Born in Worcester, UK, Joe Holt is a folk singer/songwriter who recently graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Described by Indie, Bikes and Beer as “a smart songwriter with a rich voice,” Joe released his debut EP, “Empty” in March 2014. Since then, Joe has been performing as often as possible, finding success recently opening for international touring acts like The Hunts, Davina and the Vagabonds, and Parker Millsap.
Joe’s songwriting truly began when his song “Empty” received 500 plays in three days after he posted it on Reddit, and launched him into a spurt of songwriting that resulted in “Demos #2″ and, eventually, the “Empty EP,” released March 25th, 2014. Joe followed up that release with performances at prestigious venues like The Bitter End (NYC), the Hard Rock Cafe (Boston), the Red Room (Boston), the Middle East (Boston), and Rockwood Music Hall (NYC), including dozens of other clubs and coffeeshops along the East Coast. In the spring of 2014, Joe continued his tradition of releasing an annual collection of home demos with the 6-song “Demos #3,” which he wrote, arranged, produced, engineered, mixed, mastered, and promoted himself.
In July 2015, Joe released his first full-length album, “Brighter Moons,” for which he successfully raised over $12,000 through Kickstarter. Joe booked an album release show at The Knickerbocker Café (Westerly, RI) and was featured on front-page articles in The New London Day and The Westerly Sun. The album received airplay on 53 radio stations internationally. Joe also scored the short film “The Race,” and released the soundtrack in August 2015. Also in August, Joe released his fourth annual demo collection, featuring his friend Amy Allen from Amy & The Engine on “Following a Shadow.”
After moving to New York City in October 2015, Joe left for a 20-date tour of the East Coast, which in a similar fashion to his recording, he booked and planned himself. He played at esteemed venues including the Bluebird Café (Nashville, TN), Radio Bean (Burlington, VT), The Acoustic Coffeehouse (Johnson City, TN) and several radio stations that were airing the album. Joe came back from tour and recorded the four-track “Headwaters EP,” an album thematically based on searching for meaning and happiness. The album received glowing reviews in sites like Boston blog Indie Minded and is currently airing on dozens of radio stations nationwide and in Europe.
In this interview, we have a virtual pow wow with Joe to discuss influences, his journey through music, and his newest project Demos #5.
Full Q&A, links, and a stream below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
It was probably my teacher at Berklee, Joe Musella, who taught me travis picking during one of our last guitar lessons together. Something about the pattern stuck, and led to me practicing other styles of fingerpicking. I’d always loved The Tallest Man on Earth, and I remember taking a few days one July and learning all of The Wild Hunt. I knew that The Tallest Man on Earth was a Nick Drake fan, so I started listening to him too, and the combination of the two gave me some familiarity with alternate tunings and fingerpicking. Before all this folky stuff I was really into KISS, which doesn’t really translate, but I still listen to them when no one’s around to strip me of hipster street cred.
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
Everyone in my family is a musician – my father is an organist and choirmaster, and also plays the cello, my mother is a violist and violinist, and my brother is a classical singer. So music was in my life all through my childhood. It really came in strong during high school, when I started writing songs more earnestly, and I remember dropping my math and science classes during my senior year to take music classes. What a great feeling.
Pushing it out to the public is a different matter and is often difficult; the conflict between wanting people to hear my music and not wanting to be the person who’s constantly texting their friends inviting them to shows and spamming Facebook and stuff. I want people to hear my music so I do what I can to get it out there, and there have been a couple of times in my life when someone reaches out to me to tell me a song got to them. Those moments make me want to keep up the self-promotion, even when it feels uncomfortable.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
My tastes in music have definitely changed, mostly from rock to folk, but there are a few constants that have been there my whole life – Queen, the Beatles, The Darkness. My favourite band now is Elbow, and they influence my creativity a lot – Guy Garvey’s lyrics often focus on the everyday, and finding beauty in normality. I get inspired by looking at domesticity and routine in a romantic way, and by nature, and by love. And by coffee. Lots and lots of good strong coffee.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
Demos #5 is the fifth annual demo collection I’ve made, and including a film soundtrack, two EPs and an LP, is my ninth album. I tried to let myself let go of the necessity of rhyme scheme and more actively composed lyrics – I’m trying to find ways to bring emotions out in the most natural and easy way. That doesn’t always have to be writing an exact AABA song or a good prechorus. Berklee taught me a bunch of really useful things and now I’m trying to relax my grip on them. I also am trying to let myself use sounds more, not necessarily music – enjoying the ambience of background noise and trying to express emotion through clicks and pops and unconventional instruments. I’m getting ready to record a new album and this demo collection is the first expression of that energy.
What was the last song you listened to?
Falcons by Amanda Bergman. She just released her album Docks this year. She’s The Tallest Man on Earth’s ex-wife, and you can hear his influence all over her music, and vice versa. This song, and this album, are full of ambience and atmosphere and are super evocative and awesome.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Not to indulge in the fact that I’m a living cliche, but it has to be vinyl. Putting on a record forces you to actively listen to the music – to get up halfway through to flip it over – records make me pay attention and because of that, they impact me more honestly and directly.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Bandcamp! Yes, Bandcamp. I love Bandcamp. I love that you can pull up lyrics to a song with a click. I love that it’s based around albums and not around singles. I’m on Bandcamp because I want to be. I’m on Soundcloud because I have to be. Most of my online plays come from Soundcloud, but I always promote my stuff through Bandcamp because I want people to download my albums and have them whenever they want, instead of having to get online and listen to one single at a time.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
I get in my own way a lot – I shy away from doing the self-promotion I really should be doing. In an ideal world people would find my music and listen to it of their own volition. But as an independent artist I usually have to put my music in people’s hands and send them links and remind the world that my music is online. And I never really want to do that. Maybe it’s a self-confidence thing. So that’s tough. Another challenge is booking my own shows. It takes a long time and it’s tough when venues don’t get back to me. It’s all ultimately worth it when I book a tour all by myself and get that satisfaction, but I definitely need to put in the hours.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
www.joeholt.bandcamp.com or my website, www.joeholtmusic.com
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
Yes! All my music is available for pay-what-you-will, so if you visit my Bandcamp page or my website and like the new demo collection, please check out the other albums on there and download them if you want! And most importantly THANK YOU for reading this interview and for listening. Thanks for having me on the site!
