Joal Rush
Charleston, South Carolina, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2000
Music
Press
Joal Rush’s music straddles the line of pop and alternative. With elements of both, Rush crafts songs with the least-kind-of-obvious lyrics and tight instrumentation on his new disc “Delightful Things.”
The music is melodic and at times moving.
- Otis Taylor
Camden native Joal Rush lists artists like Radiohead and Jeff Buckley as musical influences, and while he doesn’t exactly sound like either, there is a “languid pop troubadour” element to his songs, and it’s a quality most evident on his 2004 Delightful Things EP, produced by Aaron Whisnant of Dezeray’s Hammer. “Everything” is the most majestic and Buckley-esque of the lot, building to a Zeppelin-like climax in the closing measures, while “Lucid Dream” points to a romantic singer-songwriter that John Mayer fans could love. - Kevin Oliver
With his new album, Imagination, Charleston's Joal Rush picks up right where his 2004 disc, Delightful Things, left off. That debut was a surprisingly polished, well-produced effort that sounded like it belonged on the radio. Rush has roughed up the edges of his pristine pop a bit this time around, however, with the Beatlesque tone of "Bleed"and the title cut amped up with floor-to-ceiling walls of guitar. For those who enjoy Rush's acoustic performances, closing track "You Are"? turns down the volume with a jazzy acoustic love song. Paid attendance to this show will get you a copy of the disc at the door. Sam Thacker and Moses Mayfield open. K. Oliver
Five Points Pub: 9 p.m., $12 ($10 advance); 253-888; myspace.com/5pointspub. - Free Times
Rush will release a new six-song EP, “Imagination.” Rush, who will perform with his full band, has quickened his songwriting pace, and his music verges on late-’90s pop here. He sounds comfortable, scaling his narratives on songs such as “Lovely Day” and “Bleed” with distinguishable confidence (the falsetto on the latter is unexpected and humble). Sam Thacker and Moses Mayfield also will perform. $10; (803) 253-7888 - Otis Taylor @ The State
Discography
Delightful Things/2004 - Produced by Aaron Whisnant
Imagination/2007 - Produced by Geoff Melkonian & Joal Rush
Photos
Bio
Just when you start thinking that no one is making good rock-n-roll music anymore, you find someone who amazes you with their style of straight-out rock music. One such musician that is currently making that style of straight-out rock that is sadly all-too-uncommon is Joal Rush. In 2004, Joal Rush released his debut EP, Delightful Things. With that release, Joal started making a name for himself. The reason for that is the CD started receiving critical acclaim from those who reviewed the release. Along with praise from the critics, Joal started gaining a following from his fans. Since releasing Delightful Things , Joal has enjoyed a bit of success as good things started happening. The Charleston, SC musician has shared then stage with the likes of Edwin McCain, Will Hoge and Styx; Joal has had his music added to XM Radio's Unsigned channel 52 where it has become a fixture of the station; and he has had his song Carry On put on the Awarestore.com Ear Snacks Vol. 6 compilation. After having success with Delightful Things and receiving all of the accolades that have come with it, Joal Rush is back with his second release, Imagination. With this new EP, Joal has taken his writing style and improved upon it, giving the songs on Imagination more power than before. The new EP contains 6 great songs. The best tracks on the release are, in my opinion, Imagination, Living a Lie, and Bleed. The CD even comes with a ballad, You Are, that helps to wrap up the release. Joal has put out a great rock release. His style would belong with groups who were around before there were styles of rock called Alternative or Grunge. His music seems a little out of place with what is on the airwaves right now, but that is because the majority of the groups out there right now follow whatever trends are big at the time and refuse to veer away from the mainstream. It takes courageous musicians like Joal Rush to take a chance at releasing music that is not pigeon-holed by today's radio formats. If you like pre-Alternative rock music, Joal Rush is making music just for you. You can check out Joal Rush and his music at www.joalrush.com and at www.MySpace.com/joalrush.
Matheson Kamin (RockAndRollReport.com)
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