Tony Joseph

About me:

Website: www.tonyjosephmusic.com I LIVE IN NASHVILLE...BUT MY HEART IS HOME IN PITTSBURGH WITH MY STEELERS ...LUV THE "BLACK AND GOLD" My love of music started as it does with many people that pursue music as a career path—at a very young age. I began singing, I believe, when I first learned what singing was. I have always had a true love for great melodies and vocal harmonies, and I remember being drawn to groups that emphasized them, such as The Eagles, Firefall, and Ambrosia, as well as many of the great R&B Motown groups. I was not only impressed with their vocals, but also with how their songs were constructed. As a songwriter, I hope to have my songs create an identity that others can relate to that will inspire a feeling of knowing what I am trying to convey, or, move people in a way that they will somehow find their own story within my work. Growing up, I played saxophone and clarinet and found it hard to sing with an apparatus in my mouth, so as you might expect, I put the horns aside. In high school, I was a member of choir and "toyed" with the idea of forming a band; however, I must admit that looking back, it would have been impossible for me to totally commit to music due to my heavy involvement in athletics and my eventual selection into professional baseball as a pitcher at the age of 17. Although I did not directly pursue music as a career at that time, I had already begun the process of songwriting and finding out what it was that inspired me, as well as what it was that I needed to do as a writer that would inspire others without compromising myself. My true involvement and dedication to music did not come until I entered college and formed and fronted my own bands. Yes, like everyone else starting out, we played our share of copy material while writing our own songs during our "down time" and slipping an original song into our sets whenever we could get away with it. We certainly "paid our dues" by traveling for many years and playing bars and club circuits from 8 or 9 pm until 2 a.m.. We typically performed six sets a night, six nights a week and spent the "off day" driving hundreds of miles to get to the next gig. However...as grueling as it was at times, I would never trade those years for anything. It was a great learning experience as well as "a school" for learning the trade so to speak. Songwriting became an obsession for me early on. It was always something that just came to me. I describe it as a "word processor." I may be anywhere at anytime and see an image or hear a word or phrase and need to jot it down immediately. The "vision and sound" for the song somehow registers and remains in my thoughts. Ultimately, when I sit down to write, it all just starts coming to me. I may tweak some rhymes and lines here and there, but the bulk of the lyric will just flow. Nothing is ever forced. I usually have the "sound" that I want when I begin writing from my initial notes. I can never sit down and say "I'm going to TRY to write something." I need to be inspired. Positively or negatively, however, I believe that good songs come from both sides of our emotions and there is always something there to work from. One good thing about the way my writing comes to me is that I have never really experienced “writer's block.” The inspiration and ideas for my writing seem to always be there, and I am thankful for that. The process of writing isn't something that you turn on and off...it comes from every second of life experiences and the smallest thing can bring about an idea for a song. The hard part isn't finding something to write, it is deciding what NOT to write because I have so many ideas always running through my mind. I have always loved singing and performing and being in front of an audience, but my love for writing songs has seemed to come to the forefront just as much. It is something that is a vital part of me, something that I need to have for the release of emotions. I believe that at this point in time, I am concentrating primarily on songwriting with the hope of placing my songs with a publisher and of course, a major artist that can give them the "life" they deserve. I would also love to collaborate and co-write with others to continue to explore new boundaries. If performing happens again sometime in the future, I would certainly welcome that. Maybe something in the mode of Brooks and Dunn. I find a duo appealing and would really like to pursue that at some point in time.