Biography

Magical Journey: From Woodstock to Nashville, captures an aspect of the spirit of Howie Zow's music and life journey.
Going back a ways, Howie Zow, had grew up in Long Island, and had a bit of exposure to classical music. When in high school, he moved to Woodstock, New York. There, he stayed with an editor of a new age magazine, in a house that was previously owned by Bob Dylan (during Dylan's Basement Tapes period with The Band) and visited by George Harrison. When Howie was there, there were swamis and gurus from India visiting there, and other interesting folks such as the man who coined the term "salsa" for the latino music movement.
A few years forward, in New York City, hanging out in Greenwich Village, Howie scored a gig playing lead guitar with David Peel--locally well known in context of association with John Lennon--at the old Mill's Tavern on Bleecker Street, known for the rowdy 'bridge and tunnel' crowd, and the same place where Dylan wrote "Song To Woody" in 5 minutes for his first album. Beyond that, Howie Zow has mainly performed original music in clubs and venues around lower Manhattan.
Living in Greenwich Village, Howie also attended activist events, mainly dealing with various sorts of environmental pollution, such as water and air and recycling, and performed at a few, which gave rise to some of these songs.
In the late 90s, Howie moved to Nashville, where he opened a store that lent support to activist efforts. The store, named Marivuana Hempalot's "a little bit of activism", was a little pitstop for local counterculture and activism. Displayed on the front wall were posters of 'drug war prisoners', and there was a small stage for impromtu jamming. The store was visited by a Green Party presidential candidate, and other dignitaries.
But in addition to that, Howie continued writing, playing and recording his "flagship" songs at esteemed local cafes and clubs around Nashville including the Acoustic Cafe next to the Nashville Hard Rock Cafe, where he was given ample stage time--shortly before the great Nashville flood. Howie has been evolving and expanding from his signature Greenwich Village "country punk" style to also include more contemporary folk rock sounds with soulful vocals. Howie is also very influenced by contemporary French Canadian country artists such as Ronald Bourgeois and Danny Boudreau.
In Magical Journey, Howie hopefully captures the essence and spirit of this journey in this home-made EP, which he wrote, self-recorded and plays all the instruments on all the songs.