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Josh Woodward seems to have a career death wish. A prolific indie acoustic-rock songwriter, he has released nine albums in the past seven years, but he has chosen to give away all of his music for free. In a world of $18 CDs and lawsuits against file sharing grandmothers, Josh offers 170 songs as free downloads from his websites, and sells CDs on a name-your-own-price basis. This gamble has paid off well; he's used file sharing to build a viral, worldwide network of fans. After over two-and-a-half million MP3 downloads from his site, he's living proof that the music world is changing. His brand of energetic and passionate delivery with vivid stories, clever wordplay and dark humor may not be for everyone, but the Internet has made it possible to find its audience. To date, he's released nine albums. His most recent, "Ashes", was released in November 2010. The album represents a distillation of the best of what his music has to offer: intense dark rock, delicate acoustic pieces, with a touch of humor in places. A loose concept album, it turns inward and explores the cycle of life, and questions the role of religion in that cycle. As with all of Josh's music, it's a one-man operation: written, performed, recorded and released with a do-it-yourself, guerilla mentality. The Internet is the main source of exposure for Josh's music. He's currently posting a live acoustic performance video each week on YouTube, and thousands of videos from other users feature his music. Hundreds of podcasts play Josh's music each month from countries as varied as Canada, South Africa, Australia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as Adam Curry's "Podshow", broadcast nationally on Sirius Satellite Radio. He was also a featured artist for Clear Channel New in Winter 2006, which included extensive online promotion and national radio airplay. He's one of the most downloaded artists on Jamendo, a Creative Commons music site. In 2010, "Swansong" was the featured song in Ubuntu Linux version 10.10. The major record labels cry that file sharing will kill music as we know it. We can only hope that they're right, so that the road can be paved for a new generation of anti-rockstars who are in it for the love of music. Hi-Res Photos: 2008 Promo Photo, Weird Photo, Headshot, Live |
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