Gwilym "Gwil" Emyr Owen III (born July 24, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter of Welsh heritage.

Career

Gwil was born in Syracuse, New York, grew up in Granville, Ohio, and attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, but did not graduate. He moved to Boston in 1981 and played in the formerly Spartanburg, South Carolina-based band The Detonators along with long-time musical partner Jeff Finlin. They moved to Nashville in 1983 and formed the band The Thieves, which recorded the album Seduced by Money for Bug/Capitol Records in 1988. Since then, he has performed as a solo singer-songwriter, and his songs have been covered by Toni Price, Irma Thomas, Little Feat, and Jack Ingram, among others. The song "Deuce and a Quarter" (co-written with Kevin Gordon) was recorded by Keith Richards and Levon Helm for the album All The Kings Men. He was an Academy Award nominee in 1999 for the song "A Soft Place to Fall" (co-written with Allison Moorer) featured in Robert Redford's movie The Horse Whisperer. Gwil was also a co-founder of Howlin' Books in Nashville and is a noted visual collage artist.

Discography

Gwil Owen

Appearances on compilation albums

The Thieves

As composer/lyricist