Joel Thomas Crouse (born June 14, 1992) is an American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer and songwriter. He released his most recent EP, wasteLAnd on his label, Hum Records in August 2020.
Early life
Joel Crouse grew up in
Holland, Massachusetts
Holland is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,603 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The area around the town center comprises the census-desig ...
. He attended
Tantasqua Regional High School
Tantasqua Regional High School is located in Fiskdale, Massachusetts. It serves the towns of Brimfield, Brookfield, Holland, Sturbridge, and Wales. The school colors are green and gold and the school song is "Hail, Tantasqua", set to the music ...
and graduated when he was sixteen.
Music career
While still living in Holland, Crouse founded a local pop-rock band called Leaving Stafford.
He signed a short-lived demo deal with
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
in 2009.
In 2011, Crouse signed with
Show Dog-Universal Music, and toured with
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...
and
The Band Perry
The Band Perry are an American band composed of siblings Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar), Reid Perry (bass guitar, background vocals), and Neil Perry (mandolin, bouzouki, background vocals). They signed to Republic Nashville in August 2009 ...
.
He released his debut single "If You Want Some" in February 2013. It received three-and-a-half stars from Taste of Country reviewer Billy Dukes, who thought that Crouse "sings with more confidence than 20 years provides most artists". The song, which he wrote with Jamie Houston and
Luke Laird, debuted at number 59 on the
Country Airplay
Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990.
This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...
charts in January 2013.
His album, ''Even the River Runs'', was released on August 19, 2014, and entered the Billboard Top Country Albums at No. 20. Crouse made his
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...
debut on April 18, 2014.
From May to July 2013, he toured with
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
as a part of her
Red Tour
The Red Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, in support of her fourth studio album, ''Red'' (2012). The tour started on March 13, 2013, at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska and concluded on June 12, 2 ...
as one of her opening acts, playing before the other opening act,
Ed Sheeran.
On July 10, 2020, Crouse released his first feature collaboration with German DJ Wave Wave, "Broke".
Crouse released "wasteLAnd" EP on his label, Hum Records, in August 2020. "On My Way" was the lead single co-written by
Ed Sheeran and the Official Music Video features
Darius Rucker, Ed Sheeran, and
Lucy Hale
Karen Lucille Hale (born June 14, 1989) is an American actress, singer, and television personality. She has received various accolades, including seven Teen Choice Awards (the most for any actress in a single series), a Gracie Award, a People's ...
.
American Songwriter published an interview with Crouse about the EP, which "chronicles Crouse’s roller-coaster experience with the music business.
rouse said'I had gone from touring with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran and Darius Rucker,' he says. 'Four years later, my business manager ends up going to jail. I ended up getting in this horrible deal that I had to fight my way out of. And at this time, I’m broke, too. I’m on food stamps, trying to survive. I end up going to write a song with Todd Clark and he was like, ‘What’s going on in your life?’ I told him, ‘Dude, I feel like I’m just surviving.’ That started everything. I just started writing everything that was going on around me.'”
In December 2020,
Darius Rucker included Crouse in SPIN Magazine's ''The 35 Best Lesser-Known Artists of the Last 35 Years, Picked by 35 Well-Known Artists'', saying "Joel Crouse has a sense of melody like no one I have been around. I think that comes from having such a unique voice, it’s so original."
Discography
EPs
Albums
Singles
Music Videos
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crouse, Joel
1992 births
American male singer-songwriters
Living people
People from Holland, Massachusetts
Show Dog-Universal Music artists
Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts
21st-century American singers
21st-century American male singers