Josh Rich

JOSH RICH

BIO

Josh has been playing music for many years as a singer and guitarist, playing folk music, classical guitar, rock’n roll, jazz, and blues. In his current musical incarnation, he has returned to his stylistic roots: his years in New England as a folk singer. His music, a bluesy acoustic folk-rock, is a blend of all his musical influences and of the different environments in which he grew as a musician. The songs reflect this diversity: from rockers to ballads, and from socio-political commentary, to funky and fun romps, to poignant stories of love and loss. They are pointed and driving, rhythmic and memorable, haunting and lyrical.

This time around, Josh has surrounded himself with the cream of L.A musicianship: a sensitive, intuitive rhythm section, backing vocalists who sound like a choir of angels, and a fiddle player who can make you weep or burn down the barn. You might hear echoes of Bob Dylan and Scarlett Rivera, Van Morrison and his fiddler on Into the Music, or early Donovan. The keen longing in the voice, however, is distinctly Josh, who wears his soul on his musical sleeve. His songs still have that sweetness, tinged with melancholy, and his voice the ache and passion that it had on the front porch of his house in rural Vermont. But he is just as at home in the clubs and coffeehouses of Los Angeles, and while many of his fans favor his more sensitive ballads, his live audiences are often blown away by the sheer abandon of the rockers, and are always caught up in the contagion of what a genuine good time these musicians have in each others’ company.

The past year has brought Josh and his songs quite a bit of recognition: "Garden of Love" was picked to be played on the Sonicbids Indie Audio Channel on US Airways; "End This War" and "Garden of Love" were played on Indie 104/iRadio LA; and "Ain't I Glad" was chosen for the Songsalive!CD Sampler 2012, a compilation of the year's best songs of the Songsalive! songwriter's organization. Coming off the release of the self-produced album “Where Do We Go From Here”, Josh and the band are looking forward to sharing the music with current fans and those yet-to-be, as they make plans for a tour of West Coast venues and festivals.

“Four years ago, I embarked on a new musical adventure. I wanted to let my voice and my heart be heard, and started writing songs for acoustic guitar again. I’d always been drawn to the bittersweet, the songs and voices that speak of yearning, of love and loss. So I went after supporting players to help me realize that vision and that sound. I found musicians with just the right mixture of sensitivity and joy in their own musicality, perfectly complementing my songs. The gigs of the past four years have produced music that is both the most poignant and the most fun I’ve made in many years as a musician, and the CD that has resulted from this collaboration showcases some truly transcendent music!” ~Josh Rich