Album Review: Owen Temple – Two Thousand Miles

Inspiration is everywhere says Two Thousand Miles, the latest release from Texas music virtuoso Owen Temple. This influx of influence creates subject matter as diverse and numerous as the list of Lorrie Morgan’s ex-husbands and more original than my attempts at forming an entertaining simile–a literary technique that Temple himself doesn’t shy away from as evidenced by “Red Wine and Tequila”, a song that humorously contrasts the two parties of an ill-fated relationship.

After releasing his first three albums Temple had the chance to go to graduate school in Wisconsin for psychology, only to find out, like so many songwriters who’ve tried to walk away, that he couldn’t stay gone. It’s this journey, from Texas to Wisconsin and back, where the title track borrows its name “Two Thousand Miles”.

Fellow Texas songsmith Randy Rogers asked Temple whether marriage was a blessing or a curse, which gave rise to the lead track and Wade Bowen co-write “You Want to Wear That Ring”. Drawing on all the depths of innate contradictory intelligence that being a man entails Temple sings “it’s for better and for sometimes worse / you’re gonna be happy but sometimes so sad / it feels good except when it feels bad” but as a consolation he offers “day after day you want to wear that ring.”

Over the past several months Owen Temple has maintained his visibility thanks to a staggered, if not sometimes confusing, album release that saw his music made available on Lone Star Tunes, before making its way to iTunes a couple of months later and finally to stores nationwide on January 22–and some savvy use of social networking sites.

Elsewhere he delivers “The Pluto Blues”, a song that would snuggle comfortably next to tunes like “Celebrity” and “Online” on a Brad Paisley album. On the surface it’s just a song about a planet losing it’s planetary status, but as you listen the song blossoms to reveal a message. Temple proves he’s no stranger to more pensive material with “Like We Still Care”, “I Just Can’t Quit Loving You” and “You Don’t Have To Be Lonely”. In “Swear it Off Again” the main character pines for the rodeo life, but the pain inflicted from his brief indulgences causes him to swear off that lifestyle–it’s a love/hate relationship.

Impregnated with inspiration and metaphorically prolific, Owen Temple yields a delightful array of lyric driven songs on Two Thousand Miles.

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