Joseph Arthur has been writing music and making albums for over two decades now. He’s also been an accomplished painter for longer than that. Among the many studio albums he’s recorded are his first couple Big City Secrets (1997) and Come to Where I’m From (2000) which were distributed by Peter Gabriel’s label Real World and which produced the singles “In The Sun” and “Honey and the Moon”. He’s gone on to make a series of unforgettable albums which were with the product of collaboration or solo-driven. Some of his insanely prolific output includes Redemption’s Son (2002), Our Shadows Will Remain (2004), Nuclear Daydream (2006), Temporary People (2008), The Ballad of Boogie Christ, and more recently a collaboration with Ben Harper & Dhani Harrison for Fistful of Mercy (2010), a tribute album to his hero Lou Reed simply titled Lou (2014), and his most recent collaboration with Peter Buck formerly of R.E.M. called Arthur Buck (2018). Arthur is currently working on a new album whose melodies are inspired by his acoustic guitar. He performs one song live for the podcast —which may or may not make the final cast— called “Dreamcatcher”.
Arthur has three shows coming up in the final days of 2018 including one at City Winery DC on Saturday, December 29th, one at The Locks at Sona in Philadelphia on Sunday, December 30th, and for his 9th Annual New Year’s Day show with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo at City Winery NYC on Tuesday, January 1st. Tickets are limited so purchase now.
Clips from Arthur’s songs on the podcast include “Are You Electrified” and “American Century” from the Arthur Buck album, “In the Sun”, “Honey and the Moon”, and lastly the entirety of “Walk on The Wild Side” off his Lou Reed tribute album Lou. Photo credit: Adam Schartoff, NYC, 1/22/18.