Biography
Wendy McDowell entered the world in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where the proximity to aerospace activity might have suggested a future in engineering or fantasy, yet her ambitions centered on fronting a rock band as a woman. Though entirely self-taught on guitar, drums, and vocals while also writing her own material, she began performing with regional groups once she turned fifteen. By the middle of the 1980s she had become a member of the girl group Out of Control, whose debut performance took place at a boisterous biker bar in Petersburg; during that show an audience member licked her arm and complimented her drumming despite her gender.
Over subsequent years McDowell gradually shifted from supporting roles on drums or guitar to lead vocals, frequently delivering her own compositions. From 1989 through 1994 she produced and issued several cassette recordings. In 1996, serving as lead singer for the band Tin Angel, she issued the group’s self-titled album, co-produced by Stan Lynch, longtime drummer with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Additional contributors included drummers Sergio Castillo Simmons and Sherri Waggoner, guitarist Randy Jackson, flutist Jim Sessody, saxophonist Mark Rivera, and further session players.
McDowell achieved solo status in 1999 with the six-track EP Lonely World. By 2001 she had completed the full-length album Shadows & Mazes. Among the folk-rock selections available on her recordings are “Pink & Blue,” “I’m Not Your Enemy,” “Any Other Way,” “All in Good Time,” and “Revelation.”
Over subsequent years McDowell gradually shifted from supporting roles on drums or guitar to lead vocals, frequently delivering her own compositions. From 1989 through 1994 she produced and issued several cassette recordings. In 1996, serving as lead singer for the band Tin Angel, she issued the group’s self-titled album, co-produced by Stan Lynch, longtime drummer with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Additional contributors included drummers Sergio Castillo Simmons and Sherri Waggoner, guitarist Randy Jackson, flutist Jim Sessody, saxophonist Mark Rivera, and further session players.
McDowell achieved solo status in 1999 with the six-track EP Lonely World. By 2001 she had completed the full-length album Shadows & Mazes. Among the folk-rock selections available on her recordings are “Pink & Blue,” “I’m Not Your Enemy,” “Any Other Way,” “All in Good Time,” and “Revelation.”
Albums
