By Ashley Imlay
On a Friday night in downtown St. George, a crowd of people celebrates the weekend at George’s Corner. The sound of an acoustic guitar and a smooth voice float up from the lower floor. Surprising at a southwestern family-friendly restaurant, the atmosphere resembles that of a pub in the U.K. or Ireland — relaxed but noisy — the music giving the place a mellow vibe.
“This song doesn’t describe how I feel right now,” the singer declares into the microphone before beginning a Michael Bublé cover. “Another summer day has come and gone away in Paris and Rome, but I wanna go home,” he sings.
The voices fade just a bit. Somehow, this version of the song equals the original: People start to truly listen.
But how can someone with a voice to match Michael Bublé’s play background music in a restaurant in St. George?
The singer, a young man in his early 20s with longish blond hair and a charismatic smile, is named Art Cowles— fitting for someone who can play anything from Spanish guitar to jazz and whose voice, chameleon-like but distinctive, can form itself to anything from punk rock to blues.
I first met Art one Monday night at a church-related activity where we learned how to country-swing. When we danced together, he announced, “They showed us the steps turning right, but I like to mix it up and go left, too.”
I hadn’t thought to change directions. And while most of my other partners danced stiffly and nervously (one even dropped me during an unfortunate dip), Art led with confidence, unconcerned about making a mistake. This, my first impression of him, has proven emblematic for the way Art approaches life in general.
Success in the music industry or any other creative career seems very much based on chance. Thousands of people want to sing, thousands of people want to act. Everyone wants to write. These professions don’t guarantee money and fame; they guarantee a struggle. Most people who have dreams in the creative realm hear such facts on a regular basis. Many decide not to pursue creative professions, instead choosing careers that will give them more chances of finding well-paying jobs.
Some, though, will not give up their creative dreams. Try to talk these people out of them and they’ll become even firmer in their resolve. Because true artists are nonconformists.
A St. George native, Art performs at different venues and restaurants in the region a few nights a week. To hear him, one would assume he’s played music his whole life, but the desire to sing and pick up the guitar arose after years of searching for his niche.
Music always appealed to him, though. From a young age, he would hear songs and try to play them on the piano. Art’s parents nurtured his musical development.
“Whenever I wanted to try a new instrument, my mom and dad were always really supportive of me and would enable me to, even though we didn’t have a lot of money sometimes,” he said. “They would try to figure out a way to get me piano lessons, or drum lessons, or whatever I felt like doing, because they wanted me to find what I liked.”
Early on, he didn’t have any desire to learn the guitar because his sister’s friends, the only guitar players he knew, were “kinda jerks.” Later, listening to the music of singer-songwriter Don McLean inspired him to give the guitar a chance.
“Once I started playing, I just fell in love with it,” he said. As his parents recognized his ability, they encouraged him to actively pursue a career in music.
His love for playing led him to fulfill his dream of auditioning for Berklee College of Music in Boston — the alma mater of many popular artists, including Quincy Jones and John Mayer. The school accepted him to study guitar performance and composition beginning in the fall of 2016, but he made the surprising decision to defer for a year and remain in St. George.
“Mostly I felt like there were things I needed and wanted to pursue before I went there. And I felt like I’d kind of been using Berklee as an excuse sometimes to not do things I set out to do, like record some music,” he said. “I got this feeling like I needed to defer so I could really push myself full throttle before I went there. And that way, I’m on a full upswing.”
Now Art fills his days practicing, building a recording studio in his basement, playing shows in the evening — sometimes with drummer friend Shanley Clark and sometimes solo — and working at his food-service side job.
As he tries to find his unique voice in songwriting, many people advise him about which type of music he should play. Being independent, he doesn’t love this counsel.
“I feel like the hardest thing, and the thing that’s most important for me, is to just play music that’s truest to myself,” he said. “Because if it’s anything that’s contrived, people will see right through it. You can’t have really good music that’s not from the heart, I feel like. And if it’s not you, then it won’t work.”
Around 11 p.m. at George’s Corner, Art finishes his set, and most of the crowd leaves. A plate of fries in front of us, we begin to discuss music and the night.
Then I run outside to answer a phone call and return to find him at the neighboring table, sitting with a little girl, her mom, and her grandma. The mom holds up her cell phone, recording the moment as Art, guitar in hand, serenades the little girl. She stares in happy awe.
On many a weeknight in St. George, those eating out can hear him as they enjoy dinner. I can’t help but believe, most of all because of the way Art believes in himself, that soon he will play in front of much larger audiences.
To find out times and locations of Art’s performances, visit him on Facebook at facebook.com/artcowlesiv.
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