Ronnie Bowman


Ronnie Bowman is an American singer and composer of bluegrass music. Besides his solo albums, he is known for his work with the Lonesome River Band.

Biography

Early years

A native of Mount Airy, North Carolina, Bowman sang gospel music from age three until his late-teens. He sang in his family band with his four sisters, playing churches in North Carolina and Virginia.
Bowman joined bluegrass band The Lost and Found in 1988 and performed with them for two years.

Lonesome River Band

From 1990 until 2001, Bowman then was vocalist and bass player in the Lonesome River Band, with bandmates Sammy Shelor, Dan Tyminski, and Tim Austin. Their 1991 album Carrying the Tradition was named the International Bluegrass Music Association 1991 Album of the Year.

Solo career

Cold Virginia Night, released in 1994, featured appearances by Alison Krauss, Del McCoury, and Tony Rice.
Bowman released Starting Over in 2003, with Don Cook producing several songs. Bowman was also assisted byTyminski, Jerry Douglas, and Barry Bales, Ron Stewart, and Steve Gulley.
Bowman 2006's It’s Gettin’ Better All The Time in Nashville with members of his group The Committee: Wyatt Rice, Andy Hall, Jeremy Garrett, and Garnet Imes Bowman. Special guests included Del McCoury, Rob McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, Dan Tyminski, and John Barlow Jarvis.

Songwriting

For Chris Stapleton's Traveller album, Bowman wrote "Nobody to Blame" with Stapleton and Barry Bales, and "Outlaw State of Mind" with Stapleton and Jerry Salley.
Lee Ann Womack included Bowman's song "The Healing Kind" on the album I Hope You Dance (album).
Bowman's song "It's Getting Better All the Time" was recorded by Brooks & Dunn.
Bowman and Stapleton also wrote "Never Wanted Nothing More" which Kenny Chesney included on his album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates.

Band of Ruhks

Besides Bowman, the Band of Ruhks includes two other former Lonesome River Bandmates: Don Rigsby and Kenny Smith. Ralph Stanley provided vocals on the song "Coal Minin' Man." The band got their name from the ancient Persian word for a warrior's chariot.
Bowman frequently performs with Dan Tyminski, with whom he played in the Lonesome River Band.

Awards

Bowman has been awarded the following IBMA awards:
  • Male Vocalist of the Year in 1995, 1998, and 1999
  • 1995 Album of the Year for Cold Virginia Night
  • 1995 Song of the Year for "Cold Virginia Night"
  • 1999 Song of the Year for "Three Rusty Nails"
  • 1999 Gospel Performance of the Year for "Three Rusty Nails."

Discography

Solo albums

  • 1994: Cold Virginia Night
  • 1998: The Man I'm Tryin' to Be
  • 2002: Starting Over
  • 2005: It's Gettin' Better All the Time
  • 2019: ‘‘Ronnie Bowman’’

With the [Lonesome River Band]

  • 1991: Carrying The Tradition
  • 1994: Old Country Town
  • 1996: One Step Forward
  • 1998: ''Finding The Way''

With Band Of Ruhks

  • 2015: Band Of Ruhks
  • 2019: ‘’Authentic’’

As composer

As producer

Also appears on