Bryan Bowers
Bryan Bowers is an American autoharp player who is frequently credited with introducing the instrument to new generations of musicians.
Bryan Bowers
- Born
- 1940
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- musician
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wikidata · Q4979986 · wikipedia · Bryan Bowers
In this article
Career
• Illustration — Bowers is known for performing on the autoharp. Bowers became very popular with the audience of the comedy radio program The Dr. Demento Show with his 1980 recording of Mike Cross's song "The Scotsman". In 1993, Bowers was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame whose membership includes Mother Maybelle Carter, Kilby Snow, and Sara Carter. In two consecutive years, 2006 and 2007, he released new recordings: Bristlecone Pine and September in Alaska. "Although such guests as Tim O'Brien, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and Enright and O'Bryant play and sing on a number of cuts, this is a Bryan Bowers disc all the way, with his exquisite autoharp flavoring many of the tunes," wrote a November 2006 Bluegrass Unlimited reviewer of Bristlecone Pine. "Bowers selects thematically diverse and lyrically strong material. There are powerful love songs ("When You And I Were True" and "Magnolia") and non-cloying meditations on life and death ("Bristlecone Pine," "Friend For Life," and "When I Go"), as well as haunting instrumentals. He nicely avoids the hackneyed stuff of so many folk/bluegrass/country performers." He maintains an active performance and teaching schedule.
Select discography
• The View from Home, Flying Fish, 1977 • Home, Home on the Road, Flying Fish, 1980 • By Heart, Flying Fish, 1982 • For You, Flying Fish, 1990 • Friend for Life, Flying Fish, 2002 • Bristlecone Pine, Seattle Sounds, 2006 • September in Alaska, Seattle Sounds, 2007 • Crabby Old Man, 2011 • Live at Winterfolk, 2015 • Woodland Dream, 2019
Awards
• Contemporary Inductee, Autoharp Hall of Fame, 1993. • Lifetime Achievement Award, California Autoharp Gathering, 2006. • Induction into Frets Magazine's First Gallery of the Greats
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Bryan Bowers, revision 1217790093 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 31 August 2026.
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