Meet Bow Thayer

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bow Thayer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bow below.

Bow, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Since the very earliest days of my existence I have been drawn to music. Bounce to the age of 12 I saw a concert and discovered I was on the wrong side of the stage . Bang my life’s purpose started and I never looked back. I learned how to play instruments until I got to a place where i could do it in front of people. I never cared about being popular or wealthy but did care about the depth of my art , music is only a stepping stone. I branched out into visual art and creating spaces. I started higher music education only to learn that art school made more sense for me than music school. After years of grueling of touring and trench work in the bars i decided nature was my true muse. I left the city and moved to rural VT to become a real musician, even if that meant not becoming a popular one. My success was to be determined how I felt about my work. After all these years and over 30 self released records I am still searching and discovering. I built and design my own highbred instruments , I built my own studio out of the trees on my property. I now write and produce my own music that spans multiple genres . The help I receive is out of the goodness of others hearts. Every minuet of every day is lived as creating art. From building a stone wall to changing an infants diaper to cultivating a garden and walking or skiing in the woods ,it all reverts back to my work … I live on the fringe of poverty but manage to stay creative and healthy. It has been very hard but I have zero regrets other than some years of self abuse and self medication. I am accustomed to never being satisfied and that fuels me. I am surrounded by mountains, rivers , trees and ever changing weather systems that are and endless source of information. I am grateful for an ability to channel the lessons they provide.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

For the past 27 years I have lived in a small house nestled in the tight hills of central VT with my wife . We have raised two boys a couple of dogs and many chickens. In the beginning I had to wear a lot of different hats playing the roles of carpenter , house painter, furniture builder, landscaper etc. I found if I was gonna be committed to making music I had to let it all go and take a leap of faith. I still do all that other stuff because you have to when you live where I do. But music is my main source of income. I have a small local following and a smaller regional one and yet a smaller national one. I find my fan base one person at a time.
I paid off my small house and was able to get a line of equity to purchase some land close by. 40 acres of beautiful woodland with a brook running through it. I have built a geodesic dome and carved out campsites that I can rent out in the summer months. I have a vision of creating a magical space void of hate and suffering with a focus on art, music , dance ecology and an intentional sustained living. It’s called Know Town after the “No Town” logging camp that occupied the area during the late 1800s early 1900s. The project is in its infancy, it will not be easy, but I will never ever be bored! You can find out about it and subscribe to my Patreon site Know Town.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I always had a wide open mind when it came to genres in art and music. I listened to it all, Jazz , pop, punk, jam, classical, bluegrass, old time country avant guard, ambient , you name it … then I tried to play it ( yes I have a bit of jack of all trades master at none thing happening) you can hear it in my recordings.
If I am scatterbrained then I am equally stubborn I refuse to not be open or boxed in. I take my lightness very seriously, which means I don’t take anything very seriously. If it stops being fun I move on. Which is probably why I still wallow in obscurity rather than find monetary success. But I have covered a lot of ground and met some very influential people I am told I have made many people happy with my music . So what else could I ask for.
I founded a small music festival called the Tweed River Music Festival. It lasted for several years I learned a lot from that. The good and the bad. Our slogan was “nature as music intended it”. This kind of human gathering is more important that ever and I am taking the experience I have gained from it to try and go forward with a better realized human experience, no matter how Utopian or fantastical that may sound.
My advice would be follow whats in your heart, only you know what that is. If it is not fun or it does not excite you turn down another path that does.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am absolutely looking for folks to collaborate with. I am fiercely independent and have never been the model team player but I am working on that. I have tons of ideas but lack certain organizational skills , I am also getting older and am finding my energy and physical strength is not what it used to be. I am looking for as much diversity as possible, age, race ,religion, sexual orientation non of that matters to me .
If you have a strong desire to re connect with nature , believe in the power of artistic expression and feel you have something, anything to share. wether it’s helping to dig an out house, cut a trail, making a video, helping to promote… or playing music I am very interested in hearing from you. Patreon is the best way to support us, buying my music is another ( its available everywhere on line but Bandcamp is best ). We are listed with HipCamp if you want to visit us. My email is a good way to introduce yourself. [email protected]

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: [email protected]
• Facebook: [email protected]
• Linkedin: [email protected]
• Twitter: [email protected]
• Youtube: [email protected]
• Yelp: [email protected]
• Soundcloud: [email protected]
• Other: https://patreon.com/bowthayer?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

Image Credits

David Davis , Scott Florence, Nancy Cheslock, Tom McNeil