Page 47 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2025 - Online Magazine

MUSIC & ART

knows how to help them get back up.

Most people would have stopped there, with their faith
restored, family made whole, and business steady. But
like his mother, Richard wasn’t built for stillness. Around
age 60, he picked up the guitar again, taking lessons
from Nashville songwriter Mark Paden. Then came voice
lessons with Amber Pennington, another Nashville pro.
She helped him find the tone he’d been carrying all along.
He released songs that landed on four Lubbock Music Now
compilations and recorded two full albums of his own.
He’s performed at the Fourth on Broadway songwriter
stage, where his voice filled the air the same way the
crack of his bat had decades prior.

Watching him now, you understand—being a natural
isn’t about ease. It’s about devotion so deep it looks
effortless.

The Long Game
The Detour Currently, Richard and Donna are celebrating 46 years
together. Their sons, Logan and Shane, are grown, and
After graduation, Richard went on to the University
of Texas and earned a degree in Petroleum Land their granddaughters, June and Rosemary, light up their
Management. He built a career in the oil business, had world in ways no cheering stadium ever could.
two sons, and moved wherever the industry sent him— The stages have changed, from freshly mowed fields to
Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus Christi. On paper, it looked church basements to Lubbock-area music festivals, but
like success. Richard’s posture remains the same: head high, eyes
steady, ready for the pitch. Because that’s what a natural
But life has a way of testing even “the naturals.”
Somewhere between promotions and transfers, the long does. They face the world having learned the beauty of
hours and stress turned into something darker. The easy showing up.
charisma that once carried him through locker rooms and If you listen closely on a quiet West Texas night, in the
boardrooms began to crack. He developed an addiction back of a church, or under the wide-open sky, maybe
to alcohol, and alcoholism hollowed him out. There came with a backup band featuring the finest musicians—you
a morning when even his shadow wouldn’t follow him. might still hear it: that same, clean crack of connection.

Return to Lubbock A ball meeting a bat.

In 1992, Richard left the oil fields behind and returned A man meeting God’s grace.
to Lubbock for a fresh start. He enrolled at Texas Tech
with a plan to study medicine. But God had other ideas. Richard Bowles, in his element once again.
His parents’ antique business needed a hand, and what
began as a stopgap turned into a calling of its own. By
1999, he and his brother Billy owned the Antique Mall of
Lubbock, a sprawling 20,000-square-foot trove of history,
stories, and oddities. It was honest, steady, and often
dusty work. Donna continued teaching, and together
they began to rebuild.
Sobriety came in 2009. It didn’t arrive with fanfare, just
a quiet resolve. Sixteen years later, he still helps lead
the Recovery in Christ ministry at Monterey Church of
Christ, where people who’ve fallen find someone who

Lubbock Senior Link 47