Josh Joplin Group
Biography
Legendary artist manager Russell Carter (Matthew Sweet, Indigo Girls) says of Josh Joplin, “I am willing to bet Josh has written a bad song, but I can tell you I have never heard one—and he has never recorded one.”
Joplin’s latest full-length release, GpYr—produced by Josh Joplin and Grammy-winning producer Lorenzo Wolff (known for his work on Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Folklore)—lands somewhere between a concept album and a sonic scrapbook. It’s a story of four friends who, over one unforgettable summer and autumn, came together for a mission: to rescue Seely from a therapeutic boarding facility in remote New England. In saving her, they saved each other.
Spin Magazine says GpYr is "a collection of pop-infused gems that captures the raw energy of Joplin’s earlier works...but with the musical and lyrical layers of the older, wiser musician Joplin has become."
There’s little doubt Joplin’s latest album marks a new chapter in his career while reflecting the personal and creative evolution. His advancing artistic boundaries may have begun with Figure Drawing–praised by The Washington Post’s Geoffrey Himes as “the broadest, deepest, and most balanced of his career”–but GpYr shows “JJG still has that same warm, winning and welcome slice of indie-rock,” according to Indy Review.
Josh Joplin isn’t one to dwell on past glories, but there was a time when he was chasing songs worldwide. In 2001, His breakout single "Camera One" (produced by Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, Modern Lovers) became the first independently released song to hit #1 on Triple A radio—the first independently released song to do so—landing the group on Artemis Records which boasted acts as varied as J. Mascis, Warren Zevon, The Pretenders, and, yes, the "Who Let the Dogs Out" hitmakers, The Baha Men. ("Camera One" may not have unleashed any canines, but it did land a spot on the cult classic tv show Scrubs.)
Joplin followed with The Future That Was (2002), produced by Rob Gal (Magnapop, Rock-a-Teens), and earned critical praise from Time Out NY/London, America Songwriter, Paste, Magnet, Vanity Fair, NPR, and others for his records Jaywalker, Among the Oak & Ash, and Devil Ship. His song “Blue Skies Again,” recorded by Jessica Lea Mayfield, has been downloaded over a million times on Apple Music, and “Camera One” has surpassed two million streams on Spotify.
While the Josh Joplin Group will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Useful Music—the album some say started it all—it’s Joplin’s “new album that reminds us all of how far we’ve come.” (–Spin Magazine)