Born in Akron, Ohio, Joseph Arthur is a unique songwriter and performer whose work has impressed critics as well as artists such as Peter Gabriel and Michael Stipe. Blending the literate and expressive lyrical style of a classic singer/songwriter with music rooted in indie rock, Arthur’s original goal was to become a hotshot bass player, but exposure to Bob Dylan and Kurt Cobain prompted him to take up songwriting.
In 1996, he self-released an EP that made its way to Peter Gabriel, who signed Arthur to his Real World label. 1997’s challenging Big City Secrets and 2000’s rootsy Come to Where I’m From impressed critics and discriminating listeners, and 2004’s Our Shadows Will Remain found him digging even deeper into his confessional tales. With 2007’s Let’s Just Be, Arthur launched his own record label, Lonely Astronaut, giving him greater control over his music.
Joseph has released sixteen full-length albums, as well as a large number of EPs and other projects, such as Fistful of Mercy alongside Dahni Harrison (George’s son) and Ben Harper, Arthur Buck, with REM’s Peter Buck, and RNDM, with Pearl Jam’s bassist Jeff Ament.
His live solo shows are legendary, often incorporating the use of a number of distortion and loop pedals and are sometimes recorded live at the soundboard and made available to concertgoers immediately following the show on recordable media.
He is also a prolific visual artist, creating striking, large-scale images in a variety of media and designing his own CD and record sleeves.
