News/Thoughts

Something I Had To Do

North Carolina native Josh King (a life-long resident of the Greensboro area) grew up surrounded by music. With a church pianist grandfather, it’s no surprise that the church was his earliest influence, including a lot of singing in harmony. After the typical abortive attempt at piano lessons around age 10 or 11, in high school he found himself playing bass and singing for a punk rock band

Josh’s songwriting evolved from those earliest days with the band into something closer to the singer-songwriter mold as he discovered that he had thoughts he really wanted to express, and he listened to artists that inspired him. At a certain point it became more of a need than a want: “…it became something I had to do,” says Josh. “In order to feel accomplished during the day, I would at least have to get a song started.”

After accumulating and recording a number of more acoustic-driven songs, Josh ended up recruiting most of his previous band mates to create a new group called House of Fools, which was sign to Drive-Thru Records. The indie rock six-piece spent years on the road, touring with acts such as Jimmy Eat World and Steel Train along the way.

Josh’s solo tunes lean toward the Americana realm simply because they are stripped down to the essentials, in terms of instrumentation and production. “For my solo stuff,” he explains, “it’s still the same songs. And I think if I took it to those guys, they would end up being House of Fool songs.”

Josh kicked off his solo career with 2018’s Into The Blue, and has since released two more solo albums. The latest, Feel Good, was almost two years in the making. “2020 was a year of such loss,” says Josh. “I had a lot of change and a lot of time alone to think. All of my work was cancelled at the drop of a hat and I suddenly became a stay-at-home dad for my one-year-old daughter. The album is a weird mix of political songs, love songs, a song inspired by my grandparents, a memorial for a best friend, an anthem for feeling like an outcast…but every one represents a moment in time over the last year and a half.”

Connect with Josh King here. Listen to the full interview here.