Jerry Joseph (born April 19, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Early life

Jerry Joseph was born on April 19, 1961 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and is of Irish, Lebanese and Syrian ancestry and grew up in the San Diego area. In high school, he began experiencing trouble and was sent by his parents to a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, where he started playing guitar professionally at age 15. He experienced further problems with

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

while there and was eventually deported back to the United States. He wound up in

Arcata, California Arcata (; Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok language, Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County, Californ ...

, where he has familial ties stretching back several generations.

Little Women

While in Arcata, Joseph formed the rock/reggae band Little Women in late 1981. The band consisted of Brad Rosen on drums, Stefan Derby on bass, Eric Hellberg on keyboards and Jerry Joseph on guitar. Several guitarists (lead), including Greg Millar (1983), Steve Smith (1989), Steve Kimock (1989) and Steven James Wright (1987), replacing Darby on bass was C. Louis Butts, Jr (1983-1992) and percussionists, Ernesto Pediango (1983), Tony (1983) eventually filled the slot. Little Women's first self-released cassette (recorded 1986-7@SaltLakeCity,UT) was ''Life's Just Bitchin'' in 1987 and featured Jerry Joseph (1981-?, vocals, guitar), C. Louis Butts Jr. (3/13/1983-8/7/1992, bass, vocals), Geoff George (1982-1992, keyboards, vocals), Gregg Freeman (1985-1989, percussion), and Brad Rosen (1981-1993, drums, vocals). That was followed in 1990 with ''Pretty Wiped Out'' which was the first release to feature the staple ''Chainsaw City'' and had Rosen on drums and Butts on bass, James on guitar, and also featured David Lindley,

Ian McLagan Ian Patrick McLagan (; 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014) was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was in ...

and

Steve Kimock Steve Kimock (born October 5, 1955) is an American rock guitarist. He was a member of San Francisco Bay Area bands Zero and KVHW. His tone and some of his playing approach has been compared to Jerry Garcia, who was a friend of his, and he has ...

. Little Women released a single for the Wahine Records label in 1992 of ''Drive'' b/w ''Milk'' as well as the live album, ''Live Radish Head''(Butts on bass). In 1993 the band released ''Live at New Georges'' which was recorded in 1992 (Butts on bass), and contained ''North'', the

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...

classic

Wichita Lineman "Wichita Lineman" is a song written by the American songwriter Jimmy Webb in 1968. It was first recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew and was widely covered by other artists. ...

. The live band line-up (late-1992 onward) consisted of Joseph, Steve James, Greg Williams/Danny Carbo (drums) and Glen Esparza (bass). In 2006, Joseph's Cosmo Sex School records rereleased ''Live Radish Head'', another 1992 live set (Butts on bass, vocals). They eventually signed to

Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio foun ...

but were ultimately dropped after recording what would become ''The Welcome Hunters'' in 1993.

Solo career and the Jackmormons

After the breakup of Little women in 1993, Joseph released ''The Welcome Hunters'' which was basically a Little Women record with James, Esparza and Gregg Williams on drums. This was the first album to contain the hit ''Climb To Safety'' which is often covered by the band Widespread Panic. 1994 brought the next Joseph solo record, ''Love and Happiness'' on Back Door Records which featured an all-new lineup of musicians, including

Dave Schools David Allen Schools (born December 11, 1964) is a bass player and founding member of American rock band Widespread Panic. He is also a record producer, songwriter and journalist with articles published in a wide variety of music magazines. Scho ...

on bass. The record was recorded in

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

. In 1996, Joseph moved to Utah and formed the band Jackmormons with bassist JR Ruppel, drummer Jim Bone and keyboard player Dave Pellicciaro. Their first album was ''Butte, Mont. 1879'' in 1996, followed by ''Cotton'' in 1997. After a few personnel changes the band released ''Goodlandia '' and ''Salt Lake City'' and then the three-piece lineup of Joseph, Rosen and Ruppel was in place. This lineup would remain for the Jackmormons for more than a decade, including on 2001's ''Conscious Contact'' which also included

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

(organ, piano), Randall Bramblett (organ, wurlitzer),

Michael Houser Michael Houser (January 6, 1962 – August 10, 2002) was a founding member and lead guitarist of the band Widespread Panic. He appeared on seven studio albums during his 16-year tenure with the band from 1986 till 2002. He is also feature ...

(guitar),

Vic Chesnutt James Victor Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, little (album), ''Little'', was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the rele ...

(backing vocals), John Keane (pedal steel),

John Neff John B. Neff, CFA, (September 19, 1931 – June 4, 2019) was an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. He was notable for his contrarian and value investing styles as well as for heading Vanguard's Windsor Fund. Windsor ...

(pedal steel),

Todd Nance Todd Nance (November 20, 1962August 19, 2020) was an American musician. He was best known as the original drummer of Widespread Panic, a band he was a member of until his departure in 2016. He struggled with chronic illness for the remainder of ...

(percussion) and

David Barbe David Barbe (pronounced ˈbɑɹ.bi BAR-bee; born September 30, 1963) is an American musician and producer/engineer from Athens, Georgia and director of the Music Business Certificate Program at the University of Georgia. He is chief of Chase Pa ...

(sirens), and 2003's ''Mouthful of Copper''. In 2005, the Jackmormons released ''Into the Lovely'' which was the first record to feature Steve Drizos on drums, and included backing vocals from his wife

Jenny Conlee Jennifer Lynn Conlee-Drizos (born December 12, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the accordionist, pianist, organist, keyboardist, melodica player, and occasional backup singer and harmonicist for the indie rock quintet The Decemberi ...

The Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy ( lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...

. In parallel to the Jackmormons' career, Joseph released the solo record ''Everything Was Beautiful'' for Ulftone Records in 2000 which featured Ruppel, Rosen,

Pete Droge Pete Droge (born March 11, 1969) is an American alternative/folk rock musician from Vashon Island in Washington State's Puget Sound. Droge was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Bainbridge Island. 1990s In 1994, Droge released '' Neck ...

, Ian Moore, Layng Martine III and others. Joseph's first release for Cosmo Sex School Records, a label he founded in 2003, was a duet with Danny Dzuik (credited as Dzuiks Küche), called ''Oil'', which also featured David Lindley on the track ''Any Other Day''. In 2004 ''Cherry'' was released on Terminus Records. 2006 brought ''April Nineteenth'', recorded at Mississippi studios in Portland and featuring Joseph, Drizos and the return of Steve James. In 2010, the group released ''Badlandia'', recorded in Virginia city, Montana and also featuring Conlee. The first

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

release on Cosmo Sex School was a 2012 Jackmormons 7" of ''Mile High, Mile Deep'' b/w a cover of

's ''Airplane''. In 2012 the Jackmormons released ''Happy Book'', a 2-CD set featuring guest appearances by Conlee, her Decemberists bandmate

Chris Funk Christopher Funk (born November 28, 1971) is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as a member of the Portland, Oregon, indie rock band The Decemberists. He plays guitar, pedal steel, piano, violin, dobro, hurdy-gurdy, ma ...

, Eric Earley (

Blitzen Trapper Blitzen Trapper is a Portland, Oregon-based experimental country music, country/Folk music, folk/Rock and roll, rock band associated with Sub Pop Records, Vagrant Records and Lojinx. Formed in 2000, the band currently operates as a quintet, with ...

), Dan Eccles (Richmond Fontaine), Ingram, Little Sue Weaver and Paul Brainard. In 2008, Joseph and Drizos recorded a self-titled album under the moniker ''The Denmark Veseys''. The album, recorded in

Athens, GA Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the state ...

and released on Cosmo Sex School, features appearances from Barbe, Neff and the Chase Park Transduction Choir. Soon after the pair entered the studio with multi-instrumentalist Bret Mosley to record the ''Charge'' EP at Old Soul Studio in Catskill, NY. the album was recorded live-to-tape and was the first album Joseph offered exclusively as an online download of digital tracks. Joseph and his Stockholm Syndrome bandmate

Wally Ingram Wally Ingram is an American drummer and musician. He is most famous as a member of the band, Timbuk 3. In recent years, he has toured with the multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, and released several records with him: * 2000 : ''Twango Bango D ...

teamed up for 2010's ''Civility'' EP which includes covers of M.I.A.'s

Paper Planes A paper plane (also known as a paper airplane in American English or paper aeroplane in British English) is a toy aircraft, usually a glider made out of single folded sheet of paper or paperboard. A simple nose-heavy paper plane, thrown like ...

and

Furr ''Furr'', released in 2008, is the fourth album by Blitzen Trapper. The album was listed at #13 on ''Rolling Stone''s 50 Best Albums of 2008, and the title track made #4 on ''Rolling Stone''s 100 Best Singles of 2008. Music videos were made fo ...

. Joseph released ''Jerry Joseph'' on October 31, 2013, an album of 11 original songs, many of which are older Jackmormons, Little Women and Stockholm Syndrome songs reworked to fit his current solo acoustic aesthetic.

Stockholm Syndrome

Joseph began to use the

Stockholm Syndrome Stockholm syndrome is a condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors. It is supposed to result from a rather specific set of circumstances, namely the power imbalances contained in hostage-taking, kidnapping, an ...

moniker for a tour of Europe with Dave Schools in 2003. The band later morphed into a 5-piece with

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...

bassist

, guitarist

Eric McFadden Eric McFadden (born December 1, 1965) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter from San Francisco. He spent his formative years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, receiving lessons from Stanton Hirsch. During his mid-teens, he moved to Syrac ...

, and Ingram. They recorded ''Holy Happy Hour'' at the famed

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the The Bahamas, Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musici ...

with producer

Terry Manning Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...

. The album featured mostly new compositions, along with a cover of the

Climax Blues Band Climax Blues Band (originally known as The Climax Chicago Blues Band) is a British blues rock band. The band was formed in Stafford, England, in 1967 by vocalist and harmonica player Colin Cooper (1939–2008), guitarist and vocalist Pete Hayco ...

's ''

Couldn't Get It Right "Couldn't Get It Right" is a 1976 song by the Climax Blues Band. The song was written after the band's label told them that their 1976 album ''Gold Plated'' lacked a standout track and asked them to "try and write a hit". They then wrote it, in t ...

''. Stockholm Syndrome toured in 2004 to support the album, while Schools' primary gig was on hiatus. Stockholm Syndrome reformed in 2010 with

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule simply as ''Mule''. ...

keyboardist

Danny Louis Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People * Danny Altmann, British immunologist * Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

replacing Dzuik, and recorded ''Live at Streetlight Records'' during a tour stop in California, and also ''Apollo'' in 2011.

Songwriting

Joseph is noted for his songwriting and the depth of his "creative, cathartic" lyrics.

has covered seven of Joseph's songs on record, and several others live. "Climb to Safety" has appeared on the '' 'Til the Medicine Takes'', '' Live in the Classic City'', ''

Colorado Springs 1998 Colorado Springs 1998 is a complete concert by Athens, Georgia's Widespread Panic on CD. The performance was recorded live at the City Auditorium Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 20, 1998. The multi-track recordings featured all or ...

'', ''

Wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

'' and '' Choice Cuts: The Capricorn Years 1991-1999'' albums. His song "North" (co-written with

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

) was featured in the movie ''

The Earth Will Swallow You ''The Earth Will Swallow You'' is a film by brothers Geoffrey and Christopher Hanson detailing the summer 2000 tour of Athens, Georgia-based jam band Widespread Panic, though a substantial portion of the film is behind-the-scenes footage of studio ...

'' and later on the studio album ''

Dirty Side Down ''Dirty Side Down'' is the eleventh studio album by the Athens, Georgia-based band Widespread Panic. The album signaled the return of John Keane as Producer and was recorded in the band's hometown of Athens, Georgia, in contrast to the previous ...

'' and archival release '' Wilmington, DE 2001''. He later co-wrote "Second Skin" and "Time Zones" for '' Earth to America'' and three compositions for the ''

Free Somehow ''Free Somehow'' is the tenth studio album by the Athens, Georgia-based band Widespread Panic. It was recorded in May 2007 with Terry Manning producing in Nassau, Bahamas at the Compass Point Studios. The album is being offered in three variations ...

'' album, "Boom Boom Boom", "Flicker", and "Dark Day Program". He also co-authored "Yellow Ribbons" for Bloodkin with lead singer Daniel Hutchens.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Jerry 1961 births American expatriates in New Zealand American people of Irish descent American people of Lebanese descent American people of Syrian descent American male singer-songwriters Living people People from Arcata, California People from San Diego County, California Singer-songwriters from California Stockholm Syndrome (band) members