The boys spent a lot of their time growing up involved in a variety of sports, but Jake fell in love with the game of golf. From the time he was twelve years old, Jake’s goal was to be a professional golfer, and it was an ambition that almost came true. His brother had a scholarship for Florida State University and Jake followed him, taking a walk on spot on the golf team. Then something happened that destroyed his golf career—“During my semester playing golf, I had a bad accident water skiing and had to have reconstructive shoulder surgery.”
With his golf aspirations shattered along with his shoulder, he picked up a guitar he borrowed from a neighbor and began teaching himself to play, “Next thing you know, I was playing [guitar] in college for the next 4 years.” With his baritone voice, pure talent, captivating smile and good looks, Jake began playing shows and writing his own songs. The response he received was so uplifting; he decided to make a life-altering choice. “I had about 9 hours of school left, and I moved off to Nashville,” said Jake. Jake worked diligently on his song writing. As luck would have it, only 18 months after moving to Music City, a town where he knew no one, he was signed by RCA.
Making up what he lacked in experience with natural talent and ambition, he released his debut CD, ‘Startin’ with Me’ in the summer of 2006. Every song on the album was either written or co-written by Jake.
Thrust into the dream life of touring and recording, he’s been very lucky to have a smooth career so far. “Being an artist and being on the road, you can’t really have a bad day. We may be sick or something, but we have to give the people that paid their hard earned money a good show, go out there, and give them what they want. Those are the things that sometimes are a little tough. There are a lot of times we’ll be playing and the sound system is not very good and you just have to continue to smile. But I don’t feel like I’ve really had any obstacles yet that have come up that have hindered my career, other than just little ups and downs along the way that you kinda get used to. My dad was really good about me and my brother understanding to learn how to work hard, which is one of the reason things have carried over to the way they are now. I learned how to work hard young.”
Though, he’s still trying to get used to some of the things that come along with fame. “People standing outside my bus, waiting and waiting and waiting until I get off to get an autograph, that’s kinda weird. A couple of years ago I was a kid on a bar stool in college that nobody really cared about—all of a sudden people are wanting my autograph!” Jake is committed to his fans. “Even in the rain, people are there like 4 hours before the show starts. That really makes me love what I do. I like making people happy. I like people that have seen my show 15 times; on the 16th time I want something different to happen. I want them to leave saying, ‘Ah! I’m so glad I went to that show.’”
“Being able to travel around the country and see things I’ve never seen before; getting to really take in what this whole country is all about. I’m not usually one to take any political or spiritual beliefs as far as letting them out. But I do believe that just being able to travel around the country, the things you see on the news all the time doesn’t really explain what our country really is, until I got to get out on my own and travel to little, small towns that don’t really have a whole lot there. When you come through to play the fair that year, it’s like the biggest deal in the world to these people. Then you go and play huge cities and they don’t even care that you’re there. It’s the whole beautiful thing about America and the fact that you can go all over this country and there’s people that will listen to your music, that are fans of your music, that have driven from hours away to that place to see you play. That’s what I love about this.”
Jake loves traveling and seeing new places and things, but his favorite place to head is back home. “I like going home, home is Florida for me. I’ve been all around the country and it’s a little cliché that ‘no place is like home.’ I’ve seen lots of beautiful places that I’ve never been that I think, is my new favorite place because of the things that I’ve seen. I always try to revert back to, ‘I wish mom and dad were here; I wish my twin brother was here to see this.’ I wish a lot of times that I had my family there with me.”
“A lot of people have influenced me,” he says, “my dad, my grandfather, my mother took care of me and my twin brother growing up, and I’ve got a lot of friends that are supportive.”
His inspiration also comes from the people he writes his songs for and his desire to make them feel something. “Whether it’s a song about having a good time, kinda making you forget about the work week, a song that people can turn up going home from work to kinda put themselves in a good mood, or a serious song that really touches someone in a heartfelt way.” “I’m appreciative of the fact that I can stand on my own two legs every night and sing a song, and the fact that I was given a voice to do that with makes me happy. If it all ended tonight or tomorrow or whenever, I could say that I’ve always done what I’ve loved to do, and been surrounded by people that are supportive and that’s something that a lot of people wish they could say.”
Jake’s advice to people struggling in the industry is simple, “Just work at it if you believe in it. Just go for it.
“It’s never too late to do what you believe. Everyone thought I was crazy when I left to go to Nashville. But if you believe in your heart and you’re gonna work hard enough at it, good things come to people that really work hard and believe and don’t let things get them down. You’re all gonna have ups and downs, but you gotta keep that head up.”
While music was not his first love, those who hear his songs will agree, it’s what Jake Owen was meant to do.
| written by Krystina Rene' Miller
