Joseph Arthur

PJ_Soul

Me too. Yeah, I saw him 4 years ago and he was totally solid back then. But this... I don't think I can even properly convey just how awful he was last night. I mean not a single song was even really listenable. And of course the crowd sucked shit. It was awkwardly empty in there, but he lost many of those who did go right away. Some people were being very rude and talking and everything, but really one can almost not blame them, because he didn't demand any attention at all. Oh, and he bailed on the show. He only did a handful of songs. Then he just gave up and the show was over. So fucked up. Good thing the tix were cheap.

I should have mentioned though.... his painting that he did on stage was pretty awesome. So he's still got that goin' on. Yay. Although... even that took no effort or feeling from him. It was more just a standard template of his work. Not what he usually does. No feeling in it, since by that time he had given up.

Oh, but the opener was GREAT! Reuben Hollebon. Beautiful voice, so full of feeling. And gorgeous, lol. His bassist was also awesome. I feel bad that he's having to open for the train wreck that is Joseph now. And that makes me depressed. JA is one of my favorite artists ever. I feel worried, mostly, and let down. I have heard his boots and they're great. The poor guy is falling apart I think. I hope he has some loved ones who can help.

RP112579

He's had a few posts on Instagram recently recommending books he's been reading. They've been about psychopaths and social disorders. In those he talks about seeing those traits in a relationship and talked about an ex. So, I'm guessing he's gone through a pretty bad break up, and possibly still dealing with this person. Based on his posts, it sounds like it's wearing on him.

PJ_Soul

RP112579 said:

He's had a few posts on Instagram recently recommending books he's been reading. They've been about psychopaths and social disorders. In those he talks about seeing those traits in a relationship and talked about an ex. So, I'm guessing he's gone through a pretty bad break up, and possibly still dealing with this person. Based on his posts, it sounds like it's wearing on him.

Well, if that's it, that sucks, but it's a hell of a lot better than a drug problem at least....

RP112579

Joseph is playing City Winery in Chicago on November 25th. Tickets are on sale now at citywinery.com/chicago/

Daron Oshay

Getting even more worried about him. He's rambling on instagram the last week again, taking shots at Peter Gabriel and just generally not making any sense

Is it me? Hope I'm wrong

PJ_Soul

Daron Oshay said:

Getting even more worried about him. He's rambling on instagram the last week again, taking shots at Peter Gabriel and just generally not making any sense

Is it me? Hope I'm wrong

No, I'm feeling the same since that disaster of a show I saw that was just so weird, where he seemed so off in his performance and general behaviour. Also, his little anti-Trump song and video is pretty bizarre, mostly because the lyrics and the feel of it are just kind of embarrassing. It's just so amateur. Even for that kind of thing, like the spur of the moment songs and videos that he occasionally does, it just didn't seem like the usual Joseph at all. I am also worried.

goldrush

Some recent Instagram posts from Joseph to set our minds at ease... He's "happy as fuck" right now

PJ_Soul

That doesn't explain that fucked up show I saw a month ago. If that is how he performs when he is happy as fuck he'd better reexamine the choices he is making on stage. That show felt like a near mental breakdown to everyone there. I have seen him before, and that shit wasn't normal. So if he is mentally and physically well, I will.havs assume that he has really lost some interest in putting on a decent show for paying fans. Either that, or he is willing to have a public hissy fit by not bothering to play or sing in a way that is palatable.
Still love him, but clearly I am still really disappointed and feeling let down by his show last month.

goldrush

I read "the tough times were months ago" and "I'm emotionally and mentally in a good place right now" as being positive. As if he's acknowledging that he wasn't in a good place recently but is now.

I get what you're saying about the show, and like you I've been worried about some of the things he's posted, but I'm looking for the positives.

PJ_Soul

goldrush said:

I read "the tough times were months ago" and "I'm emotionally and mentally in a good place right now" as being positive. As if he's acknowledging that he wasn't in a good place recently but is now.

I get what you're saying about the show, and like you I've been worried about some of the things he's posted, but I'm looking for the positives.

Yes, I noticed he said that, but the show I saw was only a month ago, and he's saying months ago, so from that I assume he at least thought he was okay for that show. But anyway, whatever his problem was or is or whatever, I wish him the best. I am (was???) a megafan, so that felt like more than just a bad show to me. It was like it might feel if we went to a PJ show and Eddie was on crack and just mumbling half the songs while Matt had an injured hand and Jeff had a hissy fit and marched off stage before they'd played for 45 minutes. It just felt really shitty to witness that JA show, i felt dissed as a fan who has been a big supporter if his and had been looking forward to seeing him for 7 months, and I guess I'm not over it yet, lol. I even took a friend with me for his birthday, and it kind of made my birthday gift to him suck; my friend was right on the cusp of being a full-fledged JA fan at that point too, but the show ruined that path. I guess I am feeling kind of mad at Joseph if he's actually feeling okay and still put on that performance, because that wouod mean he was just acting like a jerk. Although that would still be better than him being mentally ill or addicted to drugs, so.... (this is all said at an emotional level appropriate to the musical situation btw, lol, before you think I am getting too emotional, haha).

goldrush

REAL WORLD TO RELEASE 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF REDEMPTION’S SON
WITH BONUS MATERIAL ON JUNE 23rd


April 11, 2017 – Anyone who has followed the career of Joseph Arthur since he was personally discovered by Peter Gabriel back in 1997, knows Arthur has never been an artist to look back.

Over the course of his career to date, he’s released fourteen albums under his own name, eleven official EP’s and has been involved with several high profile side projects including Fistful Of Mercy (with Ben Harper & Dhani Harrison).

However, when it was brought to Arthur’s attention that 2017 marked the 15th Anniversary of one of his most beloved albums, Redemption’s Son, he decided he wanted to do something to honor the occasion.

Joseph Arthur will also be embarking on a limited run solo tour beginning on June 20th in Boston where he’ll play the album from beginning to end.

“I’ve never done this album from start to finish live,” Arthur remarked. “But Redemption’s Son was always a special record to me and my fans and this clearly seemed like the right time to do it. As I’ve been saying recently to my friends, listening to this album again after all of these years has re-inspired me which honestly was a complete surprise.”

On June 23rd, Real World Records, will re-issue the original album (with its original artwork) along with nine bonus tracks all of which have been previously unreleased. Redemption’s Son 15th Anniversary Edition will be available on 180-gram double LP, double CD, and digitally. It will be the first time the album is available on vinyl ever.

The nine previously unreleased songs now form a “lost album” which Arthur has named Morning Star.

“We decided to turn these tracks into their own album called 'Morning Star' rather than a collection of this that and the other thing,” Arthur remarked. “It's a great feeling when the past burps up a gift. Things forgotten and submerged by the vortex of time which reveals its illusions thru a process such as this. First listens of old things are a lot like taking the wrapping paper off a gift. That excited smile comes over you (hopefully) and it's kinda wonderful. But soon you get transported back to the time these things were new and then they become fresh elements to work with. No more a gift but a responsibility. Like if you got a dog for Christmas. What they say about a work of art being never finished but abandoned is accurate. And I learned here that you can essentially un-abandon them. We took these old things and we set out to make something current.”

Upon it’s original release in 2002, the album received rave reviews on both sides of the pond:

“Joseph Arthur's brilliant third album proves he was worth the wait
'Redemption's Son exhibits the sure sign of a classic album. The best songs are not nervously loaded at the front. Some of the real gems - the slow, creepy Permission, the unbearably beautiful Favorite Girl and the irresistibly poppy In The Night - emerge nearly an hour into the album.'- The Times (UK)

“...added intimacy without sacrificing dreamy magnetism... 
'2000's Come To Where I'm From was a near masterpiece. This time round, Grammy-bagging mixer Tchad Blake has replaced T-Bone Burnett as producer and brought added intimacy without sacrificing dreamy magnetism... Arthur's vocals [are] as much soothing balm as quiet venom. Blake's deft touch makes bedfellows of gentle acoustic guitar and gliding strings - I Would Rather Hide and Termite Song are stunning... If there's really a God, the Super Furries-goosing-up-Cockney Rebel wizardry of In The Night ought to be the FM smash of the summer.'”
Uncut (UK)

“In the current pop singer-songwriter renaissance, Arthur's art stands out as the most emotionally naked and musically ambitious.” - Entertainment Weekly (US)


Joseph Arthur –Redemption’s Son 15th Anniversary Tour
6/20 - Boston MA - Great Scott
6/21 - Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theatre 1894
6/23 - New York NY - City Winery
6/24 - Vienna VA - Jammin' Java
6/26 - Evanston IL - SPACE
6/27 - St Paul, MN– Turf Club
6/29 - Cleveland OH – Music Box
7/1 - Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
7/11 - Los Angeles CA - Teragram Ballroom
7/12 - San Francisco CA – Brick and Mortar Music Hall
7/14 - Portland OR - Doug Fir Lounge
7/15 - Seattle WA - The Triple Door


Redemption’s Son – 15th Anniversary Track Listing
Redemption’s Son
Honey And The Moon
You Could Be In Jail
I Would Rather Hide
Innocent World
September Baby
Nation Of Slaves
Evidence
Buy A Bag
Termite Song
Permission
Favorite Girl
You Are The Dark
In The Night
Blue Lips
You've Been Loved


Morning Star (Previously Unreleased Tracks)
Ghost
Downtown
Pictures Of A Life
Forgive Your Heart
Afraid To Feel
Cracking Heart
Secret Ghost
Cinderella Under Glass
Morning Star

PJ_Soul

Really excited about that vinyl reissue/old-new album announcement!! I'm going to make the trip down to Seattle for this one. Hopefully the Redemption's Son tour will redeem JA's ability to perform live in my mind, after that disastrous show I caught last year. (no, just kidding, I know he can - he was fine for RNDM)

RP112579

Looking forward to getting Redemption's Son on vinyl, and seeing him again when he comes through the Chicago area!

goldrush

Joseph has produced Jesse Malin's new record, "Meet Me At The End of The World"

This is from Jesse's latest newsletter: 

I returned home with a bag full of new songs, a sack full of jokes, and wanted to get them recorded as soon as possible. In a funny way this was one of my favorite tours, but, as much as I love playing live, I think I needed a short break from the thousands of broken couches in dressing rooms that, for some reason, alway have penises drawn all over the walls in magic marker (Who does this? Who are they? Is this some kind of message? What would Freud say?). I decided to call up our friend Joseph Arthur once again to see if he would want to produce some more tracks, since he did such a great job for us with "London Rain," the song I wrote for the Natty B. Positive Panther charity a few months back.

Next thing I know, we are back across the "dirty river" in his secret sonic bunker behind a chop shop and auto repair in Red Hook, Brooklyn ("Joey, Joey, Joey" king of the streets). Not only is Joe a great songwriter / singer / painter / producer, he is a man who takes chances and lives life very free. Being around him gave me a lot of energy and motivation. He added the magic meshugganah mojo we needed. Between the massive amounts of Kombucha teas (don't swallow the goo please, unless you like it), the planking contests on the control room floor and listening to the new amazing Alan Vega record, It (an album that will take NO prisoners), courtesy of Alan's wife, Liz Lamere (a super hero of a lady who boxes, manages boxers, produces, and practices law). She was generous enough to share an sneak peek of Alan's final and uncompromising record with us. It blew our minds. It's the most intense thing Alan has done since the first Suicide record, and he was 75 years old when it was completed. Just minutes after meeting Liz, Joseph had already decided that he was not only going to paint, write, produce, and bicycle race through the five boroughs, but now he wanted to train as a professional boxer and fight the actor Micky Rourke (Boogie Christ meets Boogie from Diner). The very next day he began training at the gym with Liz, and, a few punches later, my new record, Meet Me at the End of the World, was mastered and shipped off to Memphis to be pressed.

Joseph is looking pretty ripped right now, the boxing is obviously working for him.
I just wish he'd get Fistful Of Mercy back in the studio!

what dreams

Anybody see any of the shows this summer? I had a chance to see the VA show last weekend (10 mins from my house) but I skipped it because of last summer's disaster performance. Has he really redeemed himself? I hope he's in a better place. I just wasn't willing to pay money to verify it -- which is too bad considering how broke the guy seems. Curious to hear from others.

Patrick_Sea3

Can't wait to see him at the Triple Door in Seattle next Saturday Night!

goldrush

Peter Buck posted this on REM’s Facebook page:

Joseph Arthur and I found ourselves in Todos Santos totally randomly this week, so we did what guys like us do: play guitar and write songs. Friday we performed a four song-set at a benefit for Los Bomberos, the local firemen. Saturday we did an impromptu benefit for the Palapa Society at the Todos Santos Inn. Joe's theory was to do all new songs, so we did several that Joe had recently written and four that we had written together in the previous two days. It went great; we had a psychedelic light show and raised $120 for Palapa. Thanks for coming out, and see you on the road! ~Peter

I’d love to hear a JA collaboration with Peter Buck Love both of these guys

goldrush

Just read this in a Peter Buck interview that sounds very promising...

"On my little road trip to Mexico, I got a text that said, “Hey, it’s Joseph Arthur. I’m in town,” in Todos Santos. He showed up with this guitar and his backpack and goes, “Hey, can I stay here?” I was like, “Yeah,” and we wrote an album’s worth of songs in three days, performed them in a club on Thursday night. He’s coming up here Thursday to polish ’em up and finish a couple more and then go into the studio Saturday to put down good demos for the beginning of the record in November. I think Tchad Blake’s doing it."

https://www.salon.com/2017/11/03/peter-buck-of-r-e-m-how-many-people-write-songs-when-theyre-70-i-want-to-be-one-of-them/

goldrush

Looks like the Arthur Buck record is happening soon:

Peter Buck, Joseph Arthur Reveal 'Spontaneous' New Band, Arthur Buck

How a lost guitar and chance meeting in Mexico brought the R.E.M. guitarist and Grammy-nominated singer together

"In normal circumstances, the prolific, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur never would've waited a year to pick up his Dobro – a prized guitar he left behind after playing a festival in Mexico. But the musician spent the last year focusing on a personal transformation that, in turn, caused him to write a solo album. He needed that guitar. And then, in Todos Santos, he ran into his old friend Peter Buck.

"I was like, 'Come swimming!'" the 61-year-old guitarist tells Rolling Stonewith a laugh. Buck and his wife, Chloe Johnson, live in the Edenic Baja coast town when they're not in Portland. "Joe shows up in Mexico – the kind of guy where he's carrying every single thing he owns on his back – and then all this stuff started occurring." 

Buck says that the run-in with Arthur, who he's played with sporadically over 20 years (Arthur opened for R.E.M. in 2004) resulted in an uncannily productive jam session. They improvised eight songs in eight hours. They wrote nothing down (Buck says he just has a good memory for songs worth remembering). And three days later, Buck and Arthur who will record as Arthur Buck, performed them for a handful of locals for the first time. "It was really spontaneous and kind of magical in its own way, as [being in Mexico] we were kind of disconnected from everything," Buck says. 

New West Records signed Arthur Buck after hearing the ad-hoc demos, giving them the green light to produce a debut album set for release this year and coinciding with tour dates in North America and Europe. The songs – though currently being mixed – are catchy, starkly optimistic and (both Buck and Arthur agree) very different from their other current projects. 

In June, Buck released the politically galvanizing rock album Invitationwith the Corin Tucker-fronted supergroup Filthy Friends. Around the same time, Arthur, who lives in New York, was finishing up what he describes as a dark, introspective solo album. So he surprised himself when the lyrics he improvised with Buck were full-hearted. "All of a sudden it was like I had this musical partner and friend, and that relieved the music of the burden of the self, if that makes sense," Arthur tells Rolling Stone. 

One new song, tentatively called "I Am the Moment," sprang from his ritual of listening to inspirational YouTube videos – cheaper than therapy and more amenable to the full-time-musician timetable. 

"Joe is going through that searching period we all go through in life," Buck says of his bandmate. "And those experiences he's having make this a very forward-looking record, lyrically. The music has a questing kind of feel. We were making it up as we went along." 

PJ_Soul

Yay!

Shyner

Awesome

Wobbie

could be good.

EB218946

Hell yeah 

RP112579

Looking forward to this. Hopefully he releases his solo album this year, too.

RP112579

https://instagram.com/p/BhFHpsSFQgu/embed/

RP112579

https://instagram.com/p/BhM5xceltOY/embed/

RP112579

New song from the Arthur Buck project

https://youtu.be/FGm8v_YnVE4

PJ_Soul

Sweet, thank you for posting that.
Album will be released on June 15th. https://store.newwestrecords.com/collections/arthur-buck
Vinyl is only $18 USD.... but the cheapest international shipping price is $19 USD, lol.

goldrush

RP112579 said:

New song from the Arthur Buck project

https://youtu.be/FGm8v_YnVE4

Nice! I really like that song!

kramer73

PJ_Soul said:

Sweet, thank you for posting that.
Album will be released on June 15th. https://store.newwestrecords.com/collections/arthur-buck
Vinyl is only $18 USD.... but the cheapest international shipping price is $19 USD, lol.

ouch, do you have any local shops that you could get it from?