Listen: Baby’s Gone, Soon Be Gone Myself

Jack Owens strips it all away in this rendition of “Baby’s Gone, Soon Be Gone Myself.” His plaintive wailing evokes the feeling of a rural funeral lament that might have been played after losing a loved one, on a porch among friends and relatives. It’s a pretty matter-of-fact subject, and quite self-explanatory – but Owens sets the scene in your mind, even more clearly.

Owens was a Music Maker artist from 1995 until his death in 1997. Though we were only able to help him for a short time, MMRF was able to book him at his only international performance in Utrecht for Blues Estafette. As Aaron travels overseas to Australia this week with a group of artists, I’m tickled by the story of Owens arriving at the airport to fly to Utrecht – with a gun in his boot! Somehow he still made his flight (after security confiscated the gun) and everything went well for his gig.
This track is from a field recording done by MMRF Founder Tim Duffy – you can hear him ask Jack about the title of the song at the end. Hope you enjoy!

— Corinne

Photo by Axel Kustner