KEENE, NH – Certain musicians have an uncanny ability for their songs to transcend through other creative mediums. Most of the time it’s unintentional and completely natural with their material becoming part of a soundtrack for a film or television show. Being from the Upstate New York municipality of Troy, Sean Rowe has experienced this with his tune “To Leave Something Behind” being included in both the 2016 action thriller flick “The Accountant” and the 2021 TV series “Coyote,” which has opened the door for him to pursue different creative outlets. His approach to folk music with his deep and soulful voice is something that has made him stand out for over two decades, and people in Keene will get to experience this on March 27. That’s when Rowe will be taking the stage at Nova Arts with multi-instrumentalist Simon Gray opening things up at 7 p.m.
Rowe and I had a talk ahead of the show about a film he got to do the scoring for, his expertise in foraging, and how the people who attend a performance make it special regardless of environment.
Rob Duguay: Last year, you had the unique opportunity to do the music for the Western film “Frontier Crucible,” so how were you initially approached about this project and what was the experience like making music in a different way where you’re offering your interpretation and setting the mood for various scenes?
Sean Rowe: It was like stepping into the unknown because in the past, I’ve had my songs in films and television, but I haven’t actually written specifically for that medium. It was such a rewarding experience and honestly, if I could do that on a regular basis aside from the income, it’s so fun to do. The way it came about was through management and a few connected elements where both the producer and the director of the film were working closely together on trying to nail down the music. They were aware of my songs, my stuff, and my style, so they thought I’d be a good fit. When I got the piece to look at, there obviously wasn’t any finished music for the film, but there were placeholders of other music with some Bob Dylan songs and some Leonard Cohen songs, which gave me a starting point to write for specific scenes, and then it sort of took shape after that.
RD: With those placeholders of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, did they sonically and artistically inform the music that you made for the film, or did you use other sources of inspiration?
SR: The songs that were in there, I didn’t work off of them in terms of writing a song in a similar vein, but the reason why they reached out to me was they felt my music was in the same sort of wheelhouse as those genres. It just comes natural to me and I’m gonna write how I’m gonna write, and they thought that’s how it would work, so I was working off of what I was looking at in the scene, and there’s a lot of directions you can go in. Typically for me, when I’m thinking of songs that would be good for film, there’s honestly a lot of them, even though most of them aren’t in films. A lot of times when I write, it’s sort of cinematically where I see images within the song as if they were in film, so it all comes pretty natural. For this movie, I was looking at the scenes while trying to see what’s being conveyed emotionally and then I’ll write something.
It doesn’t always work and sometimes it takes several iterations to get something that’s usable and real.
RD: That’s a really cool approach to have. Outside of being a musician, I know you’re also a forager and you have a couple pages dedicated to the practice on your website on seanrowe.net. Currently in the Northeast, we’re in this unique time where winter has made its transition into spring, so when it comes to foraging during this part of the year, what would you say is the most abundant food source and what are you looking for the most?
SR: Usually the season starts for me in April where I am, which is the Hudson Valley of New York. During that month, what you’re going to be looking for is those really young shoots that’ll pop up, those really early greens. Sometimes you can get stuff earlier than that, but it’ll be overwintered. It’s also a really good time to get roots and subterranean things like that because it’s when all the good sugars and carbohydrates are stored in them, so if I have access to that stuff, then I will really focus on those types of things, the shoots, the roots and tubers. The early spring is kind of the best because after a winter of the ground being inaccessible with snow, ice and all that stuff, you’re dying to see the green again.
There’s just an explosion in the springtime where there’s so much that pops up so fast and there’s these short windows of time where you can get some of the stuff. It’s an amazing time to forage, really.
RD: I can totally relate to wanting to see some green after the winter we had here. Nova Arts is a pretty unique venue in this old factory building where there’s a coffee shop with a bar, an art gallery, and a pop-up record store among other things, so what are your thoughts on performing in this environment?
SR: I find it to be less about the venue itself and more about who shows up. The crowd creates the environment in a lot of ways and with that said, sometimes the weirder the better for me. I’m pretty unconventional in terms of what I like in a performance experience. I’ve played in conventional venues where it’s been great, and I’ve had not so great experiences in conventional venues, but I also play a lot of houses too and those are almost always a lot of fun along with being weird due to the nature of the place and how close you are to the people. It’s all about the vibe that people create when they show up and that’s what I live for.
RD: It makes for a more genuine experience.
SR: Yeah, it does.
RD: Looking further into the year, what are some projects you have going on that you’d like to mention? Are you working on a new record or an EP of some sort?
SR: I’m working on a bunch of things. I have a cover record I’m working on that won’t be out for a bit and I also have some original stuff I’m working on for a full-length album. My next release won’t be for a while, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t be recording, so I’m working on that stuff.