Nightlife / Music

Identical twin duo The Bowmans return to Davenport hometown

By David Burke | Thursday, May 18, 2006 | () comments

COVER AND PHOTO BY WWW.THEBOWMANSMUSIC.COM The Bowmans � Claire, left, and Sarah � perform with their own duo Wednesday at the Redstone Room, then join the band Lowry for the remainder of the night.

Whenever Len and Anne Bowman had company at their Davenport home, they knew who could provide the in-house entertainment — their twin daughters, Sarah and Claire.

“When we were kids, whenever our parents had special events we would be in charge of the entertainment,” recalled Sarah Bowman. “By our choice, not theirs.

“We used to write songs even then, but mostly from the perspective of our toys. It was a start, anyway.”

That act has progressed from self-described “musical puppeteers” in their parents’ living room to being a folk and “anti-folk” duo. The Bowmans, who made their act professional a year and a half ago, return to Davenport next week for a date at River Music Experience’s Redstone Room. They’ll open for Lowry, a more harder-edge band to which they also belong, and with whom they’re touring.

Although the two began and are continuing their musical performing career together, their paths diverged after graduating from Davenport Central. Claire graduated early, and was looking at schools in Massachussetts, while Sarah was interested in college in Pittsburgh. Claire ended up at a school in Baltimore — Len, a former Marycrest College professor, now teaches in Baltimore — and Sarah eventually followed her there.

After splitting apart again in their careers — Sarah taught for a few years, while Claire worked as an artist and for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin in Washington, D.C. — they ended up together in New York about 18 months ago. Sarah already had a solo career, playing cello with a variety of groups, and Claire followed her.

For those already familiar with Sarah and her cello playing, it caused a double-take when her identical twin took the stage with her.

“People took notice, because it was a surprise,” Sarah said. “There was two of me.”

The Bowmans’ first album, “Far From Home,” features an admittedly diverse sound, with comparisons to everyone from Joni Mitchell to the Roches.

“Each song sounds like it could be in a whole different vein of music, within the broad umbrella of folk, anti-folk,” said Claire, as she drove her sister and Lowry through South Carolina earlier this week, on the way to Decatur, Ga.

Claire said the “twin dynamic stuff” with her 30-year-old sister works to her advantage.

“We work, obviously, really easily together,” Claire said. “We get through rehearsals very productively, because we communicate in a way that only twins can.”

There’s a yin and yang that balance each other out, Claire said.

“The way it tends to go with twins — or anybody close in age — is that there’s always a competition for who’s going to develop what personality. There’s that natural symbiotic thing that happens,” Claire said. “I kind of tend to do the left brain stuff, like booking and managing, and she does the right brain stuff, like creating and writing.”

Claire is the manager for both The Bowmans and Lowry, but also does the artwork for the band’s album and Web site, www.thebowmansmusic.com.

The Bowmans are working to “keep making music that’s meaningful and get it out there,” Claire said. A song, “Diggin’ For Gold,” was featured on NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” which gained some buzz for the duo.

Sarah has been hired to play for Rasputina, a rock group with all string instruments, with the Bowmans as the opening act. Claire laughed at the irony, since Claire’s the one with the more hard-edged musical tastes than her sister.

No matter what the style, music has been a refuge for the sisters, she said.

“I know there have been times in my life when certain albums by certain artists have gotten me through very difficult times, or become the soundtrack to my life,” Claire said. “That’s kind of an undervalued, overlooked thing, but a very important thing.”

It’s tough for even their closest friends to tell the two apart — “She’ll be the one with the guitar and cello,” is how Claire said to tell between the two.

It generates the only pet peeve that Claire has about working with her sister.

“When I get off stage, and everybody thinks I’m her,” Claire said. “They’ll want to ask me about how I wrote the songs.”

David Burke can be contacted at

(563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.

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Who: Lowry, with The Bowmans

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 24

Where: Redstone Room, River Music Experience, 129 Main St., Davenport

How much: $5

Information: (563) 326-1333