December 2021

The EP “On A Day Like That” is the first chapter of an ongoing pandemic project. The project is dedicated to the memory of Engineer Geoff Cooper, late of Los Angeles and New York. Dear friend, artist, musician’s musician, UCLA classmate and gently critical listener. Gone too young.

Most of the songs in the project were written between 2017 and late-2021, including during the first long, and now second, isolating year of the Covid pandemic. I got the idea of putting them together in a collection after I recorded a couple of vocals at Jukasa Studios, basically as an experiment. There, with the help of engineer Jill Zimmermann, rough lyrics, tunes and instrumental tracks began to take shape as recorded songs. Creating a collection became my pandemic project.

Then, fabulously, musician, songwriter and author Tia McGraff was gracious enough to agree to take on the lead vocals of some of the songs, elevating them to another plane with her unique, insightful and quite lovely interpretations. Together with Tommy Parham, she also contributed background vocals on a number of other tracks.

As we continued to stumble along through government and community responses to Covid-19, the target for final completion of “On A Day Like That” kept getting pushed off. Finally, almost 18 months after starting, this first EP is out. Other chapters in the collection, some fifteen or so songs in all, will roll out as they are completed.

Owen Young


*REVIEWS OF “ON A DAY LIKE THAT”*

Gabriel Mazza, Mesmerized-
Back in 2020, when the pandemic started, Owen Young felt the need to connect with a deeper side of himself. Naturally, songwriting was chosen as a medium, seeing how the American talent could already boast evocative vocals and guitar prowess. Having previously dabbled with lyrical storytelling for a few years before that, Young was able to collect a rather beefy collection of songs, intimate and relatable gems that feel soothing and cathartic, an enjoyable listening experience.

Katrina Yang, PunkHead-
Young’s music naturally evokes openness and grandness - he’s on his porch, singing what’s on his mind as his eyes rest on the passing world. Introspective and evocative at the same time running parallel to what you’re going through, like the river that flows by your side on a lonely long-distance trip on a highway. His music gives you comfort and warmth during the most lonesome moments.

Music Taste (musictasste.uk)-
“Hiding It All Away” is also fantastic! It's a song that features some of the best guitar work on the whole EP, with layers of guitars that create a lush and full sound. The syncopated guitar rhythm in particular elevates the track, giving it an infectious rhythm that's hard not to nod along to.

Akram Soliman, Sistra-
“Maybe It Was A Saturday” feels like a Johnny Cash meets Elvis kind of piece…in that, it has 60s nostalgia written all over it, a chord progression that’s highly engaging and loveable, and warm vocal lines that are saddening and reminisce about the past. What makes the song unique though is the soft voice and warm timbre with which Owen sings, it’s really the star of the show here.

Naomi Joan, Illustrate Magazine-
Tia McGraff’s magnificent vocal prowess can truly be felt on the EP’s showstopper, “A True Friend In You.” What is meant to be a touching tribute to the power of friendship and faith makes us nod to a vermillion-skied country siesta to the classic unadulterated thick and sonorous vocals. It sets the EP to a glorious sunset.