CultureLoad

Josh Woodward: Making music the unconventional way

Get to know Josh Woodward, probably the most productive musician on CultureLoad.

Being a little bit different always seems interesting. Musician Josh Woodward is probably more than just a bit different when it comes to his music. Coming from Findlay, a town in Northwestern Ohio, Josh states his attitude unmistakably: “To set the context, it's a very old-fashioned, conservative rural town, and I'm... not.” Very true. And that attitude of doing what others still figure as impossible shines through in many aspects. He explains how he never wanted to be famous or successful, as long as there are people who enjoy listening to his music and as long as he can do what he loves to do: Making music. That may sound like he is understating his potentials, but for Josh it means making music on his own terms without worrying about commercial viability.” And that has brought him personally the highest possible goal: To live his dream- in an unconventional way.

Since 2004 he has been releasing albums on a yearly basis, sometimes even two albums a year. One of the reasons he has time to do that, is that he gave up touring some time ago. For many artists touring is the ultimate thrill. Not for him though. “Honestly, it's just too time-consuming to keep up a live set polished up, and too big of a pain to tour. I've been playing around once a year in my home town to a small but dedicated group of fans and friends, but I once went back and looked at my website logs after a show, and saw that more people had downloaded my music online while I was on stage than there were in the audience. The Internet makes it so much easier to get my music out, without needing to spend days crammed into a smelly van.”

And the Internet opened him new possibilities altogether to do what many artists still fear: Giving away music for the price the customer is willing to pay. “The name-your-own-price works well for me, since I'm not trying to make a living from the CDs.” Josh explains. “The average price paid for a CD over the past year has been about $7. Sure, there are people who order all of the CDs for $2 apiece, but they're balanced by people who will pay $20. I think this type of pricing makes people stop and think what music is worth to them - sure, they can get it for free, but asking the question ‘what are you willing to pay for the work I've put into it?’ seems to provoke some thought.”

And Josh also provokes some thought with his lyrics. “Politics definitely seep into my music, but I try not to let it get preachy. To me, a good political song just tells a story that makes the listener think. For instance, the song ‘Border Blaster’ of the album 'Breadcrumbs' discusses illegal immigration, but it does it by telling a story that humanizes the face of an abstract topic. It's easy to get pissed at the system and release the rage in the form of music, but it's not productive.”

Productive is the keyword in Josh’s life. His eight albums, six of them can be downloaded on CultureLoad, have luckily still left him with great amounts of things to say and music to create. Fans can expect a normal Josh Woodward CD plus two instrumental projects in the near future. But for the time being, listeners have a huge variety of songs and albums to choose from. To make it easier for everybody, Josh picked his favorite and personal soft spot: “Dirty Wings”. He thinks that it might be the least popular release but for him it is a very special record. His albums are very different so that everybody will find some that they like. “I treat albums almost more like movies - the same director, but every movie has a different style and theme.”

His most recent album “Breadcrumbs” from 2009 deals with a lot of backward-looking themes. “The cover means a couple of different things. The rope follows a forward path, but with a loop-around, momentarily lost, trying to find its way. It's also shaped like an 8, and 'Breadcrumbs' was my 8th album.” A pretty interesting idea by a pretty smart musician. But enough said, there is so much music to explore that you better hurry to listen to Josh’s latest music before his new material is already released.

Nora Frei
Editorial Team