Certain challenges rise up to baffle any historian trying to make sense of this man's life. Biographical evidence is scarce, stories are often apocryphal, contradictory, or both, and the reclusive nature of the subject in question makes separating fact from fiction a herculean task of the intellect.
That being said, certain facts are indisputable: Jeremy Owen is/was a musician, he was born & lived in Canada, and formed two Bands -neither of which amounted to anything- before striking out on his own to play folk music and focus on song-writing.
But what are we to make of the tale that he sold his soul to Jesus at the crossroads for a red guitar, three chords and the truth? Did he truly work in politics for ten years before retiring to make music on his pension?
Even something as simple as his birthday presents immediate problems: we are told, by various sources, that he was born in 1921, 1969 or 1991. When I posed the question to him, Owen merely shrugged.
"I was born," he said, not sounding entirely pleased. "Isn't that enough?"
Despite some natural reticence on his part, I was determined to find the germinating seed of truth amidst the garden of myth that had grown wild all around it. Bracing myself I asked him flat-out about his unlikely history. Which of it was truth, which of it lies?
His eyes sparkled. "All of it is true," he said, "especially the lies."
