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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ALL THE MUSIC AND ARTWORK ON THIS WEBSITE IS DISPLAYED UNDER A
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
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JOE WELSH
guy,” a musical ‘every man’ that appeals as much to
younger rock fans as he does to sixty year old music lovers
who grew up obsessed with Bob Dylan.
Joe Welsh isn’t flashy, and he isn’t the next Joe Satriani
or Jimi Hendrix. What Joe is, however, is a guy that writes
and records an appealing brand of working class
Midwestern folk rock. As a musician, he’s equally skilled at
crafting his from-the-heart words and composing his
soulful, accessible music. His songs are real and
straightforward pieces of life – growing up, living hard,
working harder, loving deep and just trying to be a good
guy. Joe Welsh started out life in another appropriately
working class town – Tacoma, Washington – during what
he laughingly refers to as “a cold steel rain.” He says he
stood out in his family as the only one playing an
instrument or obsessed with music. His influences growing
up included everything from Southern California punk
rock, Ani DiFranco and classic rock greats like The Rolling
Stones and Led Zeppelin.
Joe took recorder and piano lessons in his elementary
years, and later joined a band with some friends while he
was in college. Even though he took a few piano lessons
as a child, it wasn’t until Joe’s college years that guitar
really began to be the center of his universe.
“I used to go to hippie parties in college where there was
beer and smoke and a drum circle, and I would just
improvise like mad on guitar. Those were some beautiful
times.”
With his strong dislike for performing cover songs, Joe
says he was “Never able to lock into my own thing until my
late 20’s.”
When Joe finally started to perform and ‘lock into his own
thing,’ it was in Los Angeles, worlds away from the blue
collar life in Michigan. For several years, Joe was quite the
rising star among acoustic-based singer/songwriters in L.
A. He recorded dozens of demos and landed a management
deal, with big label support right around the corner. But,
like countless numbers of musicians on the brink of
something big, the ‘buzz’ surrounding his music and the
support looming on the horizon faded away. Joe says he
eventually moved back home and settled in Chicago,
where he worked whatever jobs he could find.
He worked in construction and as a truck driver, and
eventually settled in with an $8 an hour job at a Delphi
subsidiary plant making GM brake lines. During his truck
driver days, Joe says the soundtrack to his long trips
included simple, down to earth music by older country
artists like Roger Miller and Johnny Cash. The country
music influences were inescapable on the road. While he
worked the second shift on the GM assembly line, Joe
spent his mornings recording and arranging the songs that
would later be included on his nine song self-titled debut.
Within those nine songs, Joe sings about past loves,
darker times in his life, and finding faith in a higher power.
Whether he is picking out softer, somber songs
acoustically or turning up the amp, Joe Welsh says that
music for him is about “finding and telling the truth.”
“There is usually a truth underneath a form of anger that
needs to express itself,” Joe explains. “That’s what I want
others to hear in my music – that story in my music. Maybe
there’s something there in the song that reveals to the
listener something about themselves. And it’s always a
healing thing….”
younger rock fans as he does to sixty year old music lovers
who grew up obsessed with Bob Dylan.
Joe Welsh isn’t flashy, and he isn’t the next Joe Satriani
or Jimi Hendrix. What Joe is, however, is a guy that writes
and records an appealing brand of working class
Midwestern folk rock. As a musician, he’s equally skilled at
crafting his from-the-heart words and composing his
soulful, accessible music. His songs are real and
straightforward pieces of life – growing up, living hard,
working harder, loving deep and just trying to be a good
guy. Joe Welsh started out life in another appropriately
working class town – Tacoma, Washington – during what
he laughingly refers to as “a cold steel rain.” He says he
stood out in his family as the only one playing an
instrument or obsessed with music. His influences growing
up included everything from Southern California punk
rock, Ani DiFranco and classic rock greats like The Rolling
Stones and Led Zeppelin.
Joe took recorder and piano lessons in his elementary
years, and later joined a band with some friends while he
was in college. Even though he took a few piano lessons
as a child, it wasn’t until Joe’s college years that guitar
really began to be the center of his universe.
“I used to go to hippie parties in college where there was
beer and smoke and a drum circle, and I would just
improvise like mad on guitar. Those were some beautiful
times.”
With his strong dislike for performing cover songs, Joe
says he was “Never able to lock into my own thing until my
late 20’s.”
When Joe finally started to perform and ‘lock into his own
thing,’ it was in Los Angeles, worlds away from the blue
collar life in Michigan. For several years, Joe was quite the
rising star among acoustic-based singer/songwriters in L.
A. He recorded dozens of demos and landed a management
deal, with big label support right around the corner. But,
like countless numbers of musicians on the brink of
something big, the ‘buzz’ surrounding his music and the
support looming on the horizon faded away. Joe says he
eventually moved back home and settled in Chicago,
where he worked whatever jobs he could find.
He worked in construction and as a truck driver, and
eventually settled in with an $8 an hour job at a Delphi
subsidiary plant making GM brake lines. During his truck
driver days, Joe says the soundtrack to his long trips
included simple, down to earth music by older country
artists like Roger Miller and Johnny Cash. The country
music influences were inescapable on the road. While he
worked the second shift on the GM assembly line, Joe
spent his mornings recording and arranging the songs that
would later be included on his nine song self-titled debut.
Within those nine songs, Joe sings about past loves,
darker times in his life, and finding faith in a higher power.
Whether he is picking out softer, somber songs
acoustically or turning up the amp, Joe Welsh says that
music for him is about “finding and telling the truth.”
“There is usually a truth underneath a form of anger that
needs to express itself,” Joe explains. “That’s what I want
others to hear in my music – that story in my music. Maybe
there’s something there in the song that reveals to the
listener something about themselves. And it’s always a
healing thing….”
