Dean Owens

About

Also known as: Dean Owens & The Whisky Hearts, Dean Owens and The Whisky Hearts, Dean Owens and the Felsons, Redwood Mountain

Dean Owens has spent decades carving out a sound that sits squarely between Scottish soul and American roots music, and he's done it largely on his own terms. He first made a mark with the Felsons in the mid nineties, a band that coined the term "Celtabilly" for their blend of country, folk and Celtic grit. Going solo, he built a catalogue that pulls Nashville and the Scottish coast into the same room, with albums like Southern Wind and Into The Sea recorded in Nashville alongside Grammy nominated producer Neilson Hubbard. The title track of Southern Wind, co written with Will Kimbrough, won UK Song of the Year at the 2019 UK Americana Music Association Awards. More recently, Owens headed to Tucson to record Sinner's Shrine with members of Calexico, a desert noir record that sparked a whole creative run including a double album follow up called El Tiradito and a long distance collaboration, Pictures, with Kimbrough and Hubbard. His twelfth album, Spirit Ridge, recorded in northern Italy with producer Antonio Gramentieri, came out in early 2025. Voted Best UK Act in the Americana UK Readers Poll three years running, from 2021 to 2023, he has clearly found a devoted audience on both sides of the Atlantic.