Who Is Bobby Joe Owens?

Born again in the Fall of 2021, Bobby Joe Owens is a brand new man with his main focus on Christian Music and some other more contemporary projects.

"Music has so much more meaning when you are glorifying God."

Prior to the Fall of 2021, Bobby Joe was best known as a Singer/Songwriter and Band Leader/Front Man for the band Retro Deluxe. Bobby Joe didn't start singing until 2006 and since 2008, he has written over 90 songs under his alter ego Robert J. Thompson and has recorded five (5) albums with local, regional, national and internationally recognized musicians including Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Buddy Guy, Tri-State Coalition, etc.), Grammy Award Winner Billy Earheart (The Amazing Rythym Aces, Hank Williams, Jr., Al Green, etc), Marty MacMillan (Blue Plate Special, Retro Deluxe, MacMillan Guitars) and Guitarist Zach Sweeney (Wayne "The Train" Hancock, Lucky Tubb, Retro Deluxe, Moonshine Society, etc.)!

His first two releases, “Baby It's Hot!” (2009) and “Watermelon Tea” (2010), are diverse collections of blues and blues related music that were released on Bobby Joe's home grown indie Rinkled Rooster Record Label under the name Retro Deluxe. Baby It's Hot! was very well received, but was not widely publicized. Watermelon Tea was publicized by Betsie Brown of Memphis-Based Blind Racoon and received rave reviews from some of the most prominent blues publications, received significant radio and Internet radio airplay nationally and internationally, and spent 14 weeks in the Top 5 of the Blues Internet Radio Airplay Chart peaking at number 2! His third album, “Please Rise” (2011) was released under the Bobby Joe Owens name and is a diverse collection of Classic Country, Rockabilly, Gospel, Bluegrass and Americana music. Please Rise includes twelve (12) originals and a cover of The Amazing Rhythm Aces’ song “Thangamalang” written by Grammy Award Winners Russell Smith and Billy Earheart. His fourth album, "Liquor, Love & Laughter" (2013) was recorded at the Historic Cash Cabin (Hendersonville, TN) and produced by Grammy Award Winner Chuck Turner. Liquor, Love & Laughter is another diverse collection of Classic Country, Rockabilly and Americana music and all thirteen songs are originals. His fifth and most recent album, "Double Tapped" (2020) was originally released in 2016 under the name "Honky Tonk Clown." Double Tapped features fifteen (15) more originals of Alternative Country, Blues and Americana music. One song, "Barstool Between Us," was written by Bobby Joe's buddy, Marv Offutt.

Bobby Joe is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, father, inventor, artist, entrepreneur, restaurateur, philanthropist, producer, innovator and so much more. Call him what you want, but his songs are infectious, his vocal stylings are unique and his passion, energy and love for his music are ever-present.