Mitch Rowland at Newport Music Hall [Photos]

Last October, Mitch Rowland—the Grammy Award-winning collaborator and bandmate of Harry Styles—put out Come June, his gentle, awing debut album. Going from being the beloved guitarist in Styles’ touring band to standing center-stage in his own outfit might seem like a fish-out-of-water transition, but Rowland is a natural frontman whose charisma isn’t as bombastic as his pop-star best friend’s, but mystifying all the same. Last week, Rowland returned to his hometown (and my current place-of-residence), Columbus, Ohio, and delivered a warm, unforgettable set that culminated in a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'” in the encore. Fans were lined up down the block on High Street waiting to get in and catch a glimpse of Rowland playing “Here Comes the Comeback,” “Bluebells” and “The One I Love.” And, to no one’s surprise, he delivered on it all.

Come June, despite Rowland’s built-in popularity before its release, still drifted slightly under the radar last autumn—though I couldn’t have been louder about how good the record was/is. In a 3,500-word profile on Rowland, I wrote: “Though Rowland has been the benefactor of luck and, often, being in the right place at the right time, the songs on Come June are products of a long, patient process and many intervals of writing, demoing and producing. He spends ages perfecting his songs, and the intricacies on the record are subtle yet hypnotic and beautiful—with open tuning styles and distillations of introspective, thoughtful storytelling and imagery that both chart backwards nearly 20 years, back to when he was a musical scholar discovering the hand movements of Rich Robinson and Nick Drake. When he was still living in Columbus, Mitch Rowland was just playing guitar in a room by himself, trying to unlock his songwriting. Even with a gilded phonograph or two sitting on his mantle, that’s still what he’s doing in 2023. And that’s what you can see unfold across Come June: A musician who, even as he stands at the top of the mountain, is still considering each step he took to climb all the way up there.”

Before Rowland’s homecoming set at Newport Music Hall in Columbus last week, I stopped by the venue early to snap some pictures of him in the green room and on stage during soundcheck. You can check those out below, and read my full profile on Rowland here.