(photo courtesy Harper/Collins)

 

Randy Owen:
Upcoming Visit Brings Media Attention

Jacksonville State University's best-known alumnus, musician-turned-author Randy Owen, will be on campus Saturday, March 28 to talk about his new autobiography, Born Country, and his solo cd, One on One. This week, there has been a flurry of media activity surrounding the event. Following are some of the articles we have found online:

Randy Owen's Home's Still in Alabama
Great American Country TV/ Nashville, TN

Alabama's Randy Owen Will Host Homecoming at Alma Mater
CMT News Briefs Online/Nashville, TN

 

Dixieland delight:
Alabama's Randy Owen returns to JSU
to speak at conference

By Deirdre Long, Entertainment Editor, The Anniston Star

It's not an easy feat to be named the country group of the century. It takes somewhere around 42 number one songs; 21 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums; more than 150 music industry awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

But more than any of those things, it takes heart.

That's how Randy Owen, lead singer for country band Alabama, describes life in his memoir Born Country: How Faith, Family, and Music Brought Me Home. Owen, an alumnus of Jacksonville State University, will discuss his book and new solo album One on One Saturday night at the university's annual On The Brink conference on emerging Southern writers.

The hardest part about writing an autobiography was "going back and visiting how poor I was," Owen said last week in a phone interview from his office on Lookout Mountain. "It's tough to think about."

Though it sounds cliché for a country singer, Owen, 59, grew up on a small share-cropper farm in mountains around Fort Payne. He worked the fields with his father, harvesting cotton and corn to help his family make money. Because of this, his peers made snide remarks about his clothing, his scarred farmers hands and the cotton dust that was seemingly impossible to get out of his pores.

Though he dropped out of school at 14 to work on the farm full-time, he re-enrolled two years later with a strong determination to complete his education through college.

By the time Owen graduated high school, music was already a part of his life. He had formed a band "Wildcountry" with two cousins — Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook — but wanted a backup plan in case the band didn't work out. He attended Northeast State (now called Northeast Alabama Community College) in Powell, worked nights at a sock mill and played gigs with the band.

Owen then enrolled at JSU to study English and Spanish. Just a few months before he was scheduled to graduate, the band, now known as "Young Country," booked a summer gig playing for tips at a bar in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The president of JSU allowed Owen to graduate in absentia.

It would seem now that Owen didn't need those years in college, but he doesn't regret his choice. Studying English helped him with his writing, especially a creative writing class that taught him about colloquialisms.

"It helped me understand that a kid who was very poor and grew up in the sticks … that it's OK to speak your vernacular," Owen said. "It makes your communication unique."

It's that kind of language that helped Alabama become country legends. Their music speaks simple truth — stories of home, family, work — that millions of people across the world can understand.

"I was never one about correct English, even though I had to do it," Owen said. "It was about local expressions. It's what I know about. I don't know about the streets of New York City or the south side of Chicago. I've played there, but the music that took me there was the local expressions and the experience of northern Alabama."

 

(photo courtesy Harper/Collins)

 

New Format for JSU Literary Event Spotlights Randy Owen as Writer

By Michael A. Bell, The Anniston Star (3/27/2009)

For about 15 years, budding Southern writers have been spotlighted at On The Brink, an annual literary event at Jacksonville State University.

A few names that have graced the stage: Rick Bragg, the Pulitzer-prize winning author and best seller; and Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish, a novel that eventually became a blockbuster movie.

There's usually about eight writers featured each year.

But this year, university officials invited only one - a JSU trustee and country music star who's also an alumnus: Randy Owen, the goateed front man of the band Alabama.

Steve Whitton, English professor and event organizer, said the selection had little to do with Owen's connections to the school.

"It had nothing to do with the fact that he was a board of trustees member," he said. "He is a local Southern writer who had been published by a major press."

In his book, Born Country, Owen of Fort Payne chronicles his rags-to-riches life, the Little River Canyon, which he described as a "natural wonder yet to be blemished by large parking lots and souvenir stands," and, of course, his family.

"My dad was born and raised in DeKalb, and my mother was born and raised in Cherokee," he wrote. "For some reason, the boys in DeKalb would always go looking for girls in Cherokee and never the other way around. I don't know why, but I'm glad my dad was bold enough to go a whole county away to find the love of his life."

The 275-page hardback was published last year and, as of Thursday, has gotten mostly glowing reviews by 15 people on Amazon.com.

On The Brink organizers dug it.

"We read it... and we decided we'd like him to be invited," Whitton said.

Owen isn't charging JSU a dime to be the guest speaker. He'll stand alone on a constructed stage and field questions from the audience.

"Let's face it: He's a celebrity to us," Whitton said. "Sometimes that happens.

"Ideally we try to feature writers who are willing to come," he said, "and we try to mix people together."

The conference has averaged about eight writers annually since its inception, a mixture of authors working on different genres.

"I don't think it's right," said George Sansbury, an English major at JSU, adding the event is supposed to spotlight Southern writers who may or may not be known, burgeoning authors on the brink of stardom. "And then they pick the guy who's already famous."

Whitton defended the decision.

"We decided to try something new this year," Whitton said. "We are featuring one writer, and luckily, someone who (has) a prominent name."

Owen and three cousins moved into an apartment in Anniston in the 1970s to pursue a musical career. By 1980, they formed Alabama and eventually sold more than 73 million albums.

He'll be at Leone Cole Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are still available.

On the Brink

• What: Country singer will talk about his new book and solo album at JSU's annual conference on emerging Southern writers.

• When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

• Where: Leone Cole Auditorium, JSU

• How much: $5 for general admission; $30 for admission and signed copy of Owens' book; $100 for the autographed book and Owens' solo CD, attendance at the president's reception and admission to event.

 

 

 

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