DREW ROUSE EPK: Drew Rouse is a proud Nordic/Germanic-Gaelic Native European & a fiercely independent writer & musician (singer, guitarist, bassist, pianist, harmonica player, drummer & percussionist) who has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe. He has captivated audiences from coast to coast and across the oceans with his songs about, environmental & human Nature, plus other fare. Drew has a unique propensity and ability for meshing smooth rhythms and legendary guitar chops with driving and hypnotic melodies and beats around deeply relevant issues. Drew crafts his songs, not to perpetuate thoughtless escapism & deconstructionism, but rather to fortify thoughtful, independent thinking with lyrics that prompt us to maintain and assert our independence and freedoms while urging us to respect our ancestors, protect our future generations & preserve our wild lands. Never preachy, the result is often described as “Rawk & SoulFolk Musik”. Rocking and soulful yes, but Drew effortlessly meanders through many different styles and multiple genres within each set. His sound is melodic and powerful with a heightened sensibility that keeps your mind and body moving. Drew’s extensive and constant touring, energetic live performances, paired with his solid charismatic presence &witty & thought provoking interludes have earned him a very strong & loyal following. As he always says “All my songs are love songs. Some are of the simple and usual, boy meets girl variety, but most are of a more complex nature, love of life, freedom, forests, mountains, oceans, justice, inner and outer reflective manifestations of love, sometimes sweet and other times tough, but all are love songs and none are the lesser”.

Drew has been offered numerous recording and publishing contracts over the years but has always turned them down for deeply principled and ethical reasons. He understood long ago that in signing such “deals” his music would most likely be used to sell unconscious products, thus helping perpetuate a toxic paradigm. Drew has always acted in part as a “Green publisher” and is always interested in licensing his music to truly green products and services, independent films, documentaries, environmental and justice issues, independent radio, public sponsored media and other such noble causes. As he says when people thank him for the free use of his music “I’m and energetic philanthropist, its my pleasure!” The times have caught up with Drew’s vision, the racially, ethnically & culturally specific indigenous identity movement is all the rage now… & the lean, clean, green, renewable, energy conservation paradigm is upon us and Drew has been busy for years writing the soundtrack.

Drew choses to remain completely independent and continues to tour extensively & perform hundreds of shows each year and in his off time he is always busy writing songs that seem to reminisce of a beautiful future, while others songs like “Chicken Hawks” with it’s  scathing and correct assertions on war, scold the powers that shouldn’t be. Other songs like “Mountain” and “FatWood” warn us about clear cut style deforestation and other forms of environmental destruction or degradation… while other songs remind us all of our ancestors and our racially, ethnically & culturally specific indigenous identity. He has numerous other such songs that cover a wide variety of pressing issues, everything from GMO’s/genetic pollution to identity. Drew takes great pleasure in butchering the sacred cows of our belief systems and disassembling the fictions of our, presently, highly controlled societies. He explains: “I write songs to expose as well as to reveal and also to deconstruct the deconstructionists. I ask this question over and over. Why should we live a controlled, generic, consumeristic, wasteful existence? When we can live a self-controlled, authentic, creative, low-impact experience. That’s living, the other is just as I mentioned, an existence.”

Drew began writing poetry at age 7, he would often roam the forest on his families property writing in his small notebook he titled “My Thinking Spot”. He then started playing guitar and composing professionally at age 12. Drew says “My youth was blessed with the ability to enter into a deep and profound place of contemplation and reflection on the Natural world and human Nature at a very young age. This blessing allowed me, once older, to pick the most effective direction to apply my life force. I feel truly blessed and spared in so many ways.” Drew has numerous poems and short stories, over a 150 original songs and has released six independent albums, so far: Rage, Flowers, Live From Bearsville studios, In My Movie, The Flesh and The Spirit… and Singing To The Choir. Drew now releases mostly singles, which can be downloaded, right here, off his website.

Drew performs solo or with many different arrangements of musicians and instrumentation. Thus, “The Gathering” is a blend of those musicians, other artists and supporters who come together at Drew’s performances to celebrate live independent & original music. This provides for an exciting and ever evolving live show.

Drew follows in a long tradition of great Canadian songwriters and storytellers. Drew’s uncle is the legendary, Gordon Lightfoot. Drew is the real deal a troubadour with a Woden’s/Wonderers soul. He is on perpetual tour, so keep an eye out for his upcoming performances and his latest releases.

If you try to ask Drew about himself you will quickly realize that he starts to answer, but then moves rapidly onto an environmental, social justice or government policy conversation. An interviewer recently called him on it and he replied: “Please, I began many years ago to exclude myself from this process. To limit, then evict and finally delete all that my ego had injected. Long ago I made the message, not the man, paramount. Truthfully, I have been silent on the formulaic, who I am, where I’m from and how I want others to see me, etc. I mean, I can tell you trite stories of my past, childhood, ethnicity, Nordic Cultural roots… etc, but they seem more dream like now, then real. I have none of the usual musician addictions. No rock star sex, drugs and booze war stories, no tale of woe. I have no excuses and nothing to blame. To the contrary, I feel spared, informed and a deep responsibility to share with others what a life of resonance with the natural world has taught me. I have an urgency to express these lesson through writing, music, film, conversation and the teaching and practicing of physical/hatha yoga not the fake “spiritual stuff. I will never forget what I stand for, those I love and those who love me, but it has been a blessing emptying myself and filling myself again with the spirit of my Nordic elders and becoming just a conduit for something greater to pass through. Truly, my personal story is simple and rather boring. Please lets not waste time on personalities, we must focus on indigenous identity & corrective policies. We must dedicate our interaction here to addressing the serious issues that are negatively effecting our shared environment and try to ethically answer the numerous racial, ethnic, cultural & spiritual questions that are facing us. Its up to us, at this time, to usher in a new paradigm that respects our ancestors path. Our children, their children, & future generations are depending on us” And as always, Drew concluded the interview with “Love and Respect to you and yours…”

Drew is also a energetic philanthropist, philosopher and strategist for environmental & Indigenous Native European Rights issues and works on numerous other progressive projects.