Videos

Judith Owen – I’ve Never Been To Texas (lyric video)

• 21st Feb 2014

Welsh singer-songwriter, Judith Owen, is set to release the first single ‘I’ve Never Been To Texas’, from her debut UK album ‘Ebb & Flow’.

In an album of overwhelming honesty and beautifully written songs, ‘I’ve Never Been To Texas’ stands out as a dreamy story-telling tune about losing love. Soulful piano playing accompanied by a soothing melody and Judith’s seductive tones make this a mellow yet captivating track.

“‘I’ve never Been to Texas’ is about love-sickness, half song, half dreamscape”, says Judith. “I was living in London, a young broke musician and fell in love with a bloke from Texas. He told me stories about his home and it sounded like a magical, romantic place, all shimmering roads through cactus filled deserts, slow moving armadillos and blue-eyed cowboys. I’d never been out of the UK, so I had no idea what the real Texas looked like!”

Having originally been recorded for Judith’s debut album ‘Emotions on a Postcard’ released in 1996, ‘I’ve Never Been To Texas’ was re-recorded with her current band formed of bassist Lee Sklar, drummer Russ Kunkel and guitarist Waddy Wachtel.

“I really wanted to do this song with these musicians,” says Judith. “It’s a highly evocative song and I wrote it with these kind of players in mind.”

This track alongside 11 others has resulted in the most confident and assured album of Owen’s career to date. After emigrating to America in 1993, ‘Ebb & Flow’ is Judith Owen’s eighth album since ‘Emotions on a Postcard’. She’s married to the actor and humourist Harry Shearer and in addition to her acclaimed solo work, Judith has for many years been Richard Thompson’s female foil of choice. Both have appeared on each other’s albums and Owen played a leading collaborative part in Thompson’s projects 1000 Years Of Popular Music and Cabaret of Souls. She also co-created “Losing It” with Ruby Wax, a funny yet devastatingly honest two-woman show chronicling descent into mental illness that was a box-office hit in London’s West End in 2011.

But it is her role as an unflinching singer-songwriter baring her soul that remains at the core of Owen’s creativity. ‘Ebb & Flow’, she says, feels like a homecoming. “It’s the sound I heard as a kid and which made me light up. I’ve brought it home and it feels nice to be here.”