Joe "Joey" Mazzola (born April 13, 1961) is a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, music educator and visual artist and is probably best known as a founding member of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band, Sponge. Joe was the original Sponge guitarist and played with the band for nine years. He is also a former member of

The Detroit Cobras The Detroit Cobras were an American garage rock band from Detroit, Michigan, which was formed around 1994 by vocalist Rachel Nagy and guitarist Mary Ramirez, with a constantly changing assortment of (mostly male) sidemen. Nagy died on January 14 ...

, whom he played with for 6-1/2 years, and The Sugarcoats.

Career

A Detroit native, Mazzola spent five of the hardest years of his life (1987-1992), on the Los Angeles club circuit. Having recorded with some of the top bands in Detroit and around the world, Joe continues his enigmatic musical career, recording and playing clubs and venues locally and abroad. Mazzola is part of the guitar teaching staff at Berkley Music in Berkley, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, where he has been working for several years. Some of his students have gone on to play in well-known bands. Only recently has this musician branched off into the art world: as a three-dimensional artist and sculptor. Using reclaimed and recycled metals and materials, he set up a studio in his East English Village home and Eastworks Detroit was born. Joe began experimenting with a combination of iron, brass and copper pipes as well as glass and wood, creating an entire body of work. Designing fun and functional lamps and lighting from such items as mid-century modern fans, Joey's work is quirky and unique and has been very well received. He has exhibited in several top Detroit area galleries and art events and has developed a large following.

Personal life

Joe attended Mount Clemens (Michigan) High School. He has one daughter,

Rose Mazzola Rose "Casper" Mazzola (born September 5, 1982) is an American guitarist. She is known as a founding member of the punk rock band The Distillers, where she played guitar and sometimes sang. She left the band after the making of ''Sing Sing Death ...

, and one granddaughter, Giavanna (Gia). Rose is a musician in her own right, having been a member of

The Distillers The Distillers are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by vocalist and guitarist Brody Dalle. Dalle co-wrote, played guitar and provided lead vocals for nearly every track on the band's three albums. After the ...

. Rose and Gia currently live in Florida. Joe continues to live and work in Detroit.

External links

Joey Mazzola Facebook

Eastworks Detroit Facebook

EastWorks Detroit Etsy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazzola, Joe American people of Italian descent American rock guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from Detroit