“I was living in Florida and playing music, and burned myself out very quickly. I was feeling uninspired and without purpose,” says Nashville-based singer-songwriter Lowen, who had gone through a horrendous breakup, started a new relationship, and found herself at a crossroads, trying to find meaning in life outside of music. Lowen, and the person she had begun dating, who is now her wife, had a conversation one day about their mutual dream to travel the world. So, they worked hard, saved money, and made arrangements.
“We sold everything but our dog,” she says with a laugh. “I also kept my gear and guitar, we kept our clothes and had some things in storage. My van literally blew up. Life was sending me signals,” she laughs. “It’s scary at first, but once you start, your body literally feels like a weight has been lifted. Life isn’t about buying shit you can’t afford and working a job to pay for the shit you can’t afford. Getting rid of things felt really good.”
Lowen completely immersed herself in the adventure—working odd jobs in each country in exchange for lodging, playing gigs along the way. “It was cathartic and healing for me in a lot of ways. All the while I was writing, and a lot of what I was writing ended up being my EP,” she says of her latest release, Only In My Dreams. The distance and change of scenery gave her the space she needed to process her breakup, heal from the trauma, fall in love again, and become excited about the future. “That trip informed everything. It realigned my brain and woke me up.”
Lowen, who landed in Nashville upon her return to the States, says that while the new EP doesn’t tell the story of her adventure, her experience brought her to the artistic version of herself she should have always been. “I wanted to play music again for the right reasons, not for applause or to show off,” she reveals. “I needed to feel connected. it changed the way I live my life. I live my days with intention and check-in with myself to make sure I’m in pursuit of what is honest and true at all times. I’m not sleepwalking through life anymore. We promised ourselves that we wouldn’t get sucked back into the loop of mainstream life, to take the lessons we learned and live awake and freely,” she continues. “I want to speak the truth in the best way I know how.”
[If you’re in the Nashville area, you can catch Lowen live tomorrow night at Analog. Click HERE for tickets and show information.]
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