Tag: joshua james

3X3: Joshua James on Candles, Characters, and Creedence

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

Artist: Joshua James
Hometown: Lincoln, NE
Latest Album: My Spirit Sister
Personal Nicknames: J. James

If Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, and Mohammed were in a band together, who would play what?

Does a snare drum warrant a voice? Does the guitar get strummed? Are there harps still available in heaven?

If you were a candle, what scent would you be?

I wouldn’t ever be a candle, much less one with a scent.

What literary character or story do you most relate to?

Charleston Heston in the Ten Commandments

What’s your favorite word?

Bloody

What’s your best physical attribute?

Elbows

Which is your favorite Revival — Creedence Clearwater, Dustbowl, Elephant, Jamestown, New Grass, Tent, or -ists? 

I have always enjoyed Mr. Fogerty and the boys.

 

Timmy and his Teeth will be opening shows on the album release tour. He’s got a heart of gold, heavy gold, heavy metal. Goodness and beyond. Taking flight into the world we go. . -3/31 – @zoobarblues – Lincoln, NE -4/2 – The Maintenance Shop @isusub – Ames, IA -4/3 – @citywinerychi – Chicago, IL -4/4 – @the_ark_ann_arbor – Ann Arbor, MI -4/6 – @thehauntithaca – Ithaca, NY -4/7 – The Word Barn – Exeter, NH -4/8 – @lizardloungeclub – Cambridge, MA -4/9 – @parlorroommusic – Northampton, MA -4/11 – @highergroundmusic – Burlington, VT -4/12 – @mercuryloungeny – New York, NY -4/14 – @worldcafelive – Philadelphia, PA -4/15 – @jamminjava – Vienna, VA -4/20 – @thealtamonttheatre – Asheville, NC -4/21 – @neighborhoodtheatre – Charlotte, NC -4/22 – @roastingroom – Bluffton, SC -4/23 – @highdivegville – Gainesville, FL *not appearing with Timmy the Teeth* -4/24 – @strazcenter – Tampa, FL -4/26 – @eddiesattic – Decatur, GA -4/27 – @jedspirits – Opelika, AL

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Are you more a thinking or feeling type?

Can one learn to differentiate the two?

Urban or rural?

I buy batteries at the department store, that power the security lights out back, which warn me if there is a critter attacking my chickens and goats.

Apple or orange?

Lemon or Lime?

Joshua James, ‘Losin Mi Mente’

Posted on by Editor

What is the dividing line between art and madness, between madness and furious love? In the most passionate creations or passionate relationships, the distinction is often blurred — perhaps dangerously so. Genius is sometimes at the expense of sanity and, when it comes to romance, to same applies: Maybe we’re “crazy” about another, unable to sleep or think clearly as long as they populate our minds. Maybe we behave unpredictably, or uncharacteristically, ashamed at the near lunacy of our actions. Maybe we become someone other than ourselves. Whether in the splatters of Jackson Pollock or an embrace between two lovers, there’s an element of unease that remains. Beauty simply cannot linger in the status quo.

Joshua James, an ethereal folk singer out of Nebraska, meditates on all this on “Losin Mi Mente,” off My Spirit Sister. A creative being, a husband, and new parent, he is acutely aware of the near maddening highs and lows that come with all of those things, especially when we factor in absence to this equation — whether it’s a spiritual distance, time on the road, or, at its most extreme, death. “When the sun goes down, I try to keep my brain from thinking,” he sings with his warm rasp, evocative of Jonathan Wilson and Ryan Bingham. “And when death comes a-dancing, I’ll be happy to see your face.” James turns “Losin Mi Mente” into a sort of pastoral rock ‘n’ roll hymnal, never afraid to add spikes of spiraling guitar or locomotive percussion. He knows that the most dangerous madness can linger deep in our own solitude and, as risky as it is to become crazy for another, sometimes love is the only kind of shock treatment that truly works.