The Bowmans find the frontier, no matter where they are

Indeed, there is a very independent nature and earthy appeal to The Bowmans. Their music is reminiscent of artists such as Gillian Welch and Iris DeMent: honest, bittersweet, with just enough twang to give the listener a case of rambling fever. The Bowmans spin tunes too dark to be country, with instrumentation and arrangements too diverse to be plain old folk. They capture a spirit that is reminiscent of dusty wagon wheels bouncing over the endless western expanse of an uncharted America. Claire provides backing instrumentation, sparse percussion and haunting harmonies, which seamlessly intertwine with Sara’s compositions of direct lyrics and farmer chords.

Perhaps the twins work so well as a duo because they have been singing together since they were three years old and have been performing intermittently as an act since they were in high school. It could also be due to an uncanny, metaphysical connection. It has been said that the sisters share a telepathic link of sorts—an ability some believe all twins possess. Sara does not wish to trump up this claim, however.  She insists that if she does share this kind of supernatural connection with Claire it is “only onstage … or when we are rehearsing, because there are just some things that I don’t have to explain. We are very in tune with one another. But the joke is that offstage Claire and I hardly communicate.”

Extrasensory perception or not, one thing is certain: The Bowmans work extremely well together in creating melancholy and glorious tributes to the hope, fear, and staggering possibility of the unknown. “Take me away/take me far from this place,” the sisters croon in “On The Road” from their debut album, Far From Home. As the beat picks up with a touch of honky-tonk bounce, The Bowmans continue, “The bumpy road might break your toes/you will never know/but I’ll take my chances/cut my losses.”

This is the kind of freewheeling sentiment that permeates music by The Bowmans. “I’ve always been fascinated by the history of the Great American West,” Sara explains of her motivation to write songs about leaving the city behind and heading for the country. The frontier was a part of The Bowmans’ early life as well as the life the two currently live.

Though they now hail from Brooklyn, Sara and Claire were born in Davenport, Iowa, a city straddling the rolling Mississippi River, whose perpetual flow seems to inject itself into The Bowman’s music in one way or another. “A lot of my metaphors are water metaphors, traveling metaphors,” Sara says. “The Mississippi is a known travel way. I guess there’s a little bit of Mark Twain going on in there subconsciously.”

But as much as The Bowmans’ music is inspired by songs from the American heartland, Sara says a great deal of her tunes are about New York City as well. She is quick to note that she has always used songwriting as a vehicle to look beyond her current location. And for some time now, The Bowmans have been perpetually looking toward their next destination. “Claire and I have been playing 200-250 shows a year—even more—for the past three years,” she says about the pair’s tireless efforts, supporting her contention that she couldn’t give a hoot about what her songs are called, her albums are titled, or what section of the record store Far From Home belongs in. To her it is the music that counts.

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