Music
Press
Bluegrass Music can be found in Dynamic Busan! It is found in the for of Kettle Mountain Social. This group of performers is very impressive.
...a troup of five have the sound of 15 with wonderful and unique songs and interesting harmonies.
...Impressively arranged and hypnotizing performances allow the audience to be drawn into a genre they may not have identified with. Band member Josephus Wails described the band as "bluegrass pop/folk". "We wanted to make bluegrass a little more identifiable for people who would not have heard it" said Josephus. In order to remain accessible, they also play famous songs, like "You Shook Me All Night Long" and 'Fat Bottom Girls"
...Wails, the banjo and guitar player had the engaging voice and fast fingers of other famous performers.
Translated by:
Shim Dong Ho
- Busan Ilbo
Engaging Josephus Wails will be coming to The Old Bird this Saturday and if you are thinking of missing it, I can only call you a fool.
...when he asked the audience to join him in singing "Deep and Cleansing Breath" the moment became utterly magical. His falsetto "oooo"s delicately wavering amidst droning "Boom boom"s and "la la la"s. The night transcended itself at that point.
...the force and speed of his finger picking was almost intimidating.
...His covers, though seemingly pedestrian were performed in a very pleasing way. Whether the songs were performed note for note the same ("Don't think Twice" by Bob Dylan) or he dissected the song and stitched it up into a new monster ("In My Place" by Coldplay), Josephus' ability to grab the essence of the song is amazing. - Pusan University Shin Moon
Josephus grabbed the attention of a laid back crowd and didn't let go for over an hour. He shared his refreshing and very weird sense of humor in an exclectic mix of originals and covers singing from the gut and slicing through the psyche
...Here is a contemporary artist who is making connections with fine story telling, relating some of the cracks in the highway on which he's picking and strumming his way through the world.
-A.D. Pearson - Busan Beat
Discography
Choke 'em EP
Photos
Bio
Josephus almost got kicked out of South Korea for performing. The long and the short of it is, he pushed himself underground. Him and the fellow Wails' brought their band Kettle Mountain Social (Korea's most well known Bluegrass outfit) around the country to rabid audiences.
The brush with the cops wigged the poor guy out and he's come back to Canada to show y'all what he learnned.
Josephus has been playing and writing for years and but just lately have his songs resonated and started to make sense.
Lovable losers, sad lovers, misguided tour guides, and bona fide weirdos; the protagonists of many of his songs are a refreshing change from the charged, self-confident, demanding knaves of the world.
Rough and expressive vocals have crooned to moons. Airy stressful tones have unintended affects. And the guitar playing is complementary. Whether it's driving travis picking, waltzing, or plucking, Josephus's under control.
His shows also have an eclectic mix of originals thrown in: Tom Waits, Britney Spears, and Radiohead- nothing will sound the same.
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