisis what I'm trying to convey and
I'll get together with somebodyto do like that scratch track
and really just kind of talkthrough pre-production and think
(17:35):
about where I want the song toend up and kind of help lay the
groundwork that way.
But I'm definitely utilizingtheir encyclopedia of chord
structures.
So, and I have found, I'velearned over the years that
there are a lot of.
There are several writers whowrite that way, you know, and I
used to think of it as ahandicap and then I learned that
(17:56):
, you know, that's just, that'smy method and it works.
Jay Franze (18:01):
We all have strengths, right Strengths and
weaknesses.
Shari Rowe (18:03):
Exactly.
Jay Franze (18:05):
So you mentioned your record deal.
How long did that last, theChristian record deal?
Shari Rowe (18:11):
Oh gosh, we did.
We did one full length projectand and then after that we all
just kind of, we didn't go ourseparate ways.
We're still for our family, sowe're still close.
Our separate ways, we're stillfor our family, so we're still
close.
But we just did differentthings.
My sister is in banking now andyeah of course, very proud of
(18:31):
her and my sister-in-law is.
She just really enjoys thesimple life.
So she's like she's got horsesand she, you know she travels a
lot and she's, you know, that's,that's.
She's in her lane.
She sings a little bit here andthere, but I was kind of the
one who wasn't done.
Jay Franze (18:51):
So you decided to move on and go into the country
world.
Yeah, so how quick of aturnaround was that.
Shari Rowe (18:58):
There was a bit of a gap because it was during a
time my dad was battling cancerand my mom and I were his
caregivers.
So it was like, right at this,right around the same time, and
I was, you know, honestly, Iloved singing with my sisters
and you know, you're kind of,you know soul searching and
trying to figure out what you'remeant to do, and so I.
(19:20):
That process took a couple ofyears, honestly.
So I thought process took acouple years, honestly, and I
started writing again and, to behonest, it was hard getting
back into writing after losingmy dad.
That was like one of those.
I was just grieving and goingthrough those emotions and then
I was able to sort of processsome of that through writing and
in fact it's crazy, but Evenmoving forward these years later
(19:44):
, I just finished a veryimportant song to me about my
dad that I started back then.
It was very hard for me tofinish it because I felt like,
no matter what I said, it wasn'tenough, it wasn't truly telling
the story.
It almost felt like too sacredto kind of.
(20:05):
I felt like I was limiting itby putting it in this song.
And then a good friend of mine,who's also a collaborator
fiddle player in my band,stephen Bowman.
He told me you know he's likeyou know you have to remember
this is the only song you'regoing to write about your dad.
It's like you don't have to sayeverything in one song and I
don't know that.
Just kind of like that openedit up for me, freed me up,
(20:28):
finished the song, actuallybrought him in on the co-write
and finished it with him.
Jay Franze (20:34):
What were the emotions like when you were
writing that song?
Shari Rowe (20:39):
There were some times I actually I had to stop
like it, like it got me and I'mlike okay, yeah, so it's
interesting because my dad, uh,my dad had a rough life and you
know how it is with all families, Like we're all just trying to
do our best with what we have.
We're trying to help, you know,the next generation be better
(21:00):
than before and learn.
And I love my dad, you know,when he passed away we were, we
were very close, but growing upit wasn't necessarily that way
and, as I said, we lived in thecity and horseback riding, going
up to the mountains in Arizona,camping.
That's always been a realescape for me and early on that
(21:22):
was established because we livedthis life in the city, in a
really bad part of town and, youknow, going through a lot as a
family.
But then every so often we'descape up to the woods and in
the woods we were different.
In the woods there was a sparklein my dad's eye, you know, and
and so the song is called thewoods and it's really a story
(21:44):
about redemption.
It's really about, you know, aprodigal situation.
I think we all were kind of ourbest selves up there on the
mountain.
So those emotions for mewriting that song were it was
very freeing to be able to kindof give my dad's story some life
(22:05):
and maybe help people to seehim and maybe people like him in
their humanity, Like he had hisstory and he had a lot of, a
lot that he went through.
That kind of will definitelyaffected us, but there was
redemption there.
Jay Franze (22:25):
How old was your dad ?
Shari Rowe (22:27):
He was 70 when he passed 70.
Yeah, All right.
I mean, even if I was askedearlier today.
You know what do I do?
Just like to stay grounded, andif I'm not up in the woods for
a couple of weeks off grid, I'mjust going outside my backyard
for 10 minutes Like I got to seethe sky.
Jay Franze (22:47):
I got to like, put your feet in grass.
Shari Rowe (22:50):
Yeah, I got to put my feet in the grass.
That's funny.
Jay Franze (22:56):
All right, so you've mentioned it a couple of times
now.
Growing up in a not so niceneighborhood, yeah, how do you
feel that affected yoursongwriting?
How do you?
Shari Rowe (23:06):
feel that affected your songwriting.
Well, I'd have to say I'd haveto speak to more how it affected
me in general, Because,hopefully, you know, I've really
been trying to be sointentional about being
authentic in what I'm puttingout and I think how it affected
me, it helped me to have empathy.
(23:27):
I really do.
I think how it affected me ithelped me to have empathy.
I really do.
Especially, you know, I'm aperson of faith and I don't
think I could have gottenthrough a lot of things that I
did without that personally.
And I think it's odd because,you know, I go back to those
neighborhoods sometimes and I'llsay, you know, that's the house
, that's one of the houses welived in, and some people are
like, whoa, it's like there'sbars on the window.
You know that's the house,that's one of the houses we
(23:47):
lived in, and some people arelike, whoa, it's like there's
bars on the window, you know,and I'm like, yeah, like, but
there's a certain comfort beingthere.
Jay Franze (23:53):
Right, it's where you grew up.
Shari Rowe (23:55):
It's where I grew up and I think it helped me to be
grounded, to understand that atany given time, in any room,
there's somebody going throughstuff, you know.
It helped me to not feel, youknow, disconnected, because I
was just seeing, I wasexperiencing a lot.
I was seeing a lot just veryreal, you know, and so I think
(24:18):
that helped me to be maybe morerelatable and a little more
vulnerable when I'm talking topeople and listening to people
well, that's a good point.
Jay Franze (24:26):
Do you think the ability to relate helps you when
you sit down in a room full ofwriters?
Shari Rowe (24:32):
Absolutely yeah, yeah, for sure.
Jay Franze (24:34):
Do you think you're able to connect with their
struggles because of that?
Shari Rowe (24:40):
Yeah, I think so.
I mean, I would like to thinkso.
That's who I want to be and so,yes, I think that that is how I
grew up has played into mewanting to be present for people
and hear them and see them andbe seen well, there's something
about when you sit down to writea song.
Jay Franze (25:01):
Everybody wants to write the hit song or the next
big thing which a lot of timesis emotionless.
It's just something you cansing to it's just a poppy thing,
but to be able to sit down andtake it to a deeper level.
Those are the songs that reallyconnect with people and they
actually go a step higher thanthose poppy songs, because not
(25:22):
only are they good songs, butthen they connect and people
relate to them.
So I think it says something tohave that kind of connection and
to have a history like yours.
If you don't have something todraw on, then you're just
guessing and it's almost fake.
Shari Rowe (25:35):
Yeah, and you know there is a formula for a
commercial song and you know,and I get that, and at times I
have to remind myself, you know,that like the lighthearted, fun
stuff is great.
I mean, when I'm up on stagewith the band and there's all
that energy and you know it'sall fun, right, then it's like
that's magical too in its ownway, you know.
(25:55):
So I, I know I need to have youknow to be diversified in what
I'm putting out, but, butespecially lately, I've been
leaning into the authenticityand the vulnerability because,
yeah, I mean, we all havesomething to say and we all have
our own story and I can't tellsomebody else's story.
Jay Franze (26:16):
Why would you want?
Shari Rowe (26:17):
to.
I wouldn't want to.
Jay Franze (26:19):
You mentioned, there's a formula to writing a
hit song, and that's especiallytrue when you're in Nashville.
Everything is a formula.
I mean from the writing to therecording, to the studio.
I mean, it's a process for areason and don't get me wrong
it's the best process in theworld.
It has the best musicians inthe world and the most talented
singers.
(26:39):
However, you're not fromNashville.
You're from Arizona.
So do you feel like the factthat you are outside of the
system helps you stay groundedand write in a different manner
than people inside the system?
Shari Rowe (26:56):
That's a great thought.
Maybe I honestly, though, Iseek out even like in Nashville,
like I'm a big fan of SeanMcConnell and Brett Shiroki and
Natalie Hemby, and I, just I II'm drawn to people who write
about deep things.
(27:17):
So, you know, I I think I thinkit helps me stay grounded in a
way that I don't lose myidentity as far as my background
and my history.
I'm not being changed.
I'm staying in my environment,so I'm sure that has an effect
(27:39):
on it reality, even with thisnew stuff that I'm putting out
I've been saying it out loudeven to my husband and different
people I'm working with I'mlike I'm not going to pigeon
hole myself into an indie cornerjust because I want to be
artistic and vulnerable and kindof explore some things.
I understand that there's anaudience and I understand
(28:01):
there's a balance.
Jay Franze (28:03):
That's just it.
There is a balance.
You don't have to be way off inthe corner to be artistic.
Shari Rowe (28:10):
Right.
Jay Franze (28:10):
Every song I've ever written has been commercial,
but I like to think I take anartistic approach to the way I
write a song.
Shari Rowe (28:17):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (28:18):
I think all of your songs are very commercial, very
easy to to sing along to.
So I don't think you're off ina corner.
I think that you're takingcreativity to a new level.
So it's not just surfacecreativity, you're taking it
deeper.
You've mentioned your husband acouple times and my wife is
called wife.
(28:38):
However, does your husband havea name?
Shari Rowe (28:41):
He absolutely does, Kevin.
Kevin is an amazing bass playerand we're a great team.
I'm we're just really blessed,Like we love being together
because we're together a lotLike we play music together we
started businesses together.
We've, you know, we, we arereally, we're really blessed.
Jay Franze (29:03):
That's a good thing, right.
It's good to have thatconnection.
Shari Rowe (29:13):
So what is that dynamic when you're on the road?
Our band is literally a bandfamily.
Like the guys in my band are,like my brothers, I feel like
I've always just been the girlin a room full of guys and it's
been great.
Everybody has respect for oneanother.
We eat together.
We, you know, even forrehearsal.
You know everybody eats first.
Everybody's talking aboutwhat's happening in their life
first and you know if we need tostop everything and just talk
(29:35):
about what somebody's goingthrough, I mean we just really
love each other.
It's.
It's pretty cool, yeah.
Jay Franze (29:43):
It's very cool.
Yeah, my wife and I, I would.
I would take her every day ofthe week wherever I go.
If I could, even though she's apain in my neck, I would still
take her.
Shari Rowe (29:51):
What is your wife's name?
Jay Franze (29:53):
It's Jennifer.
Shari Rowe (29:55):
Jennifer However.
Jay Franze (29:56):
I can probably count on one hand the amount of times
I've ever called her by that.
Yeah, it's always the wife.
You know, my grandfather alwayscalled my grandmother wife and
it's just stuck.
It's just what I do that'sgreat.
But I met my wife in theindustry.
I worked as an engineer and mywife worked as a graphic artist
and a photographer.
So we met working on the sameprojects and we ended up dating.
(30:22):
And here we are, 15 plus yearslater.
Shari Rowe (30:25):
Awesome.
Jay Franze (30:26):
But when we travel around, we each have our role in
how we do things.
She drives all day long on herown, but if we're together, I
have to be the one driving.
Shari Rowe (30:36):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (30:37):
Not because of me, but she would prefer that I
drive and honestly, I'd ratherdrive because I like driving,
there you go, we all have ourroles for sure.
So tell me about the rest ofthe band.
Shari Rowe (30:51):
Oh man, alan Wells on lead guitar.
He was a metal shredder beforehe was a picker and he's just
like phenomenal.
I mean, the guy's just nuts.
He's great and great sense ofhumor.
And you know just a really,really great guy, sean Raynard
on Rhythm, electric and Acousticand Vocals.
(31:11):
He grew up singing SouthernGospel, so his harmonies are
spot on and he's just, he's likemy little brother just
harassing me all the time and Ilove it, wouldn't have it any
other way.
Rocky is my MD and he's on keysand he's just phenomenal, you
know he's.
He's great at what he does andhe's so invested.
(31:32):
You know the guys are soinvested, I mean I thank God
every day that they care so muchabout their roles and they love
making things better.
And Rocky is great at that MDrole.
He's always thinking ofdifferent transitions and
different creative things andhe's just, you know, just love
it.
And he's, you know, all theguys are there at the end of
(31:54):
these long shows that wesometimes play and they're there
winding cables and loading gearand just, you know, we're still
laughing and harassing eachother the whole time.
And David on drums I meanDavid's like he was a drum tech
in Nashville for quite a whileand he and his wife Priscilla
just had a baby, and you know,newest little band member.
Jay Franze (32:18):
So were they all out in Arizona with you, or are
they in Nashville?
Shari Rowe (32:22):
So most of them are.
Bowman, my fiddle player, livesout there.
He lived out here.
He's kind of gone back andforth quite a bit.
Our house is like his secondhome, so he flies back and forth
a lot.
I actually co-wrote andco-produced his most recent
project that he did.
It's kind of an Indy Americanathing and we tracked some of it
here and some of it in Nashville.
So have a studio here and inthe house and that was that was
(32:47):
really freeing for me to.
I was really excited to do thatproject with him and when we
were done I kind of realizedthat I was able to be more
vulnerable, helping someone telltheir story, and I was able to
kind of like put these storiestogether that were very, very
honest.
Not that I haven't been honestin my writing, but it definitely
(33:09):
took.
It kind of took down some wallsfor me, for myself, for the
stuff that I'm about to put out.
So that was that was a reallycool lesson to learn from that.
Jay Franze (33:18):
Well, again, I think it's all that experience and
the you know, everything you'vedone up to this point has led to
your ability to be able to dothat.
Yeah, so you mentioned youhelped him produce the record
and you mentioned that you havea studio in your home.
Shari Rowe (33:32):
I want to talk about those two things real quick.
Jay Franze (33:33):
What type of producer do you find yourself
being?
Shari Rowe (33:37):
It was a fairly new role for me, other than just
like sideline chiming in before.
This was like more official, youknow, and so I kind of got my
feet wet on the process thistime and I would say it was very
exciting for me because I'vehad a lot of ideas.
It kind of opened up the gatefor me to just kind of like oh,
(33:57):
you know, wow, this is, this isa blast.
Like I've never picked aparteverything as much as I have on
this, because I've never pickedapart everything as much as I
have on this, because you go inand you track in a session and
those sessions do move reallyfast and you can have an idea of
pre-production but there's nota whole lot of really
contemplating the direction ofthings in those sessions when
(34:18):
you're doing something as anindependent artist like Bowman
was that's his last name, it'sreally his last name, he's a
fiddle player, it's really hislast name, he's a fiddle player,
it's not made up.
But it was fun to have the timeto really pick things apart and
layer things in and kind ofbuild the songs over weeks and
kind of live with the versionthat you had and go.
(34:39):
You know, I think maybe weshould go back and do this.
So what kind of producer?
I think that's yet to bedetermined.
I feel like it was a greatexperience and Bowman and I were
really happy with the endresult.
Jay Franze (34:51):
So Well you mentioned your ability to help
craft the songs.
Shari Rowe (34:56):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (34:56):
Did you help out with harmonies and melodies?
Shari Rowe (34:59):
Yeah, I sang back up on everything and I went out
with him when he had one of hissingle releases and we did some
rounds together and I was ableto jump in and sing with him on
them and so, yeah, bowman and I,we figured out man, we're great
friends and he's an amazinglytalented musician.
But he's honestly my favoritecollaborator.
(35:20):
Like we just we make a reallygood team.
He's he's really great at hethinks outside the box, or I
should say outside of what mybox would be, and we compliment
each other well in that way andhe he really appreciates what I
bring to the table and I thinkwhen you have that collaboration
and you know each one isbringing something that you
(35:42):
probably couldn't come up withon your own it's it makes for
such a fun experience creatively.
Jay Franze (35:48):
Well, it's also good too when you're both at a
certain level of talent and thenyou both have respect for each
other and you've both beenfriends long enough that you are
able to open up to each other,so it allows a lot of comfort.
Shari Rowe (36:03):
Yes.
Jay Franze (36:03):
And that way you can sit there and you can work with
each other and you can giveideas without feeling like
you're going to hurt somebody'sfeelings yeah, yeah, safe place
yeah, of course.
Now let's talk about the studiofor a second.
Is the studio intended forwriting purposes and demos, or
is it intended for you to to beable to actually craft a record
in the future?
Shari Rowe (36:24):
Yeah, well, it's in transition.
The room isn't built forcrafting a record, because it
wasn't originally intended forthat, but we find ourselves in
this spot where there is a needfor that here, not even just for
ourselves, but I also co-host aradio show called Arizona on
the Rise with my manager and hiswife, and Kevin produces the
(36:48):
show and edits it down, andwe're finding a lot of up and
coming talent here and it'sreally fun for me to be able to
get to know some of theseartists that maybe I've just
passed and you know, coming onand off stage and get to know
their story and kind of see whatthey're writing and to kind of
help facilitate that.
So we're about to have someconstruction projects right here
(37:12):
.
Jay Franze (37:13):
Trust me, that part will be fun.
Shari Rowe (37:15):
Yeah, yeah, kevin's built a couple studios in other
places for people.
He is a builder.
I mean, we've built homesbefore and stuff like that, so
it'll be fun to dive in thatinto that again I always have my
rooms built because not mything.
Jay Franze (37:31):
You mentioned the artists that you cross coming on
and off stage.
Let's talk about some of thepeople you've had an opportunity
to open up for yeah so one thatI haven't heard the name in
quite a while but I absolutelylove as an artist is Leanne
Rimes.
Shari Rowe (37:48):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (37:49):
What was that like?
Shari Rowe (37:51):
Oh my gosh, it was a blast.
It was at Scottsdale CulinaryFestival, which is always.
That's a huge event, you know,and it's fun.
I mean it's any, anyopportunity like that is.
I mean you know you're hopingto get to meet them and hang out
and kind of pick their brain oryou know anything like that.
But even just sharing theplatform, sharing the ticket at
(38:11):
all, is like it's an honor andit's just one more opportunity
to kind of refine your show andget better.
Jay Franze (38:21):
I saw a picture of you with Reba.
Did you play alongside Reba oropen for Reba?
Shari Rowe (38:27):
So she was supposed to perform that night, but she
actually had strep throat thatnight and she was also emceeing.
So she was emceeing CelebrityFight Night and Barry Manilow
was playing that night, brianMcNight, barry.
Manilow was awesome, by the way.
Oh, my goodness, yeah, toscano,like it was a really cool.
(38:49):
I mean, that night wasfantastic.
In fact, that was the weekend Iwas releasing Night Riding and
Jimmy Walker started CelebrityFight Night with Muhammad Ali
and it was from Parkinson'sResearch and they were really
good friends and it was the 25thanniversary and you know the
song's coming out, and so I wasable to sing that song the
(39:10):
weekend that it came out and I'mlooking down at this like
star-studded crowd.
I mean Quincy Jones is like infront of me Right there and Reva
and everybody.
You know it was one of thosemagical nights Like that was.
It was one of those magicalnights Like that was.
It was the red carpet withKevin and the whole thing.
And Reba was wonderful.
(39:30):
I talked with her backstage.
She was so sweet.
She's so down to earth, so niceyeah.
Jay Franze (39:35):
Well, you mentioned Jeff King earlier.
That's his primary gig, isgoing out with Reba.
Shari Rowe (39:40):
Yep.
Jay Franze (39:42):
Yeah, all right.
You travel around with yourhusband, your bandmates and you
get to hang out with some of thesome of the best people in the
industry.
Tell me the craziest story youhave.
Shari Rowe (39:51):
I mean okay.
So we did get pulled over bythe German police when we were
heading back from Poland toGermany to fly back home after
touring, and that was a funexperience, you know, and and
there was one girl that wastraveling with us, you know, and
and uh, there was one girl thatwas traveling with us and she
literally had the flu.
I mean she, her fever wasprobably like 103 and she was
sleeping.
(40:11):
And they, these guys, had to belike seven feet tall, like
these police officers.
They did not want to jokearound, they were not there to
small talk, so they, they likenudged her and got her up, cause
we all, we had to pull all theluggage out from underneath the
bus, then go through everythingto ask us a bunch of questions,
and then Kevin decides, beforethey leave, to shout we, right
(40:37):
before they're out of view.
Can we take a selfie?
No, was their answer.
Fair enough.
No, take a selfie.
No, was their answer.
Jay Franze (40:47):
Fair enough.
No, no, and it was pretty solid.
No.
Shari Rowe (40:52):
Pretty solid, no.
Jay Franze (40:53):
Okay, I just want to point out you said you don't
have any crazy stories and thenyou see you get pulled over by
the cops.
I'm thinking maybe someplace inUtah or someplace you know it's
stateside.
You talk about being pulledover by cops in germany yeah,
okay, that's insane to beginwith, but how scary was that
honestly, it was very scary Ididn't know what was happening,
you know it's like, and wedidn't have our translator with
(41:14):
us and this was the end of tour.
Shari Rowe (41:16):
We got the bus driver, that's it.
So yeah, it was.
It was scary, for sure.
Poland wasn't scary, though.
In general poland, people lovecountry music.
In Poland.
Those crowds were great Like.
We've been there a couple timesand we're planning to go back
in 2026, and I love it Do youthink country music's more
received over there than it isover here, more well-received
(41:51):
well-received.
There's a genuine like, there'sa genuine excitement that I
don't think we could see here.
I mean it's like they're like.
They're like Christmas morningexcited.
It's new to them.
They love Americans, I mean so.
My grandparents were born andraised in Poland.
I never met them because theypassed when my mom was young.
So I love the heritage.
That's a huge part of who I am.
(42:11):
But it's just so exciting justto like they want to hear me
talk.
They think I have a cool accentand I'm like you got it wrong.
I'm like no, but they really do.
They get very excited aboutAmerican culture and the
American dream and country musicand they're very intrigued by
it.
Jay Franze (42:30):
All right Now.
I know you've got plenty of acareer left to go, but what's
been the biggest setback to thispoint?
Shari Rowe (42:38):
Oh man.
Well, I hate to throw the oldCOVID word in there, but
honestly, 2019 was great.
It was a rough year, you know.
So I don't know that was foreverybody, obviously, but I
think, outside of that, I thinkit's the times that I, instead
(43:00):
of using life's challenges topropel me, the times that I've
let them slow me down.
You know whether it was youknow, and not that they should
or shouldn't you know, cause, Imean, everybody goes through
things in their own way andthat's you know.
We can't really dictate that.
You know, we're human.
(43:20):
But, looking back, I wishsometimes I would have kind of
just dug in.
And so, you know, I've had somechallenges.
Recently my mom passed and youknow different things happening
in the family, like within thelast year, and I have found
myself in a different mindset.
This time.
Things have been hard, but Iknew that I could either kind of
(43:49):
go inward and just kind of stopthings and kind of put things
on hold, put things on pause,which sometimes there's a time
for that but this time I didn'twant to look back and wish that
I had not stopped, so instead II kind of hyper focused on the
creative side of what I do, andeven if that wasn't always in
the public eye, I was alwayskind of trying to keep that
(44:13):
momentum going and it's beenreally healing for me.
And now, coming out on theother side of it, I've got some
songs that I'm really happy with.
I try not to let that be asetback this time.
Jay Franze (44:24):
No, I get that, and it's going to be tough to lose
your mother, you know,especially after losing your
father, and you had thatchallenge when you lost your
father, and it takes you a whileto get back in the groove and
then it happens again.
It's going to be hard to fightthat, to stay in the groove this
time.
Shari Rowe (44:42):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (44:43):
So I've lost both my parents.
I can understand how that'stough, it is tough.
Yeah, it's not only tough onyou personally, but just
everything that's around you.
Shari Rowe (44:54):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (44:54):
So, absolutely.
All right.
Well, let's talk about the, theaudience, for a minute.
You play these shows and you'replaying all over the world, so
what are you doing to grow andconnect with the audience?
I?
Shari Rowe (45:10):
like crowds, I like the meet and greets, you know,
and I I think accessibility isimportant.
(45:33):
Even if I haven't beenconstantly putting new content
out, I genuinely love connectingwith people when they comment
or message or and I've met even.
You know, I met some young kidsout on the road at meet and
greets and I still am talkingwith them on Instagram and
they'll randomly message me.
I even have a few that messageme when they're going through
stuff and it's like I reallyvalue the stuff that goes beyond
(45:56):
the show and I also think,coming alongside different
organizations that are doinggreat work in any number of ways
.
That's always been reallyimportant to me to stay
connected with people.
I think it's just it's reallycool to have those big moments
and those moments when you feellike the whole room is with you
(46:17):
when you're on stage and likeyou can feel the room change
when the music changes, and Ilove all that part of the
relationship.
But the stuff that goes onafter that is really special.
You know, that's the stuff thatI don't know just gets into
your heart less in a differentway.
Jay Franze (46:34):
Do you think a lot of that's because of where and
how you grew up.
Shari Rowe (46:39):
Probably.
Yeah, I mean I think I thinkanytime, cause we all go through
things and I think it's youknow what we do with that is
really important, and I think itcan, it can shut us down
because I mean, life can bereally hard sometimes.
I mean all of us, you know,none of us are strangers to
difficulties in life.
I think it's just you know whatyou do with it and I, I don't
(47:03):
know, I just I'm determined tofind a way to use these things
for good.
I just I don't know, I mean I,I I love what it does, I love I
can see it, you know, I can feelit.
You know, when you're withsomebody or you're talking with
somebody, or you know they findthemselves in a song that you
wrote, or I mean all of that isvery real to me, like that
(47:26):
matters.
Jay Franze (47:29):
So what do you hope they take away from your music
and your performances?
Shari Rowe (47:35):
I mean, hopefully, you know, at minimum, a little
escape and some fun from justlike the heaviness of life.
You know, initially music doesthat for all of us and I think
at minimum that.
And then beyond that, maybe youknow that little nudge to
(47:56):
persevere when they're having ahard time.
And you know, do what they wantto do, do what they feel
they're made to do, cause Ithink that's a huge part of like
me getting through a lot ofthings I have gone through in
life is, you know, find what youlove to do, and that may not be
music, it could be anything.
Find what you love to do anddon't give up on that Like just
(48:19):
you know.
That is.
You know we're made to do whatwe do.
You know we're made we're madeto do what we do and and when we
identify that and and dive intoit, we're our best selves for
everybody.
I think you know.
Jay Franze (48:33):
That's a great message.
I have three daughters and Itry to instill that message on
them every day.
Shari Rowe (48:39):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (48:40):
All right.
Well, we do this thing here wecall unsung heroes, where we
take a moment to shine the lighton somebody who works behind
the scenes or somebody who mayhave supported you along the way
.
Is there somebody that you'dlike to shine a little light on?
Shari Rowe (49:06):
with me and she's been on the road with me off and
on and she's currently raisingher kids and she works at their
school.
She's a single mom.
She is one of the best momsI've seen.
She loves music and loves themusic industry and she has
toured with different artistsand she's run merch for people
and she's you know, when she wasout with me, she knew she's run
merch for people and she's youknow, when she was out with me,
she knew, you know every socialmedia moment to catch and she
(49:29):
was thinking of everything andshe was the runner and she was
everything you know and she wasso great at it and she genuinely
loved everybody in the band andloves us and loves me and my
biggest supporter and fan.
And now she's like she's doing.
She's doing the work raisingthose babies and they're
(49:50):
wonderful kids and, yeah, I justappreciate all the time and
effort and love she's investedin what we do.
Jay Franze (49:57):
Thank you, allie.
All right, well, folks, we havedone it.
We have reached the top of thehour, which does mean we have
reached the end of the show, ifyou've enjoyed the show.
Please tell a friend, and ifyou have not tell two, you can
reach out to both of us over atjayfranze.
com.
We will be happy to keep thisconversation going.
We're happy to keep anyconversation going.
Shari Rowe (50:21):
You know, Sheri, my friend, I would like to leave
the final words to you, allright.
Well, thanks for everybodyjoining in.
Jay, thanks for having me onthe show.
I loved it.
I got new music coming out soon.
So, as I said, I loveconnecting with people online.
Shoot me a message, ask me somequestions.
I'll do my best to answer.
Jay Franze (50:36):
All right, folks On that note have a good night.
Tony Scott (50:40):
Thanks for listening to The Jay Franze Show.
Make sure you visit us atjayfranze.
com.
Follow, connect and say hello.
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