Josh Williamson Band

What hits you first when you hear the Josh Williamson Band performing live is the tremendous amount of music coming from only three people. What hits you next is just how good that music is.

You look for the guitars. You swear there are two, but you only see one. And the singer and the guitar player are the same guy, and you get dizzy as you watch him articulate the lyrics while simultaneously his hands play a line that other guitar players couldn’t get through while even just breathing. Head down as he rips open a lead, black eyes glaring through black hair, then back to microphone he growls the chorus.

Like a train, the rhythm section just keeps rolling. Head going one way and the pony tail going the other, the bass player is an explosion of energy, jumping straight up in the air, careening center stage, ten fingers working nonstop launching more notes than two bass players combined have any expectation to produce. The drummer skulks behind a superstructure of steel and bronze, with a look more pissed than determined, locking the rhythm and popping drum heads as if administering a sentence.

Also known as "JWB" – the Josh Williamson Band is a rock power-trio with a huge sound and a reputation for great live performances. Rooted in the blues but with funk and metal flavorings, JWB delivers its riff-laced rock set with the hard precision of an orchestra, the explosive energy of a punk rock band, and the deeper soul of a delta bluesman. With a nod to the past, theirs is a sound that propels forward, with a feeling everyone understands but have never heard expressed this way.

Ever since Josh Williamson sneaked into a blues jam to play guitar at age 15 (and was kicked out after two songs for being obviously too young) people have been shaking heads and dropping jaws at his smooth, attacking style. At the age of 16, he won a nation-wide contest sponsored by Fender Guitars, and performed with Kenny Wayne Shepherd live at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. At the age of 17, with his first band - the Josh Williamson Blues Band - he opened for Joe Louis Walker in front of 5,000 people in San Jose, California.

But Josh Williamson is more than a guitar, and the Josh Williamson Band is more than a guitar player. Since coming to Seattle in 2001 at 18, Josh has worked hard to find his music and his band, and in the Pacific Northwest has found both.

Literally a man of the music world, bass player Eddie Pruitt aka: "E", brings energy, professionalism, and a musical virtuosity that can only be called world class. A winner of a number of Bass Awards, he has shared the stage with artists and groups such as Jeff Scheetz, The Scorpions, Ken Tamplin, Tony Macalpine, Paul Stanley of KISS, B.B King, Dr.John, Brett Michaels of Poison, Greg Howe & Greg X Volz of Petra to name a few. "E" was one of few bassists contacted by Vernon Reid to fill the open bass position for the band "Living Colour".

Matt Bos is the perfect complement to the chemistry between Josh and "E". Having played drums since he was seven, Matt grew up associated with the music business, and had the opportunities to jam with the likes of Dick Dale in his own living room. Like Josh and "E", he has lived all over the United States, and brings a diverse taste in music that works well to round out the JWB sound.

Influenced by the greats and inspired by the classics, the JWB sound stands strong and unique on its 2002 debut CD, "A Working Man's Breakfast", which showcases the band’s versatility and artistry with eleven rock originals garnering brisk sales, local radio play, and a wellspring word-of-mouth following.

“Definitely one of the up and coming rock bands… a full-fledged rock and roller.”
- HotBands.com

“Reminiscent of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix, or Robin Trower... a rock-blues powerhouse with scorching guitar work.”
- IndieShout.com

“Josh Williamson…one of the nations best new guitarists.”
- San Jose Mercury News

The Josh Williamson Band - if this is the first time you have heard of them, it won't be the last.