Debra Cowan

about

Debra Cowan is an American folk singer based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. In addition to solo recordings, she has recorded as John Roberts & Debra Cowan. “She is blessed with a beautiful voice and a deep appreciation for the tradition....each song is a new story to be shared and experienced." Ron Olesko, host "Traditions", WFDU, Teaneck, NJ Cowan was once asked what kind of songs she writes. Her reply? “Bad ones.” Her captivating warm alto carries each folk song she chooses with such emotion that you’ll forget that they were written by others. She performs a cappella and with guitar in the great tradition of folk singers like Joan Baez and Judy Collins, with a clear vocal that calls forth the ghosts of long past but can also offer a more modern urban landscape. In her newest release Fond Desire Farewell, she’s taken contemporary and time-honored public domain songs and put them in a modern setting. As a young girl Cowan idolized Julie Andrews and in her teens discovered Jethro Tull and Steeleye Span. At the age of 21 she needed escape out of a small Midwestern town so she threw darts at a map and ended up in northern California where she attended college, sang in bars, and eventually found work as a math teacher. She continued her discovery of folk with English singers like Sandy Denny and Scottish singers like Ray Fisher. Cowan started performing in California 35 years ago and began touring in 1998, with frequent stops in the US and UK, from folk clubs to festivals li

top songs

albums

The Long Grey Line

Fond Desire Farewell

Dad's Dinner Pail and Other Songs From the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection

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Folk Legacy Hattie Mae Tyler Cargill

Among Friends

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The Songs and Ballads of Hattie Mae Tyler Cargill

Tar'd & Feather'd

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Dad's Dinner Pail

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Still Moving Mountains: The Journey Home

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Greening the Dark

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Ballads Long & Short

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rt On fr - Richard Thompson On The Free Reed Label

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