Press Bio:
There is no misunderstanding just how important music is to Joshua Lowe. “I’ll love my child and wife until I die, and I will play music,” says Lowe, “Those are pretty much the only concrete truths in my life.” Lowe’s songwriting style ranges from stories about down and out drunkards, sick of love ramblers, snow bound ghosts and to what he calls “heart songs” like the tune “The Ballad of Little Bear,” written for his son just a few weeks after he was born.
Lowe’s sound is steeped in American roots music as he has a deep appreciation for roots traditions and is well versed in the history of American music. Growing up listening to Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Flatt and Scruggs, Woody Guthrie, early jazz, ragtime, field hollers and gospel, Lowe keeps with the American roots tradition and takes the lo-fi, less-is-more approach to playing. “There’s beauty in simplicity. I like the rawness of just acoustic guitar and voice. I appreciate it. I consider that a sacred part of music.”
With a sense for both storytelling and poetics Joshua Lowe has been dubbed "his generations Woody Guthrie, a great teller of tales," by the infamous acoustic engineer, Cookie Marenco, co-founder of Blue Coast Records (bluecoastrecords.com)
From street corners to folk festivals, Lowe brings an ease and a joy to sharing his songs with others. You’re laughing at his irreverent humor one moment and you’re wiping away tears the next. Loud and raucous jugband songs somehow blend beautifully with his tender songs about grief and gratitude. A must see for anyone who loves the American troubadour songwriter style.
My dad had records, lots and lots of records. And I had free reign. At an early age I began to explore the history of American music. From Count Basie to Fats Dominio, Hank Williams to Hoyt Axton, Robert Johnson to Willie Nelson; Dylan, Parton, Holly, Presley, Wainwright, Cash; The Supremes, The Dead, The Beatles, The Blasters; Folk, Doo Wop, Big Band, Country & Western, Rhythm & Blues, Rock & Roll.
Sitting in front of my dad's record collection, digging through the stacks till an album cover caught my eye; the scratch of the needle; the brief moment of calm before the first blast of sound; the hours spent around the turntable truly was the beginning of my passion and connection to music. I have spent my life in love with and passionate about listening, playing, and discovering the joy and power of music.
I spent my early twenties learning and playing mandolin in a traditional bluegrass band. That is where I began to explore songwriting. My first attempts at writing songs came in the form of pretty generic bluegrass tunes, with lyrics mainly about drinking and playing bluegrass. Shortly after I found the woman who would become my wife and love songs replaced the bluegrass songs. It was the love songs that really started a passion for songwriting and I just couldn’t seem to stop. Bluegrass and the love of a good woman is a pretty potent recipe for wanting to sing.
After awhile, I was writing songs that did not really fit in the traditional bluegrass sound and I began to dive deep into the troubadours of American music. Some of my clear inspirations in my early songwriting years was Greg Brown, Todd Snider, Guy Clark, and John Prine to name a few. As most songwriters do, I tried to copy them and failed triumphantly. But in that process of attempted plagiarism I began to find my voice both as a singer and as a writer of song. And with that new found voice and style I began to branch out of the bluegrass world and play with various acoustic musicians and projects, some of which are here on the website and some of which never made it to the world of recording. I feel so grateful for the talented musicians who saw something in my out of tune singing and singer songwriter chord changes, enough so to play hundreds of shows and go into the studio a few times. To all the musical partners past and present, Thank You!
After a few short tours up the west coast I realized that the nomadic troubadour life was not for me and kept close to my home in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. Over the years (especially during Covid) my live playing has slowed down a bit. Currently, my most consistent musical partner is that same woman who I have written a 1,000 love songs for. Sweet Ilana, thank you for helping me believe in myself as a songwriter back when I couldn’t carry a tune and for finding the harmonies to all the songs that keep coming.
The current songs that keep coming are what I call heart songs, not simply about the love of a good woman, but about the hurt and the shame I carry as a human. I write about grief and gratitude and surrendering to the mystery that is always unfolding. I like to joke on stage and dedicate these songs to myself, they are songs to remind me to be humble, to be simple and open, to come from a place of love and hope. My hope is that they speak to you as well.
