Archive for September, 2010

The Baja Bar and Grill Feb 5, 2010

Posted by RAW Boswin on 15th September 2010 in Pictures


RAW Boswin does “Crash into Me” by Dave Matthews

Posted by RAW Boswin on 14th September 2010 in Videos

This is one of my favorite Dave Matthews songs. I have open tuned the guitar to make it easier to play. I hope you likee!

New “Never-to-be-Released” RAW Boswin and the Gonnabees CD Still Under Construction

Posted by RAW Boswin on 14th September 2010 in News

On the sudden realization that it was about time, Rob Oswin has returned to the studio.

Rob Oswin is quite possibly the next “Big Thing” to come out of Calgary. Blending good old fashioned Alberta-Boy rock roots with new found Canadiana folk influences, Rob has crafted some great songs for the CD. Like everything in Rob’s life, the story of these songs and recordings is a long one.

Back in February 97, Rob Oswin won a Christmas song writing contest with a song called “Verry Merry Christmas”. He received 10 hours of studio time at EK Sound with Dave Harrison engineering. Fellow Calgary musicians Ian MacDonald, Walter Marx and Ron Casat joined Rob in the session. These tapes were subsequently forgotten about until now. The session tapes were rediscovered and used to produce six of the beds on the new CD.

Presently under construction at Airwaves Recording Studios with Danny Patton at the helm, the CD promises to be Rob’s best work to date. Danny has worked with some of Calgary’s best musicians including Jan Arden.

“I have thought long and hard over which songs I wanted to put on the CD. In the end, I guess you get what you get. I don’t have the luxury of endless studio time… However I do know I have made my best recordings yet, and I still have enough strong material for a pretty decent follow-up CD.”

This eclectic mix of acoustic folk rock, spattered with jazz, country, blues and melodramatics, is seamlessly tied together with thoughtful lyrics and Rob’s unique vocal style. Some have compared his writing to Lyle Lovett and Elvis Costello, but if you listen close you will hear a cast of thousands.

“I used to write songs that I hoped other people would like. Now I am writing songs that I like. I figure if I like them, so will someone else. I have to feel them for myself, nobody else has to sing them, after all..”

Rob is influenced by a lot of great musicians and writers, but when asked if he tries to emulate anyone in particular he shrugs.

“I was the biggest Alice Cooper, KISS, and Rush fan in the world, but I don’t hear a lot of them in my music. I hear more of the songs I used to hear when I was in the back seat and my parents were in the front. Burt Bacarach and Billy Joel are more my kind of heroes nowadays.”

Lately, Rob has been writing and performing a “folkier” style of music. He blames it on the influence of the local Maritimers in the local Calgary scene. As a result, Rob fancies himself the “Original Prarietimer”. He claims he has gone so far as to change his hometown to Edmontongonish, a small fishing village about 3000 miles west of Antigonish???

Expect to hear guest appearances from various local and not so local music scene heroes. This recording is quickly turning into a gem that everyone will need to have in their CD collections. Long Live Independent Music!!!

RAW Boswin announced as finalist in 2006 Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Competition

Posted by RAW Boswin on 14th September 2010 in News

The “Best Song of Alberta Finalists” were announced and RAW Boswin had his name on the list for his new song “I Spy (Fields of Gold)”.

When asked about being invited to perform in the Best Alberta Song Category, RAW thought for a second and replied, “In the very mortal words of that old guy from Monty Python’s Holy Grail… ‘I’m not dead!’ I would like to congratulate all of the other finalists and look forward to “breaking a collective leg with y’all on Saturday. Let’s do Alberta proud!”

Along with his fellow finalists, RAW Boswin and the Gonnabees will perform in front of a panel of judges at the Ship and Anchor Pub Saturday April 29 from 2pm – 6pm, with host Lorrie Matheson:

Hope to see you there.
Read more at the Calgary Folk Festival Site Now


Congratulations to the other Finalists!
Cori Brewster, Willian Twin
Cort Bulloch, Clamshell Main Stage
Sam Hall, Prairie Wind
Krista Hartman, Dusty Road
Ted Jablonski, Me and Theo
Matt Masters, Centennial Swell
Clea Roddick, Blue Hills
Victor Salas, Small Town Crying
Corry Schmelter, Not in My Backyard
Clinton St. John, House of Chests
Trevor Tchir, Wildmere
Emily Triggs, Truck Driving Song
John Wort Hannam, Digger’s Lament
The Rocky Fortune, Oil Oil Oil


RAW Boswin Leaves the Plastics Business

Posted by RAW Boswin on 14th September 2010 in News

I had some rather abrupt news in early October, 2002. After a stellar 15 year career at NOVA Chemicals, I found myself at a crossroads.

I had just installed the Digital Recording studio on a Thursday night, and spent the weekend in bliss, getting to know the new toy. I went to work the next Monday. I was an Additive Specialist in the Polyethylene Business. I had scheduled a career dialogue with my Leader that fateful day. What I did not know, was that it was going to be a career dialogue about MUSIC…

That’s right folks, I took the PACKAGE… The Golden Handshake….The Parachute… Wooooohoooooooooooo! Finally, I’m the best paid songwriter in Calgary for the next little while. We’ll see if I can keep rollin’ with it. I know it’s not about the money, but after 15 years of a steady pay check, you get used to food and stuff.

Let’s see now, what’s the plan… I know, I could do music full-time! I can use the new studio to make a few more CD’s and concentrate on marketing them. Good things come to those who wait. What looked like a kick in the ass turned out to be a friendly shove in the right direction.

I see it as Karma. I believe I have earned this break. I am in my prime, mentally, physically and perhaps even spiritually since this all came down. I have learned some huge and valuable lessons and will be writing about these last few months for many years to come.