Stones' backup singer steps out front

Bernard Fowler is the music world's version of a respected character actor - everyone knows his work, but few can recall his name. Best-known for his duties as backup singer for the Rolling Stones the past two decades, Fowler has also sang with everyone from blues guitarist James "Blood" Ullmer to jazz experimentalist Bill Laswell to the art punk of Public Image Limited to Charlie Watts' jazz swing orchestra."

And in the view of Fowler (who is headlining a show at Brick by Brick on Saturday), the chance to work in such a broad range of styles with some of the planet's top talents is better than fame."

"I'm into music because I love it, and I love the way it makes me feel," Fowler said during a recent phone interview from Austria, where his solo tour had taken him. "To be a rock star - that dream left a long time ago. As far as I'm concerned, I am a rock star. I get to play with the best."

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