Stereo Embers The Podcast 0434: Josh Joplin (The Josh Joplin Group)

"GPYR" I'm admittedly a bit fixated on a 16 year old Josh Joplin getting in the van and driving away from his family, his friends and high school in order to blaze his own musical trail out there in the American wild, but I think I'm mostly fixated on that for both its ambition and its bravery. For starters, it's cool that Josh had the belief the world would find him--and it did. But to know that or believe that at 16 is remarkable--when I was 16 I was staying up late watching Letterman and making mix tapes for girls and had no ambition that would get me in a van by myself and head down the highway peddling my wares. But Josh Joplin did. And we talk about that a great deal because I'm in awe of him doing something most 16 year olds couldn't have done. All these years later, the DC born Joplin has almost fifteen albums under his belt, and each one further proves his uncanny genius. From his first album A Present For Hitler--which is maybe one of the best debut album titles ever--to his new one GPYR, Joplin has demonstrated he's a songwriter of tremendous poeticism and unreasonable melodic smarts. I'll get to GPYR in a second--but before I do, let me give you a few biographical bits; he's toured all over the U.S. as well as Europe and Australia, been on Conan and Letterman, had his albums produced by Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads and the Modern Lovers, had his music appear in shows like Scrubs, Dawsons Creek, Party of Five and Roswell, was neighbors with Dan Zanes of the Del Fuegos, he's put out several fabulous albums with Garrison Starr under the name Among The Oak And Ash and In 2015, Joplin founded the award-winning film production company NarrowMoat. Reuniting with his trusty pals in the Josh Joplin Group, GPYR finds Joplin sounding better than ever. Bringing to mind Reckoning-era R.E.M. and the later work of Tommy Keene, GPYR is a thoughtful blend of jangling indie rock and stirring folk both of which are augmented by sweeping musical architecture that heightens the emotional quality of this powerful, dramatic and altogether thrilling album. www.joshjoplingroup.com (http://www.joshjoplingroup.com) www.bombshellradio.com www.stereoembersmagazine.com (http://www.stereoembersmagazine.com) www.alexgreenbooksonline.com Instagram + Bluesky: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com