Courtesy Listen online to preview tunes such as ‘Trouble’ from Wade Bowen’s new CD.

Wade Bowen is a busy man. This month, he’s got a steady stream of tour dates across Texas and Oklahoma, including an Aug. 16 show at Whitewater on the Horseshoe in New Braunfels. When he’s back at his New Braunfels home, the 30-year-old is busy with his young family. On top of all that, Bowen will release a new studio album, If We Ever Make It Home, Sept. 30. But he’s got no plans to rest.

Bowen will start on his next record, a live album, early next year. 210SA squeezed in a minute or two with the singer-songwriter.

The video for “God Bless This Town,” off your album, Lost Hotel, debuted on the Top 20 countdown on Country Music Television in 2006. What inspired the song?

I went back home to my hometown one night, and I went to one of my favorite places, one of my favorite beer joints, and saw a table of guys that I used to call friends back in high school. ..... I remember kind of getting the cold shoulder from them. And it was frustrating to me how people can go their separate ways and forget about the past so quickly. I was staying at my parents’ house at the time (in Waco), and I went back and wrote that song that night, about 4 a.m. It also talks in there about small-town politics and just rumors that people say about you that aren’t true.

We know your music enterprise has expanded beyond Waco. You just played The County Line in S.A., and you’re a big fan of playing Whitewater on the Horseshoe. What are some of your other favorite venues?

I love playing Billy Bob’s (Fort Worth). ..... You really do get treated like a king there. I love playing Gruene Hall for the same reason. ..... The Granada Theater in Dallas, I’ve only done acoustics there. We’ve always played Gilley’s in Dallas, too. It’s probably a little bit more party atmosphere. The Wormy Dog in Oklahoma City is pretty cool.

So what else is new with you?

I’ve got a 6-week-old baby boy, and I lose all track of time when I’m at home. It’s rough. It’s our second one, so we’re kind of used to it, I guess. ..... You just deal with it.

Are your kids going to be Texas music stars?

(Laughs) You know, I don’t wish this life upon anybody. But I chose this life, and I’m happy with it. ..... I don’t really care what they do. I’ll support them in their lives no matter what they choose. That’s really something that my parents preached to me. ..... And I want to do the same thing for them. My parents were very good about helping me chase any crazy, stupid dream I had.

We heard your new song, “Turn On the Lights,” had a connection to your kids. Tell us about it.

I wrote that song ..... I guess my son was about 8 months old or 10 months old, my first son. My wife went through postpartum depression really bad. It was a really rough time on her, and on me as well. That was three years ago, so I was really on the road a lot trying to make ends meet. Things are a little better three years later. ..... And we just hadn’t been married very long. ..... That postpartum depression was something nobody had told us about. ..... As a songwriter, I felt like those are things I have to do, and I have to get off my chest. ..... I don’t know what I would do without it.

Is it difficult to share intimate experiences like that with your fans?

Some experiences I’m comfortable with and some not. ..... I wasn’t sure if my wife would be comfortable with it. ..... But she’s been in the crowd when I’ve told the story before, and she’s the one that has to deal with so many people (knowing), especially with the song on the record about to come out. She’s the one that has to deal with reliving that memory over and over again. I think she’s the strong one. I’m usually not ashamed or uncomfortable with sharing my life with people as a songwriter. Whether it’s good or bad, probably my biggest strength is being honest.

Have you had a lot of listeners react to your honesty?

It seems to me that’s what people enjoy most about my singing and songwriting is being honest and straightforward and, hopefully, helping them get through something ..... helping them get through a divorce or a bad relationship or a loss of someone.

Your new album, If We Ever Make It Home, is due out Sept. 30. How has it built upon your previous albums?

It’s still in the same Bowen vein. I just cranked up the intensity a lot more. Even the new single we have out on the radio, “You Have Me at My Best,” it’s about being heartbroken. ..... It’s sometimes the way you feel.

You’ve said you picked the title track because it “represents where I am right now as a father and a concerned human being!” What are you concerned about?

The title track, “If We Ever Make It Home,” is all about my thoughts on the world right now and how scary it is, especially being a father now. ..... We need more peace is kind of my theme for the song. ..... I just sit around and watch the news, and I listen to the politics. I’ve gotten to where I meet more and more troops whether they’re coming home or just leaving. A lot of those things started hitting home. ..... The song doesn’t have anything to do with being negative. ..... It’s not a protest song. It’s just me being scared with what the world is capable of right now.

Are there any particular issues that worry you?

No, not really. Even (problems) as small as the rising gas prices that are affecting everybody. ..... Our country is in a more chaotic state. I just sat down and wrote about it. Lyrically, I guess, it’s trying to inspire people to get a little happier, to find that peacefulness in yourself or believe in this country a little more. ..... Home can mean so many different things.

Jennifer Lloyd | 210SA