Artist Profile

The Josh Owen Band

Josh’s debut album “The Josh Owen Band Live” was released in June 2005 and Melbourne’s Sunday Herald Sun summed it up when they wrote: “Get in on the ground floor for a young man on the rise”. Their words have certainly proved prophetic. The album sold so well and received such great airplay that Josh followed up in late 2005 with a special edition studio EP entitled “6pm”. It features four tracks as well as a bonus video clip taken from the “Live” album launch at The Evelyn.

Within a year of their first gig on Brunswick St, The Josh Owen Band have seen both their debut independent CD’s receive massive critical acclaim and airplay all over Australia. Both CD’s have been released in Japan and a track has been released on a Brazilian surf compilation. They have become festival regulars with appearances at the inaugural Pyramid Rock Festival, Frankston Guitar Festival, Narooma Blues Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival and Woodford Folk Festival in 2005. With Melbourne2006 (Commonwealth Games Arts Festival) and the Port Fairy Folk Festival on the calendar for early 2006; a tour to New Zealand and Tasmanian dates, the Josh Owen Band are spreading their unique brand of what Josh likes to call “modern soul music” far and wide.

Raised amidst an environment of Led Zeppelin; Bob Marley; Jimi Hendrix; Al Green; The Meters; James Brown; Stevie Wonder and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Josh thrived on new musical flavours and aimed to incorporate the sounds he loved into the music he created. Whether it’s funk, blues or reggae, the overriding element for Josh is the infusion of “soul”, and he combines all of these genres to produce his own very original sound.

Josh is quick to point out that his first priority is writing “really good songs” and then utilising elements of blues, funk and reggae. He’s been quoted as saying that “..in the blues-roots thing, I find a lot of artists doing something that’s really, really generic…just a little bit further along from a twelve bar (blues progression)…The difference to that, I guess, is that I’m applying blues to songwriting.” Accompanied by Luke Hodgson on bass and John “Hooves” Clayton on drums, Josh is able to draw on their experience as well as his own to further enhance the music they create.

With two highly successful releases behind him, and an endless soulful stream within, Josh Owen’s dynamic personality and impressive stage presence look set to take him all the way from the streets of Melbourne onto the world stage.

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