TREY ROWELL THE NATURAL

baseball circles. Trey’s father, Carvel Rowell, Jr., was also an outstanding athlete, named to the Livingston University (now

UWA) Hall of Fame in both football and baseball. After college, Carvel Rowell became a beloved coach, winning a state championship in football at Excel High School and a state championship in baseball at Thomasville High School.

With this lineage, it was just natural to expect Trey to become an athlete. As a child, he loved all sports, but he preferred to pretend he was broadcasting a sporting event, often giving a play-byplay account. In high school, Trey played football, basketball and baseball, but after graduating from Marengo Academy, Trey moved away from sports and into another world.

Trey Rowell attended the University of Alabama and majored in telecommunications and media broadcasting. At the age of 19, Trey’s life changed forever when he bought a guitar and taught himself to play.

“From the second I touched the guitar and started writing songs, I knew this was what I was supposed to be doing in my life,” he said.

Trey played with various bands in and around the Tuscaloosa area, gaining both confidence and experience with each appearance. “Being in front of a crowd really helped me,” he explained. “I learned how to select songs to fit an audience, and I developed a good catalog of music.”

Trey interned at a country radio station in Tuscaloosa and then accepted a job at WIN 98.5 in Linden, Alabama. Working as a disc jockey and playing music on the side went hand in hand.

In 2008, Trey started to write his own songs. He reached deep inside himself, and a wellspring of creativity came out. His words and rhymes gave voice to things he saw and heard and felt. Country life, love and loss, and the trials of the workingman echoed throughout his lyrics.

“I fell in love with poetry and songwriting,” he stated. “As a child, I had always loved to write stories, so I enjoyed the process of figuring out a chord or progression and a melody, and then trying to take a lyric and turn that into a song.”

While his day job as a DJ opened a wide world of music genres, it also brought him inspiration. At times, a single word, a well-turned phrase or a novel guitar lick in another song would spark his own imagination and creativity.

In 2011, Trey returned to Thomasville to anchor the “Morning Rush Show” at WJDB 95.5. He was also the station’s sportscaster for high school baseball and softball games, something he was quite comfortable doing.

Back at home, Trey reconnected with other local musicians. He started to work with William (Bill) Blakeney, a songwriter from Nanafalia. The two co-wrote the song, “Two Wings and a Prayer” and submitted their project to a competition in Muscle Shoals, where they won third place. Trey still plays this song at various personal appearances and song-writing festivals. He always gets a positive response, because people can relate so well to the words and music.

Songwriting not only took Trey down another musical pathway, but it also introduced him to a whole new audience. “Songwriting helped me get out and meet more people in music,” he explained. “I got invited into other venues in Louisiana and Mississippi. I also went to the Flora Bama. I made a lot more connections, and I got into a circle of songwriters who supported and encouraged me.”

Trey still continued to perform solo, too. Along with his original music, he developed an extensive set of songs that ranged from classic rock and country to 90s alternative and more. He performed for numerous public and private venues, as well as business meetings and corporate events. One of his favorite venues has been the Orrville farmers market, where he has entertained on many occasions.

In 2019, Casey Combest, a music producer from Blue Sky Studios in Jackson, Mississippi, contacted Trey about recording some of his original songs. “I was nervous about recording my own stuff,” he said, “because I didn’t think it was good enough.”

After submitting some samples, Trey received an invitation to come into the studio to record. The staff and crew were extremely supportive and helpful. A year later, Trey went back into the studio to record again. One of the singles was a tribute to his grandfather, Carvel “Bama” Rowell, who played major league baseball with the Boston Bees/ Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. Trey’s original song, “The Natural,” tells the story of “Bama” hitting a ball to the Ebbets Field scoreboard, shattering the big Bulova clock. This event happened in 1946, but it inspired Bernard Malamud to use a similar scene in his book, "The Natural.” Later, the book was made into a movie, starring Robert Redford. In the movie version, Redford’s character, Roy Hobbs, hits a baseball that shatters a clock, just like “Bama” Rowell had done years before.

Trey’s recorded singles, "The Natural," "Between Floyd and Hank" and "Honky Tonk Voodoo Woman," were released on all social media platforms. He also has videos available on YouTube.

Trey plans to go back into the recording studio again; however, he wants to write more songs. He has his heart set on lyrics that stroke the soul with hope and faith. He is currently working with AMP Music Promotions and Kandy Shoults, who helps to promote songwriters and musicians.

Trey wants to explore a wide range of genres and not be pigeonholed in one. “With the way I talk,” he laughed, “most people think I’m country, but I want to explore more classic rock and do a blend of music.”

Trey plans to keep on writing and crossing his fingers that a well-known artist will hear one of his songs and record it. “I want people to hear my music,” he stated, “and I want to keep getting better!”

Trey feels blessed to have a supportive family that always has his back. “My wife, Whitney Rae Gaston Rowell, and my parents, Carvel and Cindy Rowell, are behind me all the way,” he said proudly.

Trey Rowell’s talents have been showcased at venues all over Southwest Alabama and other Southern states, but there is much more music on the horizon. When this amazing singer/songwriter performs, he sings with all his heart, his soul and

BY LOIS TRIGG CHAPLIN

Powder Puff Is A Powder Keg

That marvelous mimosa aka powderpuff tree that we grew up loving for its sweet fragrance, soft flowers and ferny foliage turns out to not be so sweet after all. It’s taking over in many places where it was not planted and is not wanted. Spreading from seeds, mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) sprouts in shrub and flower beds where it becomes a weed that we must pull. But the serious pain comes from its spread to abandoned properties, roadsides, sunny streams and other areas where the soil has been disturbed and there is nothing to check to its growth. This time of year small groves of them are all too visible along interstates and other roadsides where they sprouted after the land was disturbed by construction. Seed pods, which appear in late summer, wash or blow into nearby fields, too; there the seeds can lie dormant for years. So although the flowers smell wonderful and are attractive to butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, this dainty tree has a dark side, choking out slower growing native species such as sumac, sourwood, dogwood, and redbud. To clear mimosa from an area, cut it at ground level and paint the stump with a brush killer or glyphosate immediately, while the stump is still wet and fresh, making sure to paint the cambium along the outer edge of the stump. For more information on stump treatments for mimosa and other invasives such as Bradford pear check Alabama Extension brochures ANR-1465 and ANR-1466 about treatments.

Tomato Stems React To Weather

When the weather is rainy and damp, tomato plants may develop odd little bumps along the stems.

This is completely normal. It is not a disease or other problem, but just the beginning of adventitious roots – the same that grow into functioning roots when tomato stems are buried. Short, bristly roots may appear, too, especially during prolonged periods of rain. Certain varieties are more likely to do this, especially heirlooms. So, if you notice little bumps on the stems of your tomato plants, rest easy. They are just being tomatoes.

Purple Coneflower Checks Many Boxes

One of our native perennial wildflowers turns out to be one of the most beautiful garden flowers, too. And, it’s been hybridized and selected for varied heights and even colors such as yellow, orange and magenta. However, it’s hard to beat the basic, 3-foot tall, old-fashioned purple- to pink-flowered form (Echinacea purpurea) for garden performance. Sturdy stems stand up well in rainstorms. It starts blooming as the heat begins bearing down and lasts for weeks. Butterflies and bees visit the flowers for nectar and pollen. When the petals finally drop, the cone-shaped seedheads for which it is named provide seeds for summer’s new generation of goldfinches. And all the while, roots are growing larger underground providing a harvest for herbalists. After two to three years a clump can be divided, which is the fastest way to get one going in your own garden. Potted coneflowers are easy to find in the retail trade and many are available in bloom through summer. However, if you have a large space to fill, they are also easy to start from seed, especially in the fall because the seeds sprout more reliably after several weeks of exposure to cold weather.

Recycling An Old Fountain

Old fountains and birdbaths sometimes have unrepairable cracks or other damage that keep them from holding water. When this happens to a prized old piece, consider how it might be recycled for other uses. One way is to turn the problem into an asset – it becomes a planter with drainage. Choose tough plants that will grow in shallow soil such as succulents, sedges and grasses, or set the planter up with drip irrigation for more demanding flowers. This photo from a fine old garden that I once toured is a good example of a sentimental and beautiful old piece given a new purpose in the garden.

BY JOHN HOWLE