Joel Sefton Kosche ( ; born September 20, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known for his thirteen-year tenure as the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

of the

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

Collective Soul Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of lead vocalist Ed Roland, rhythm guitarist Dean Roland, bassist Will Turpin, drummer Johnny Rabb, and lead guitarist Jes ...

. He is also a solo artist, and tours with his backing band, Joel Kosche Band. His debut solo album, ''Fight Years'', was released in 2010.

Life and career

Kosche

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

himself to play guitar at age 13, and later trained in classical guitar. Active in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

's music scene, he co-founded the band Rhapsody, and in 1994, along with other members of Rhapsody, he co-founded the progressive rock band Jovian Storm which achieved local success with the album ''Magic Show''. During this time, Joel showed his progressive rock influences by specially in authoring and co-authoring several epic pieces in the tradition of his favorite bands such as

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and Yes. After the dissolution of Jovian Storm, Kosche fronted the band Steep in which he sang lead vocals and embraced a leaner "American rock" style. Kosche eventually landed a gig as the guitar tech for the rock band

Ross Childress Ross Childress (born September 8, 1971) is an American musician. He was the original lead guitarist and co-songwriter for the rock band Collective Soul. Life and career Childress was born on September 8, 1971, in Stockbridge, Georgia, USA. C ...

, Collective Soul's original lead guitarist, left the band in 2001, with Kosche taking his place. Collective Soul performed their first concert with Kosche in

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

on September 5, less than two weeks before the release of the

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation '' 7even Year Itch''. Kosche continued to tour with Collective Soul and later became an official member of the band. Kosche's debut studio album with Collective Soul, ''

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

'', was released in 2004. In 2006, Kosche announced that he would be leaving Steep to focus on Collective Soul exclusively. In 2007, Collective Soul released the album '' Afterwords''. Kosche co-wrote the album's lead single "

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

" with

Ed Roland Edgar Eugene Roland, Jr. (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Collective Soul. He is also active with his side project ...

. Kosche also wrote and provided lead vocals on the track "I Don't Need Anymore Friends." It was the second of two commercially released songs by Collective Soul that do not feature vocals from lead singer Ed Roland; the first one is "

Dandy Life "Dandy Life" is a song by the American rock band Collective Soul. It is the sixth track from their fourth studio album '' Dosage''. Background "Dandy Life" was written by lead guitarist Ross Childress, who provided lead vocals on the track. It w ...

" from the album '' Dosage'' (1999), which was written and sung by original lead guitarist Ross Childress. In August 2009, Collective Soul released the album ''

'', also known as ''Rabbit'' to differentiate it from the band's 1995 album of the same name. Kosche co-wrote the tracks "You" and "Understanding" with Ed Roland,

Dean Roland Michael Dean Roland (born October 10, 1972) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known for being the rhythm guitarist of the band Collective Soul, an alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock mu ...

and

Will Turpin William Ross Turpin (born February 8, 1971) is an American musician. He is best known for being the bassist of the rock band Collective Soul. He is also a solo artist, and tours with his backing band, the Way. His debut EP, ''The Lighthouse'', w ...

. In September 2009, Collective Soul were inducted into the

Georgia Music Hall of Fame The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was a hall of fame to recognize music performers and music industry professionals from or connected to the state of Georgia. It began with efforts of the state's lieutenant governor Zell Miller to attract the music ...

. At an outdoor concert in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

on August 21, 2011, it was announced that Kosche's wife had a baby daughter recently. In August 2013, Kosche collaborated with online education site JamPlay.com, to put together guitar a series of lessons for aspiring guitarists and members of JamPlay. Collective Soul kicked off their 2014 North American winter tour without Kosche;

Jesse Triplett Collective Soul is an American rock band originally from Stockbridge, Georgia. Now based in Atlanta, the group consists of lead vocalist Ed Roland, rhythm guitarist Dean Roland, bassist Will Turpin, drummer Johnny Rabb, and lead guitarist ...

took his place as lead guitarist. On February 6, Collective Soul publicly confirmed Kosche's departure from the band: "After 13 great years, Joel Kosche has moved on in the world of music. Collective Soul welcomes Jesse Triplett as our new lead guitarist." On May 27, Kosche broke his silence regarding his departure from the band in a post written on Facebook, saying it was not an amicable split and that it had nothing to do with him wanting to pursue a solo career or wanting to "move on in the world of music."

Discography

Studio albums

With Collective Soul

References

External links