Dan Owen @ The Bodega

After leaving the Nottingham crowd in anticipation after canceling his April gig due to illness, the Shrewsbury star returned to The Bodega three months later to an appreciative crowd. The rescheduled tour dates take place amidst many festival appearances before he kickstarts his European tour in October.

Fresh off the Barn on the Farm stage, and headed to Latitude Festival this weekend, exciting things are in store for rising star Dan Owen. His voice is a rarity, and the seasoned performer was also termed BBC Introducing’s Artist of the Week during April before he supports Bryan Adams for a show in August. Currently working on his album, Dan Owen is certainly one to watch.

Nottingham local Rory Cannon provided an acoustic set for support, creating an atmospheric start to the evening with his chilled humour and relaxing on stage presence. He embraced all aspects of his guitar, including using it in a violin-like manner to create unique sounds to compliment his soothing yet strong vocals.

Dan Owen then took to the stage, his raspy voice much more powerful than I expected. With a voice way beyond his years, he creates a dangerous combination of strong vocals with catchy yet slow songs. The passion he portrayed on stage was inspiring, especially when it came to the surprising addition of his harmonica, allowing me to see why he has been hailed the ‘Blues Boy’ by many. It is little more heart-warming at a gig than seeing a musician really give a performance everything they can, which Dan Owen certainly did.

Despite being a relatively small crowd, he didn’t disappoint, easily getting the crowd singing along to songs they didn’t even know. The singer/songwriter played his latest release, ‘Moonlight’, which is one of his slower songs with dreamy vocals and a calming presence. The audience was also treated to a range of old favourites including ‘Made to Love You’, a powerful and touching song about a friend escaping abuse, as well as new songs such as ‘Icarus’.

He finished his set with ‘Little Red Rooster’, a powerful blues-orientated song with the talented singer using both his harmonica and guitar simultaneously, a skill few could obtain. Having achieved so much at such a young age, he has a bright future ahead of him.