Thomas J. Rowe, a founding
member of Schooner Fare and Turkey Hollow and a Folk Alliance member died
Saturday, January 17, at Maine Medical Center, from cancer. He was 53.
Thomas J. Rowe, a founding
member of Schooner Fare and Turkey Hollow and a Folk Alliance member died
Saturday, January 17, at Maine Medical Center, from cancer. He was 53.
After receiving a clarinet at the age of six, he set out on a life-long path of performing that brought him from the grange halls of rural Maine to major concert halls across the country, including Lincoln Center, Town Hall, and Wolf Trap. His folk career started with the gift of a banjo at age thirteen when he formed a high school folk group with some friends and toured extensively throughout Maine.
After Tom attended the University of Southern Maine as a Music Education major, he held several positions in public education, including a year as music director in his former high school.
In 1975, Tom was invited to join the popular Maine folk/rock group Devonsquare, in which he met brothers Chuck and Steve Romanoff. Later that year, the three left Devonsquare to form the folk trio, Schooner Fare, with which Tom sang, played bass guitar and tin whistle, and wrote many well-known songs.
He left teaching in 1982 to devote himself fully to his family and his performing career. In 1992, Tom began touring and recording with his son Dave as the duo, Rowe by Rowe. In 1998, Rowe by Rowe added a third member, Denny Breau, and the group was renamed Turkey Hollow.
Tom was a member and choir director for the First Universalist Church, Unitarian-Universalist, in Auburn, ME, and was also a bass clarinetist with the Auburn Community Band. He leaves behind an incredible legacy of music, much of which was recorded in his own home recording studio.
[Courtesy of the Folk Alliance].
World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20041203204455885