Josh Mease is an American songwriter living in

Los Angeles, CA 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' ...

. He currently performs under the name Lapland. In 2009 Mease released his debut album, ''Wilderness'', through Frog Stand Records. Mease has a new album coming out in March 2014 under the name Lapland. This self-titled record will be released in the UK and Europe by The Lights Label

Biography

Mease was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, where he began playing guitar at age 10. He is an alumnus of the

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA, HSPVA or PVA) is a secondary school located at 790 Austin Street in the downtown district of Houston, Texas. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District. ...

. He then went on to attend

The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is the second conservatory of The New School. It is located on West 13th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. It was known as The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music before it wa ...

. While at the New School, Mease shifted his focus away from improvised music towards singing and writing songs. In 2008, Mease travelled to

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

, to begin recording a group of songs that he would later finish at home in Brooklyn. These recordings were released in 2009 as ''Wilderness.'' ''Wilderness'' received positive reviews from NPR, The New York Times, Paste Magazine and Time Out New York. Mease's song “Days Like This” was featured on the finale for season 3 of Showtime's

Nurse Jackie ''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series. It premiered on Showtime on June 8, 2009, and its seventh and final season premiered on April 12, 2015. The series finale aired on June 28, 2015. The show stars Edie Falco ...

. In 2011, Mease was part of the 713->212 show curated by fellow HSPVA alum

Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

. During the show, Moran and other HSPVA alums

Robert Glasper Robert Andre Glasper (born April 6, 1978) is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and musical arranger with a career that bridges several different musical and artistic genres, mostly centered on jazz. To date, Glasper has won fou ...

, Jamire Williams and Alan Hampton joined Mease to play a short set of his original songs. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote of Mease's performance: “Some very good music went down…And Mr. Mease, who seems to love the intimacy and chord changes in Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson’s work, made his case with music that kept alternately settling you and waking up your ear through harmony.” In late 2011 Mease began recording a new group of songs at home under the name, Lapland. Lapland's self-titled full-length record will be released by the Lights Label on March 3, 2014, in Europe and the UK. It will be self-released March 4, 2014 in the US.

Discography

* 2009 - ''Wilderness'' ( Frog Stand Records) * 2014 - ''Lapland'' ( The Lights Label)

Other recordings and appearances

* Singer

Gretchen Parlato Gretchen Parlato (born February 11, 1976) is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke. Pa ...

recorded Mease's song "Me and You" for her album ''The Lost and Found'' (2011, Obliqsound). * Jazz guitarist Mike Moreno recorded Mease's "By Myself" for his album ''First in Mind'' (2011). * Mease appeared on

Erin Bode Erin Bode is an American singer from Minnesota who describes her music as a combination of jazz, folk, and pop. Biography In the decade-plus since Erin Bode began her professional recording career, she has garnered much critical praise for her ...

's 2006 record '' Over and Over'' playing guitar and singing on the track "Send Me Up A Sign".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mease, Josh Year of birth missing (living people) Songwriters from Texas Living people