LoWatters

LoWatters are a Northern California acoustic trio made up of Steve Trivelpiece, Ethan Okamura and Jason Loeks. Their music would be as at home on a back porch as it would be in a swanky winery.  They specialize in soulful covers of Americana artists such as John Prine, Gillian Welch, Gram Parsons and The Band to name a few. Their originals would be at home on a playlist with the aforementioned artists along with a slight nod toward more contemporary artists such as Bon Iver, Iron and Wine and Ryan Adams. Whatever they play, effortless vocal harmonies abound! They’ve shared the stage with such notables as Asleep At The Wheel, Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, Big Little Lions, Vinyl, Ismay and Kelly Mcfarling.

They recorded their debut album at Skywalker Sound in Nicasio, Ca.  It’s a stripped down, totally live recording of them playing in a beautiful sounding room.  They played to their strength which is capturing the moment live. It features 8 somewhat obscure covers by several of the artists mentioned above as well as one original penned by Okamura.

Steve Trivelpiece’s velvety baritone anchors the LoWatters vocal blend and his rhythm guitar strumming is the glue that holds the band together. Steve grew up with a heavy dose of James Taylor and Chris Whitley and these heavyweight influences are foundational to his playing and singing. Steve is a founding member of the highly regarded Bay Area indie folk band This Old Earthquake.

Guitar player/singer Ethan Okamura hails from Bolinas Ca. where the band is based. Although Steve and Ethan share guitar duties, overall Ethan’s playing tends to be the Dave Rawlings to Steve’s Gillian Welch.  Ethan’s resonator guitar lends a unique texture to the band’s sound as well. Like Steve, Ethan is a founding member of This Old Earthquake. Many years of playing and singing together have resulted in an effortless blend of Ethan’s tenor and Steve’s baritone. He’s also a prolific songwriter/composer whose music is licensed regularly by television shows and films.

Stand up bass player Jason Loeks immigrated to California from Grand Rapids, Michigan as a young man looking for three chords and the truth. Stints in various local outfits with many local characters led him to founding alternative rock band Cola in San Francisco in the mid 90s. Cola was eventually signed by Arista/Interscope and recorded an album produced by Andy Wallace. They criss-crossed the country in classic rock band fashion touring coast to coast. After his days as a young rock star Jason gravitated back to three chords and the truth and took up stand up bass.  His playing drives the bus for LoWatters and his harmony vocals are a signature part of the LoWatters sound.

LoWatters have played over 40 gigs a year for the past several years ranging from bars and clubs to weddings, wineries and other private events.  They show no signs of letting up with a new album of originals in the works and bookings stretched into the coming year.

• Website: https://www.lowatters.com/