Folk singer and songwriter Lance Cowan hails from Western Kentucky but moved to Nashville, Tennessee, over forty years ago, where he inevitably absorbed the influence of the country music that dominates the scene there. These influences are clearly audible in the eleven songs he wrote and recorded for his third solo album, *The Air That You Breathe*. Cowan made his solo debut later in life with the 2024 album *So Far, So Good*; a second album, *Against The Grain*, followed the very next year, and now—just a year later—comes *The Air That You Breathe*. Behind the scenes of the music world, Cowan has collaborated over the past three decades with major country artists such as Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, and Lyle Lovett. On this new record, he receives vocal support from the now 75-year-old singer Janis Ian on the track "When He Was Here." She is best known for the beautiful song "At Seventeen"—a global hit in 1975—as well as subsequent tracks like "Jesse" and "Fly Too High."
The album’s title track, “The Air That You Breathe,” is a beautiful ballad that we would like to introduce to you in the first video at the bottom of this review. The acoustic live performance of the song “Where’d They Go”—featured in the second video—is another highlight of the album. Lance Cowan’s narrative songs deal primarily with love, loss, regret, hope, and the increasingly complex nature of American society. Personally, I find his musical work somewhat reminiscent of Jackson Browne’s songs, yet he consistently maintains a distinctive style of his own.
Seven of the eleven original tracks on this album are the result of collaborations with fellow songwriters: Karen Leipzinger on the title track; Terry Clayton on “The One You Love,” “The Road,” and “Where’d They Go”; David Mallett
on “Closer To Truth”; Miguel Salas on “William Cooper Smith”; and Rees Shad on the album’s opening track, “Love.”The crème de la crème of the Nashville music industry provided instrumental accompaniment for all the songs at the renowned Sound Emporium studio, under the direction of producer Scott Paschall. Mandolin virtuoso Sam Bush plays on four tracks, and 81-year-old Texas country legend Jimmie Dale Gilmore provides backing vocals on “William Cooper Smith.” Lance Cowan’s *The Air That You Breathe* can best be described as a true labor of love. Given his track record of releasing an album every other year, we likely won’t have to wait too long for his fourth album—and that is something we certainly don’t mind at all.
(valsam)