Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Bowdon.
Richard, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Richard Bowdon and Jim Amsden met at a local weekly folky/bluegrassy jam session in about 2005. Jim had been in bands since high school, and Richard’s performing experience was mostly accompanying himself on acoustic guitar as a singer/songwriter. At that time Jim was playing mostly mandolin. They recruited a bass player and lead guitarist and started playing gigs as an acoustic trio. Several years and bass players later, Jim recruited his neighbor Rob Surra to bring his electric bass, and Jim started playing electric guitar on about half of the songs. Eventually, Rob’s friend Vince Miranda added percussion to really flesh out our groove.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our name is our philosophy, No Worries. Honestly, until Rob came along our main struggle was finding a bass player who could keep time! There’s also the perennial challenge of finding paying venues (hopefully with discerning audiences). Local musicians, if they’re paid at all, make about the same per person as they did 30 years ago. Fortunately we’re not trying to make a living at it, and we will sometimes accept an unpaid gig for a good cause. But if the venue is a for-profit enterprise, why should everyone working there get paid except the musicians??
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
All four of us have loved multiple, overlapping genres of music for our entire lives. We each have thousands of songs in our mental libraries. We have the luxury of only writing and playing songs that are meaningful to us: profound, or emotional, or just fun. The audience gets the benefit of the careful curation, authenticity, and unique sound we bring to every song.
What are your plans for the future?
We’re working on recording our third album, hopefully out this year, with mostly original tunes, produced by us. Producing, recording, mixing, and mastering in Jim’s well-equipped home studio is great fun. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of No Worries. We’re planning a big party to celebrate!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://NoWorriesMusic.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/noworriesnc/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/noworriesnc
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@noworries6956
- Other: https://noworriesnc.bandcamp.com/
