We were so excited to see Josiah Johnson back in town, and we realized we’d not yet had a session with him! Everyone at this session was so chill, like hanging with friends. They talked about listening to Fantasy Novel Audiobooks on the tour bus, like “The Magician.” Josiah was gentle and sweet, he and part of his band shared some nice songs with us.
Josiah talked about using songwriting as a way to tell what he is feeling. He said, “Once it’s your job, you attract expectations.” In his past with The Head and the Heart, he said that achievment led to burnout, and hurt his creativity. Now that he’s doing his own thing, he can add beats and samples, and add textural elements to create a new universe by combining folk warmth with hypnotic qualities. This is one of his newest songs.
I saw Shaina Shepherd out in the hall and she ran up to me and gave me the biggest bear hug! We had hung out some during Flipside Fest, and did a quick interview a few couple of months ago. I was so excited to see she was back in town, co-headlining with Josiah. She joined him on this final song. A couple minutes in, Josiah nearly loses his footing on the bar stool. His band mate teases him about it and they try not to crack up. The band added so many tasteful leads and harmonies, it was such a treat to hear them unplugged!
It was great to see our friend Carrie Hoff again, who takes phenomenal photos for us and keeps us on track. Thanks to her, we have all our artists sign the wall, and our session guitar. There was a time we couldn’t identify some signatures, she helps us keep post-it notes and photos to document them.
Later this week, we’ll get ready for the holidays. Thursday at noon, join us for our annual tradition of playing Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant.”
It’s a 20 minute tale that is timeless! We’ll start our holiday music Friday at noon and through the weekend, then just occasionally until we’re closer to the holiday.
Have questions or comments? Email me.
