Jamming Down South with Josh and the Hinges

If you are a music lover, you have to include Josh Roberts and The Hinges to your collection. With catchy lyrics and creative guitar playing, their music will have you swaying and singing along in minutes. After hearing their music on myspace, I invited Josh to do an interview with me. He not only did the interview, but also asked for my address so he could send me their new album. Awesome!! These guys are common folk who enjoy rocking out, and that is why you should check them out! The following is the results of a Q&A session with Josh.

SM- First of all, introduce yourself and the band.

JR- The band is:
Josh Roberts-Vocals, Guitar
Leslie Branham-Vocals, guitar, banjo
Robert Walker-Guitar
Chris Shirah-Drums
Corey Stephens-Vocals, Bass.

SM- Cool, In three words, describe your musical style.

JR- Musical style in three words?
"New-fashioned Old-fangled Rock n Roll."
I figure that counts, seeing as the first two are hyphenated and "Rock n Roll" may as well be one word.
New fashioned, to me, means aiming at invention and innovation without particular regard for trends or, ironically, fashion of any kind.
Old-fangled really has two bases: My love for mysterious and rugged pre-war American folk music of all kinds, and the immediacy and raw emotional power of earlier Rock n Roll (the kind most often made in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, though plenty still make it today).
Between us, the band is versed in Rock, blues, country, punk, gospel, and pop, so "New fashioned Old-fangled" is just taking the traditional roots we share and avoiding the prison of purism.

SM- Wonderful, after you threw those words my way, I listened to your music with them in mind, and yes, it all makes sense to me! Okay, next question, What are your 3 favorite songs of all time.

JR- Three favorite songs? That's tough. The toughest.
I'll just share three songs that won't leave me alone lately.
a. "Angie" by The Rolling Stones. Impossible to ignore. I'd love to cover it, but I never will. Just the way Mick pronounces the word "Angie" makes it all theirs.
b. "The Real Me" by The Who. The bass playing and drumming makes my blood boil.
c."Feeling Stronger Every Day" by Chicago. Same reason as The Who. There was a time, unfortunately long-gone, when Chicago got seriously fired up.
I love lots of songs, new and much older, but these three have always worked at me.

SM- Great selection, by the way, I knew that was gonna be a toughy, that is why I asked it. And next, If someone wanted to buy your CD, where would they go?

JR-...they should go to www.joshrobertsmusic.com. Our last album "The Sugar Bird Test is available there, and we're working on a new album that should be out in April.

SM- Great, I'm looking forward to mine in the mail, thanks again! Last but not least, Describe what one might see when going to one of your shows. I guess set the stage for us?

JR- At our shows, we want absolute ecstatic abandon. We want to take human energy and magnify it, that's all. This experience is present in all cultures and religious traditions because it's the best group therapy there is, and I just pray we can be worthy of carrying it on.

SM- Sign me up!!

So there you have it, as you can see, these guys are down to earth and have awesome style in music. Their flavor is one of a kind and I encourage anyone who is in the Columbia, SC area to look them up. Thanks again for taking the time to entertain my questions guys.