John Cowan Is Deep Into His ‘Second Tour of Duty’ With The Doobie Brothers

When Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Doobie Brothers take the stage at FirstBank Amphitheater Thursday evening as part of their 50th anniversary tour, Michael McDonald will not be the only Nashville-area resident onstage. While keyboardist-vocalist McDonald’s association with the Doobies is etched in popular music history, bassist-vocalist John Cowan’s lengthy relationship with the band is less well-known.

An incredibly soulful vocalist who made music history of his own as the lead singer and bassist for the pioneering bluegrass outfit New Grass Revival, Cowan has had not one but two stints as bassist and backing vocalist for The Doobie Brothers.

“This is my second tour of duty,” Cowan tells the Scene with a laugh.

Cowan first toured with the legendary band in the early to mid-’90s after working with founding Doobie Brother Patrick Simmons in The Sky Kings, a country-rock supergroup that also included Rusty Young (Poco) and Bill Lloyd (Foster & Lloyd).

“The Doobies got reactivated, and they didn’t have a bass player,” Cowan recalls. “And Pat said, ‘Well, I’m working with this guy named John Cowan. He’s really good. He sings really good. Let’s just use him.’

“[The Sky Kings] did a whole tour opening for the Doobies where Pat and I both did double duty. We would be the opening band with Bill and Rusty, and then the Doobies would come on, and Pat and I would play with the Doobies.”

Cowan’s first gig as bassist for The Doobie Brothers is one he will always remember. It was at the Freedom Fest in Austin, Texas, in the summer of 1993. When he looked out from the stage, Cowan saw a sea of people.

“It was the Fourth of July — it was big,” he recalls. “There were hundreds of thousands of people there.”

Cowan’s first stint with The Doobie Brothers lasted around three years and came to an end when he had to choose between The Doobies and The Sky Kings. Originally signed to RCA, by 1995 The Sky Kings had moved to Warner Bros. After they switched labels, Warner Nashville chief Jim Ed Norman told Simmons and Cowan they were going to have to choose between the two bands.

“Pat had been the only member since day one of The Doobies who was in every incarnation of that band,” Cowan explains. “And he was smart enough to say, ‘Well, guess I’m not in The Sky Kings anymore.’

“And at that point, I had to make a decision: Was I going to stay with The Doobie Brothers, where I’m a sideman, or am I going to go on and try to see what happens with The Sky Kings’ record, where I’m one of the principal members of the band as a songwriter and a vocalist? So I stayed.”

Unfortunately, after releasing three singles that failed to reach the country Top 40, Warner Bros. decided to shelve the album. At that point, The Sky Kings, as Cowan put it, “disintegrated.” Cowan then reunited with former New Grass Revival bandmate Sam Bush in a duo called Sam and John. But Bush soon realized he wanted to be a solo act and asked Cowan to be in his band as bassist and vocalist.

“I did it for a while, but you can’t be partners with somebody — equal partners as we were in New Grass Revival and when we had our duo thing — and then be their sideman,” Cowan says. “I just couldn’t do it. My pride and my ego and common sense, all three things just went, ‘I can’t do this.’ So that’s when I started The John Cowan Band.”

Over the next decade, Cowan released a number of albums under his own name. Then in 2010, The Doobie Brothers again found themselves in need of a bass player and called on Cowan. That began his second run as a member of the Doobies’ live band, and he’s been a mainstay ever since. 

Cowan has continued to perform with his own group when he’s not on the road with The Doobie Brothers. “Any time The Doobies had a break,” he says, “I would schedule John Cowan shows so I could keep in touch with my own voice as an artist.”

Recently, however, Cowan has been focusing exclusively on The Doobie Brothers because founding member Tom Johnston is recovering from back surgery and unable to perform.

“He’s been gone all summer,” Cowan says. “He may come back in the fall. It just depends on how he does with his physical therapy.”

In addition to band members Simmons, McDonald and John McFee, the lineup at FirstBank Amphitheater Thursday night will include drummer Ed Toth (Vertical Horizon), saxophonist Marc Russo (The Yellowjackets, Tower of Power) and percussionist Marc Quinones (Allman Brothers). In Johnston’s absence, Cowan has taken over some of his vocal duties.

“I’m singing lead on ‘Listen to the Music’ and ‘Rockin’ Down the Highway.’ Then I’m splitting the vocals with Mike and Pat on a couple other tunes that we do — ‘Take Me In Your Arms’ and ‘Neal’s Fandango.’”