Jake Owen will be here for only a few days this time, just long enough for our home-grown, platinum-selling, country-music star to perform two shows at the Riverside Theater and play a couple of rounds of golf at the Vero Beach Country Club.
Had it not been for his plans to again team with his father and twin brother for this weekend’s Indian River Grapefruit Pro-Am, in fact, Owen probably wouldn’t have scheduled the concerts.
“The show was kind of a spontaneous thing,” Owen’s dad, Steve, was saying last weekend. “Usually, he does the big show at Dodgertown, but they couldn’t make the schedule work this year.
“So since he was going to be in town, anyway, I brought up the possibility of doing something smaller while he was here to raise money for his foundation,” he added. “Besides, it was a chance to do something different – a smaller venue and a more intimate concert that had a more up-close-and-personal feel.
“I thought a lot of people here would like a show like that, maybe even more than the bigger show.”
Clearly, father knows best.
The concert, which was announced Nov. 22 as “An Evening With Jake Owen and Friends” and will include an acoustic set, was scheduled for Friday night on the Riverside Theater’s Stark Mainstage. Less than 30 minutes after the nearly 700 tickets were put on sale Nov. 23, the show was sold out.
“They went so quickly, I asked him if he’d do Saturday night, too,” the elder Owen said. “He said, ‘Sure,’ and we added another show. So he’s got a busy weekend.”
Owen, whose foundation benefits the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and numerous youth programs in Indian River County, is expected to travel from his home in Nashville to Vero Beach either late Thursday or early Friday.
He’ll perform Friday night at the Riverside, tee off Saturday morning in the Grapefruit Pro-Am, perform again Saturday night and return to the country club Sunday for the final round of the golf tournament. Then he’ll fly back to Nashville on Sunday night.
His 3-year-old daughter, Pearl, will not accompany him on this trip.
“He won’t have a lot of down time, anyway,” Owen’s dad said, “but he’s looking forward to coming down.”
Especially for the golf.
As many in the local golf community already know: The pro in the Owens’ Pro-Am group Sunday will be Jordan Speith, the reigning Masters, U.S. Open and FedEx Cup champion.
Owen and Spieth have become buddies since being paired in the Phoenix Open’s pro-am and the popular Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year. Owen’s fraternal twin said his brother, who carries a single-digit handicap, is the “best golfer in country music.”
Last April, Spieth joined Owen on stage in Dallas to present Miranda Lambert her “Female Vocalist of the Year” award at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Owen later performed at a charity event for Spieth’s foundation.
“They’re pretty good friends now,” said Owen’s dad, who played golf at Florida Southern and was a U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist in 1990. “Jordan would’ve played with us Saturday, too, but he had another commitment and can’t get here until Saturday afternoon.”
Owen’s commitments on stage and on the golf course won’t leave much time this week to “unwind” – something he said he usually tries to do when he comes back – or engage in some of the other recreational activities he enjoys here.
Owen “gets home” about four or five times each year, his dad said, with his visits ranging from three days to two weeks, depending on his work schedule. His parents will then join him in Nashville for Christmas.
“I try to come back to Vero whenever I have time off from touring to visit my family and friends,” Owen said via email. “We always love to hit the golf course or go out boating on the water.”
He and his fraternal twin, Jarrod, have taken several fishing trips to the Bahamas with local real-estate marketing whiz Dale Sorensen Jr., a longtime friend.
Occasionally, when Owen pops into town, you’ll see him eating lunch at Wilke’s 14 Bones Barbecue, attending local events – such as St. Helen’s Harvest Festival – or giving an impromptu concert at the Riverside Cafe, where he performed for years before becoming a country music headliner.
“I love connecting with my fans and enjoy meeting them, whether in Vero or anywhere on the road,” Owen said. “It’s flattering.”
Owen “got bombarded by kids” at the Harvest Fair, his dad said, but doesn’t mind the recognition and attention he draws when he’s out in public.
“A lot of the people who know him here will just say hello or wave, but he’ll also get quite a few people who want to meet him, get an autograph or ask if they can take a picture with him,” the elder Owen said. “He understands it goes with the job.
“If it bothers him, he’s never said so,” he added. “I’ve never heard him complain about it.”
Why would he?
Owen grew up wanting to be a professional golfer and went to Florida State on a golf scholarship, only to suffer a shoulder injury while wakeboarding. It was during his recovery from reconstructive surgery that he taught himself to play a borrowed guitar, began singing in an on-campus pub and writing songs, eventually deciding to quit school and pursue a singing career in Nashville.
Now, at age 34, he’s living a country music dream.
Owen, who was named the ACM’s “Top New Male Vocalist” in 2009, has recorded a dozen hit songs, opened for the marquee likes of Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban, and headlined his own tours. His fifth studio album, which features his latest single, “Real Life,” will be released soon.
The song, Owen has said in other interviews, takes him back to his home-town roots but veers from the beach theme of some of his past hits.
“It’s about how, as an individual, you stay real to who you are – the things and friends that you have,” Owen told USA Today in May. “All my friends that didn’t move to Nashville are still in Vero, doing a lot of the same things they did when I lived there.
“That’s why I love to go back,” he added, “because I need that reality.”
While back in Vero Beach, Owen will also try to stop by the Riverside Cafe for a fish sandwich, which he called “one of the best parts of coming home.”
But this visit won’t be long enough.
Or laid-back enough.
So, according to his dad, Owen will return in January and spend up to two weeks here. He’ll play some golf. He’ll get out on a boat, maybe do some fishing. He’ll reconnect with the buddies he left behind, the guys who still call him “Josh,” his given name.
“I’m pretty spontaneous,” Owen said, “but I will definitely be taking time to unwind and catch up with family and friends.”
That’s what’s real. That’s his life in Vero Beach.
That’s why he loves to come home.
