Josh Storie

Josh Storie is that guy who writes those songs you wish you could have written. The one who finds a way to say those things you wanted to say. Josh Storie is the kind of singer/songwriter that only Texas could produce: edgy country vocals riding on a roots music train, powered by rock solid tempos and a volatile mixture of blues riffs, jazz chords and fiddle licks. To brew up a sound like this you grind up a bunch of Pat Green, add some Robert Earl, blend in a little Jack Johnson, then add a double shot of John Mayer, and some Johnny Cash, for consistency. Josh writes country tunes about young people, people you know. Your grandpa’s country music it is not. He sings about heartbreak alright, but not about hard core drunks and honky-tonks. It is about life and love in the world of fleeting Facebook relationships and five dollar mochas. His are simple songs about complex emotions and sorting things out. Or not being able to. This is a style that brings clarity to your morning after.
Having been born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas (arguably the very soul of country music), Josh could hardly have been expected to do anything else. Son of an entertainment lawyer and a school teacher, he was introduced to music at a very early age. As a boy, Josh spent many a Saturday night back stage with the likes of LeAnn Rimes and Steve Holy at the legendary Johnnie High’s Country Music Review. He might be playing saxophone in the school band during the day and hanging out with his dad’s clients in rehearsal halls and studios at night. A self taught guitarist, Josh began his song writing sojourn in the seventh grade. In high school he played drums in a punk influenced power trio while studying music theory with a renowned concert harpist. The spectrum of his musical influences borders on Schizophrenia: Frank Sinatra to Garth Brooks, the Temptations to Gavin DeGraw, James Taylor to Jason Mraz.
Josh possesses a deep appreciation for where today’s music came from. Josh’s theory of creating great music might best be described as “mash up.” Josh says about Jason Mraz, “One of the reasons I love Jason’s stuff is his ability to pull together all these different pop licks from the 70s and 80s and make something totally new out of it.” Josh has been exposed to a wide variety of musical pioneers. His father managed the estate of the late “King of Western Swing” Bob Wills, one of the original American music innovators. Bob mixed traditional fiddle tunes with cotton field blues, New Orleans jazz, and Mexican mariachi sounds to create a swing music style that packed dance halls for four decades and influenced everyone from the Beatles to George Strait. Wills has been inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2007, Josh accompanied Wills family members to the Grammy’s celebration for the presentation of the Academy’s Life Time Achievement Award to Bob Wills. “Sometimes when I write, I can just hear the fiddle parts. I think that comes from all that Bob Wills I listened to as a kid. That old music gets down into your soul. And just when you might think you are all alone in it, you hear Carrie singing Bob on the Grammy’s, or you see the Stones open up a show in Austin with a Waylon cover like Bob Wills is Still the King. It reminds you that he is still the real deal”.
Currently residing in College Station, Josh is making a name for himself in the town that gave us the likes of Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen. His newest tracks are getting dance hall rotation as well as airplay and he is attracting the attention of Texas music industry leaders. Both singles, A Smile Like That and Don’t Love Him, from his debut CD entitled Edge of My Seat, have heated up Texas country radio, getting consistent airplay in nearly thirty markets in Texas and Oklahoma and breaking the Texas Music Chart. With the help of corporate sponsor Dr Pepper Bottling Company of Dublin, Texas, the world’s oldest Dr Pepper bottler, Josh is continuing to crisscross the red dirt landscape, introducing his unique brand of Texas music to new audiences.