Musical history Joseph Arthur

1 musical history

1.1 life , big city secrets
1.2 2000–2003: come m , redemption s son
1.3 2004–2006: our shadows remain
1.4 2006–2007: lonely astronaut records, nuclear daydream, , let s be
1.5 temporary people , solo eps (2008–2009)
1.6 fistful of mercy, graduation ceremony, redemption city , rndm (2010–2012)
1.7 ballad of boogie christ (2013)
1.8 lou (2014)
1.9 days of surrender (2015)
1.10 family (2016)

musical history
early life , big city secrets

joseph began writing , playing music in teens, after inheriting electronic keyboard aunt. @ age 16, played bass in blues band called frankie starr , chill factor, disbanded 1995. initially, arthur sought become noted bass guitarist, stating: never started singing until in 20s. remember thinking, ‘ok – not singer, musician.’ wanted heroic bass player listened people jaco pastorius, bitches brew on , on again. , nirvana came out , blown away , got bob dylan. around time started playing acoustic guitar , realized write songs if wasn t playing complicated bass lines.

joseph graduated firestone high school in 1990 , continued developing music. in 1990s, arthur relocated atlanta, georgia, continuing record home demos, playing local clubs , working guitar salesman @ clark music store.

in 1996, peter gabriel s a&r associate harvey schartz presented gabriel demo of arthur s first ep, cut , blind. gabriel , schwartz arranged live audition @ fez nightclub in new york city, , arthur flew atlanta. night success; not lou reed guest in audience, within few months arthur officially signed, making him first american recording artist signed gabriel s label. arthur recorded debut album @ gabriel s real world studios in england producer markus dravs (björk, coldplay, arcade fire). debut album big city secrets released worldwide in spring 1997, , arthur joined gabriel s womad tour in europe. big city secrets displayed arthur s angsty , emotionally wrought lyrics coupled diverse instrumentation, himself described struggling heal on experimental folk-rock , went virtually unnoticed mainstream. 2 years later, recorded ep called vacancy, earned him grammy nomination in 2000 best recording package.

2000–2003: come m , redemption s son

in april 2000, arthur released sophomore studio album come m from, co-produced t-bone burnett , tchad blake. album exhibited more polished , accessible sound, , received positive accolades pitchfork media , entertainment weekly. arthur began playing larger audiences, opening ben harper , gomez. during same period, released promotional live album recorded @ gypsy tea room bar in dallas, texas.

after releasing series of 4 eps called junkyard hearts, available purchase @ live shows, third album, redemption s son, came out in may 2002 in uk. american release delayed until november 2002 since arthur had been dropped emi in north america, having been picked universal music group imprint enjoy records. double album furthered themes of emotional , spiritual dislocation found on come m from, , described allmusic reviewer thom jurek sleeper hit.

while on tour, arthur regularly released recordings of performances after each show. recorded album alternative rock side project holding void, featuring himself on vocals , guitar, pat sansone on vocals , bass, , rene lopez on vocals , drums. in summer 2003, toured tracy chapman in us.

2004–2006: our shadows remain

arthur performing in spain, 2007

arthur signed new recording contract vector recordings , began recording fourth studio album, our shadows remain across new orleans, new york city, london, , prague. album released in september 2004, , arthur s first album feature string arrangements, provided city of prague philharmonic. album released widespread critical acclaim; allmusic s thom jurek awarded album 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising that, arthur in class of own , our shadows remain monstrous, memorable outing, finest moment in career far full of them. entertainment weekly gave album rating, hailing album forceful , cohesive ; guardian hailed joseph might genuine mad genius ; stylus magazine gave album a– rating; , chris rubin of rolling stone named our shadows remain number 1 album of year 2004 in year-end critics pick list.

arthur toured alone , joan wasser promote album, , new ep called , thieves gone, collected unreleased tracks shadows recording sessions, came out in december. shortly afterward, arthur went on brief tour of europe r.e.m.. our shadows remain picked 14th floor records distribution in united kingdom in 2005, yielded release of 4 singles: can t exist in july, tho in september, devil s broom in february 2006 coincide first headlining appearance @ london s shepherds bush empire, , reissue of can t exist in may 2006, although none of singles charted on uk singles chart.

in august 2006, joseph invited launch project river blue, group of young people in northern uganda brought participate in music, drama, , art festival. joseph recorded song river blue foundation.

2006–2007: lonely astronaut records, nuclear daydream, , let s be

arthur performing @ avalanche records, in glasgow, in february 2006.

in 2006, arthur started record label lonely astronaut records longtime professional partner lauren pattenaude. released book entitled made it, visual collection of artworks, along accompanying instrumental cd titled invisible parade in may 2006. in september 2006, arthur released fifth studio album, nuclear daydream, recorded in berlin , los angeles. album first release on new label. joseph embarked on worldwide tour new backing band, lonely astronauts.

his song in sun covered michael stipe of r.e.m. , chris martin of coldplay in 2006 hurricane katrina relief ep. ep includes 6 versions of song, 1 featuring arthur himself singing stipe , remixed justin timberlake, , available on itunes. on march 26, 2007, joseph s then-uk label 14th floor records released re-recorded version of 2002 song honey , moon special single in uk only. in april, released sixth studio album, let s be, , embarked on extensive tour. joseph s first album lonely astronauts; band recorded many 80 songs in late 2006, sixteen appearing on album. album released lukewarm critical reception, pitchfork media calling album unfocused , sloppy , summarizing album sounds came on fly, in jam sessions didn t stem kind of solid idea.

in 2007, joseph contributed vocals track aggro ideal condition paul hartnoll.

temporary people , solo eps (2008–2009)

in 2008, arthur released 4 eps in four-month span: survive on march 18, crazy rain on april 15, vagabond skies on june 10, , foreign girls on july 8. regarding these releases, arthur noted, have music piled up, strange animals in cosmic cage begging release. jails overcrowded. had let of them go. played 7 solo shows during sxsw 2008 festival, 6 in austin , 1 in dallas. live dates in europe , extensive solo tour coincided new releases. temporary people, seventh full-length studio album , second lonely astronauts, released on september 30, 2008. album received warmly critics, times online stating evokes loose, rocking swagger , country melancholy of early-1970s stones , , crawdaddy! noting arthur treats audience brawny , brooding rock album, notching realized lp date in process. album came out in europe in late october, , afterward arthur embarked on solo tour , opened tracy chapman on six-week our bright future european tour, followed tour dates in canada.

arthur recorded cover of afghan whigs s step light 1996 album black love tribute album, summer s kiss: tribute afghan whigs. following uk tour dates lonely astronauts in july, arthur embarked on solo tour of france in october 2009. reissue of 2006 album nuclear daydream 6 unreleased bonus tracks released during tour.

fistful of mercy, graduation ceremony, redemption city , rndm (2010–2012)

arthur, ben harper, , dhani harrison formed supergroup trio fistful of mercy in 2010, , debut album call down released on october 5, 2010. arthur s first solo studio album since nuclear daydream, titled graduation ceremony,was released on may 23, 2011.

in 2012, arthur released double album, redemption city, , collaborated pearl jam s jeff ament in band, rndm.

the ballad of boogie christ (2013)

in 2013, arthur began using pledge music fund release of new studio album, ballad of boogie christ. in statement, arthur noted, music business being nowadays, unless break out big or become license darling, there precious few alternatives fund 1 s work. s sad has come m optimistic new ways of doing things can lead new forms of creativity , smaller world community artists know fans or fans become more vital part in process of artists creating diamonds.

lou (2014)

following lou reed s death, arthur released album of covers of songs.

days of surrender (2015)

made record alone in small studio in brooklyn. played instruments , sang songs, engineered well

except when recorded drums (and merritt jacob lent me expertise , enthusiasm

nothing gets done without enthusiasm thanks, merritt.)

the family (2016)

for latest release, joseph arthur acquired steinway vertegrand piano 1900s, moved red hook, brooklyn studio , saved storm (hurricane sandy) propping on cinderblocks, while neighborhood flooded. learned of history: piano had been part of same family century, somewhere in connecticut. written entirely on piano, family (real world records) work of fiction , meditation on idea of family. album released june 3, 2016 rave reviews