Tom petty, The Wallflowers, Gin Blossoms, Toad and the Wet Sprocket, Counting Crows, Kathleen Edwards, Patty Griffin, Norah Jones, and The Smashing Pumpkins.
Everyone’s got a story to tell. Sometimes it’s never seen among a million and one
faces, sometimes a person simply fails to recognize its existence, or sometimes, such
as the case with The Last Almanac, it sees itself drowning in a tide of louder voices,
realizes its self worth, swims to shore, gasps for air, resuscitates the individuality that
could have been lost, drives away from the beaches of conformity and into America’s
heartland searching for something more than the illusion of greatness created by the
smoke and mirrors of Los Angeles, such as the case with album “A Memoir.”
Lyrically and musically, it’s an organic nod to Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and the
Counting Crows, creating its own thunder without stealing the glory of the
aforementioned. In 35 minutes, Josiah Rosen has harnessed the past four years of
heartbreak, hardship and dreams lost with a lyrical bluntness full of wisdom and free
of petulance. He doesn’t ask for sympathy because he is set free, or, as he sings with a
raspy voice honed by countless nights in smoky bars as the former lead guitarist for
Augustana, Rosen is “better off alone.” If Augustana harkened dreams of beachside
barbecues and midnight drives past the Roosevelt Hotel, then The Last Almanac
beckons to tell a story with more depth than the superficial plastic of the West Coast.
If “All the Stars and Boulevards” was azure Pacific sunsets laced with Jack and Cokes,
then “A Memoir” is a beer on the back porch overlooking the sunrise of lessons learned.
The diamond of a track called “my former friends” begins with a majestic guitar boom,
but reveals its sharp edges with a kiss off to people who, to Rosen, “mean nothing to
[him] but the words in this song.” But friendship is not the only subject of The Last
Almanac’s debut album. The mandolin-laced, Radiohead-esque track “pipestone”
beckons to be burned onto a mixed album and sent to a former love. What hits the
listener like a poignant lightning bolt is not the allusion to betrayal and adversity, but
hearing the strength of Rosen’s vocal prowess and realizing had he not made this al-
bum, his own story would have been relegated to the background. At the heart of “A
Memoir” is Rosen’s story of coming home to wash off the grit of a dirty city, home to
city of familiar faces, home to what is true. –Maniezheh Firouzi
Order your copy of a "A Memoir" now!
Check this out, it's a cool map of everyone who visits this profile:
I seriously can't wait for the new stuff man! Looking forward to it! What's this I hear about "A Memoir" being out of print? Crap, I still needed to buy a copy. All I have is a burnt cd. Peace like grease. -Greg
still lovin the tunes man, i visit this page more more than a healthy amount. keep up the good work, I was just in STL last week playing cicero;s, but i heard you had relocated! best of luck...
Josiah - I just heard one of your songs on Pandora. com It made me smile in happiness for you, so I thought I'd drop you a comment. Hope you and the guys are doing well. It's been awhile since I've seen y'all around.
