Evan K. Rowe
ABOUT ME
I have worked in the creative arts for over twenty years in roles on and off stage in performance, production, and management. The single skill that has been essential in every position is an ability to quickly assess the needs of a project and adapt to change, finding solutions and strategies to meet the job where it is, regardless of where we might want it to be.
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WHAT I DO
I am a clear and expressive writer, adapting my creative voice to the appropriate style for the project, whether persuasive, technical, or documentary essay.
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I am a musician with more than twenty years of performance, recording, and touring experience. I am usually behind a drum kit, but am also a utility player on guitar and vocals, am comfortable playing many styles, know my way around musical instruments as machines, and have many years' experience working with various DAWs.
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I have played many production roles offstage as well, as technical director, sound and lighting designer and engineer/operator, master electrician, rigger, stage manager, and in scenic design and construction. I've been mentoring high school students in stagecraft for twenty years.
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These areas of expertise have drawn on and informed one another throughout my working life. I write about touring, teach recording classes, and my bands have been loved by club technicians around the world because a band that has a theatrical technical director as their drummer makes their day much easier.
WRITING
/ EXPERIENCE
Staff Writer, Scribely
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I write alternative text and extended descriptions of photos, illustrations, infographics--any image appearing in online content so that the web can be a more accessible resource for those with visual impairments.
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Publicity/Promotions, Various Bands
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I've written thousands of lengthy emails and social media posts for the bands I've played in that didn't have the benefit of a paid publicist. Many times, they've even worked.
/ WORKS
Poetry
"2. 2507"
A Construction of Cranes: A PenRF Compendium, 2020
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"1. 409"
Pastoral, a book accompanying the record of the same name by JKutchma and the Five Fifths, 2012 read it
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Essays
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"They'll Probably Buy It"
Blue Highways, a book accompanying the record of the same name by JKutchma and the Five Fifths, 2012
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"Laika"
The Independent Weekly, 08/05/2009
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Promotional
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Back cover blurb, Radio, by Christopher Williams, 2012
/ STYLES
I enjoy writing. I enjoy editing. I enjoy re-writing. I am comfortable working in almost any mode, whether creative, technical, persuasive, documentary, or research-driven.
I've taken graduate-level classes in public policy analysis at NC State and information science at UNC, and have honed my skills in documentary essay writing at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies.
I've written dozens of proposals for purchases, installations, and policies for a constituent school of the UNC system, receiving both approvals from the administration and praise from the Dean of Humanities as "one of the department's best writers."
I'd love to write for you.
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music
/ Bands
2003-present
math | post-hardcore/metal | volume
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2015-2019
harmonies | synth | epic
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2011-2017
americana | punk | storytelling
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2008-2012
intensity | loud+soft | punk+folk
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2006-2010
galloping | heavy | heroic
/ recordings
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Arguments, out July 2023
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V
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LP1
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EP3
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EP2
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EP1
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Today's Forecast
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Sundown, USA
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Blue Highways
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Pastorals
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...And Those Who Would Keep Us Safe
/performance
Countless local and regional shows
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US and Canada tours with Maple Stave, JKutchma & the Five Fifths, Des Ark
European tour, Des Ark
Festivals; SXSW, The Fest, Hopscotch, Caterwaul, PRFBBQs
DCRKER, improvisational drum trio
Solo drum performances
Drumset, "Still in the Memory," by Marc Faris, first performance of piece submitted for PhD in Composition, Duke University
PRODUCTION
/ RECORDING
I've recorded as an artist and an engineer to four-track cassette tapes in my folks' basement, in world-class studios, empty tobacco warehouses, live venues, houses, and storage facilities. I have experience in many DAWs, am partial to Reaper and Pro Tools, and have also recorded to and mixed from 2" tape. I have methods that yield consistent results but am never opposed to trying something new to make a project sound as close as I can to how the artist hears it in their head.
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During the early pandemic, I mixed orchestra and wind ensemble performances from 40-60 individual solo recordings, building a concert from its constituent parts and recreating the sound of the ensemble in the hall so that students wouldn't lose the opportunity to share the work they'd done despite the uncertain circumstances.
/ LIVE
I've been running sound since my high school band rented a Moose Lodge and we cobbled together a PA to put on a show. From four-channel Realistic mixers feeding Mississippi Marshalls (Peavey amps) to Dante-networked digital consoles and line arrays, I've become comfortable in most any audio situation.
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I've lit productions with smoking hot PAR 64s and today's fanless LED fixtures, built cues on two-scene preset boards and using touchscreen monitors and multiple wireless DMX universes.
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I'm a quick and attentive drum and guitar tech (though definitely in that order), familiar with every component of the machines that are these musical instruments. I have an exceptional ear for relative pitch and tuning, differentiating tones .356Hz apart at 800 Hz and have managed to preserve my hearing just past 16kHz owing to my devotion to good earplugs. I work until a job is done, can sleep anywhere, and have no fear of heights. Touring allows me to operate at my optimal level of creative problem-solving and love of troubleshooting by headlamp.
/ BUILDING THINGS
I have copious experience in scenic design and construction, having built theatrical sets for over twenty years. I'm also familiar with recording and mastering studio design and acoustic treatment and sound transmission mitigation techniques, having assisted in the construction of a mastering room designed in collaboration with Wes Lachot and built my own band's practice space using a well-isolated and insulated floating room-within-a-room to reduce the 110 dB SPL inside the rehearsal space to 70 dB SPL just outside the building. Employing the other half of the building as a shop/motorcycle garage, I ran power, installed isolated grounding, and will never dig an 18"-deep trench by hand again.
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The DIY ethic practiced in music carries over to most other projects in my life, having rebuilt carburetors and motorcycle forks, built guitar pedals, repaired amplifiers, set up guitars, built record storage furniture and tour-worthy speaker cabinets, and designed and built a floating deck next to the aforementioned shed. I don't mess with plumbing inside the wall, though.
