Kat Bowser Brings Janis Joplin’s Songs to Life

If sandpaper and soul met a rose and birthed a child, that child would probably sound something like Janis Joplin.
Joplin sang from the soul and with a voice hewn as if from sandpaper. And she lived a thorny lifestyle, drugs and alcohol and such. But she left a lifetime of music in a scant few years.
Hear and learn more on July 10 at the Down Home in Johnson City when Kat Bowser interprets Joplin via “Buried Alive in the Blues: A Tribute to Janis Joplin.”
Ninety minutes of barnstorming blues that rocked the world if but for a little while, that’s what’s on the menu and served piping hot.
“Her voice, man, you can lose your voice doing her songs,” Bowser said by phone while on the road from Nashville to Johnson City. “It’s hard to channel Janis.”
Unquestionably.
Joplin, who died of a drug overdose on Oct. 4, 1970 at age 27, sang like a whirling twirling ball of high-octane fire. She sang much as a speaking-in-tongues, brimstone-filled preacher preaches – all out and seemingly out of mind.
One vocal burst on the phone and there’s little doubt. Bowser has the pipes to channel Joplin.
“I have total faith in Kat’s ability,” said Mark Hornsby, Bowser’s husband and coordinator of and guitarist in the show. “She’s an amazing singer.”
Has to be. Try to tackle Frank Sinatra, better be good. Take a swing at Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette – yeah, better have it.
So Bowser said she realizes that in paying tribute to Joplin a mighty task lay ahead.
“Most female vocalists are afraid to tackle XXXXX

her,” Bowser said. “It’s next to impossible to sound like her unless you rip yourself up vocally.”
Now, as to the show’s name. It refers to a song that Joplin never recorded and yet ended up on her final album.
“She was supposed to record words for that song, but she died,” Hornsby said. “So the way the song came out was as an instrumental.”
Bowser will open the show with that song, “Buried Alive in the Blues,” and roll back. Through a small catalog that still stands tall nearly 40 years after her death.
“She only recorded for about two or three years,” Bowser said. “So, she didn’t really record a lot of stuff.”
But, oh boy, did Joplin make those songs count. Songs in her catalog include “Piece of My Heart” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Groundbreakers then, classics now.
Listen to them. She was blues and she was rock and she was even jazz, too.
“The grit and energy can be very rock, but the song structures can be very blues,” Bowser said. “Then, she just packed it into one song.”
So Bowser stressed that she will not completely duplicate Joplin’s performances. However, expect a wickedly close performance, sprinkled liberally and appropriately with a fury of fire.
“She had real, raw energy,” Bowser said. “We want to portray that passion.”

IF YOU GO
What: “Buried Alive in the Blues: A Tribute to Janis Joplin”
When: July 10, 9 p.m.
Where: Down Home, 300 W. Main St., Johnson City, Tenn.
Admission: $12
Info: (423) 929-9822
Web: http://www.officialjanis.com
Janis Joplin audio and video: http://new.music.yahoo.com/janis-joplin/tracks/
Kat Bowser web: http://www.myspace.com/katbowser

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .