David Lowery is a highly accomplished songwriter, performer, producer, and advocate for artists’ rights based in Athens, GA. He began his career in the early 1980s while studying mathematics at the University of California Santa Cruz, where he founded the critically acclaimed ensemble Camper Van Beethoven and the associated record label, Pitch-a-Tent Records. With these two entities, he played a pivotal role in jump-starting the indie rock movement. Camper Van Beethoven released six albums before going on an extended hiatus in 1990.
Afterward, Lowery formed the ensemble Cracker in 1991, which produced five top-ten alternative/rock radio tracks and three platinum albums. During this time, he also produced and recorded albums for other artists such as The Counting Crows, Magnolia Electric Company, and Sparklehorse.
In 2004, Camper Van Beethoven reformed, and since then, Lowery has been recording and touring with both bands, often playing together on a double bill. In 2005, Lowery and his wife (a concert promoter of some note) started the Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven Campout festival at the iconic Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace. The festival ran through 2019 when the venue changed ownership.
In 2019, Lowery began releasing a series of loosely autobiographical albums, including In The Shadow of the Bull (2019), Leaving Key Member Clause (2021), and Vending Machine (2023). These albums are currently only available in physical formats or via Bandcamp and are not available on streaming services. Originally intended as an experiment, the limited release strategy generated revenues that far exceeded what would be expected from a streaming release. Thus, Lowery has continued in this manner, as apparently in the streaming age, less is more.
Lowery is currently touring in support of these three albums.
