In Dover Pennsylvania, Justin’s love for drumming began at a young age with pots and pans, until the pans were terribly dented, and his first drum set was bought. First approaching the more classical side of music, he enjoyed the compositions of writers like Bach and Dvořák, later becoming a student of Dave Hershey, principal percussionist for the York Symphony. Inspired by his teacher he auditioned and became principal percussionist of the York Junior Symphony, where he gained a big portion of his musical knowledge and skillset.  Later in his career, inspired by names like Elvin Jones, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Buckshot le Funke, Mike Stern, Bud Powell, he became further interested in the culture and concept of jazz, joining many different bands in the area. The Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz Youth Band, where he was mentored by the local legend and trumpeter, Ronnie Waters, was critical to his development as a musician. Cultivating skills from other music groups, such as Inspire, run by saxophonist and educator Curt Sipe, he began to gig with his mentors and other local band leaders. Later gigging with more prominent leaders in the community (Steve Rudolph Quartet, Jonathan Ragonese Trio, etc.), he began to build a following and eventually brought his own trio (Justin Bowden Trio: Matt Monticchio, John Gingerich; AJ Myers, Gavin Horning) to events such as Harrisburg Arts Fest. After moving to Philly, he has performed with musicians like Grammy-winner Josh Lee, Robert Edwards, and Oliver Mayman. Justin has recently opened for the great composer and trumpet player Etienne Charles.