Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh (JHow) Howard.
Hi Josh (JHow), we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started playing bass somewhere around the age of 13 or 14 all because of the theme song to and anime called Cowboy Bebop. My mom is a music director at a methodist church in Tennessee and As soon as I started playing my mom had me playing in church. There was no youth band or anything so immediately I was playing with adults. Before this gig, she was a professional orchestral musician playing mostly Oboe. Because of that every musician that they hired were used to a professional atmosphere so that the atmosphere I learned in. When I started taking lessons, I immediately started learning jazz but I didn’t take bass really seriously until I was about 16. I met a couple of people who really invested in me and taught me how to learn music, how to practice 4-6 hours a day and just how to play at a much higher level. That’s around the time I started playing gigs out with other people my age.
Eventually, I went to college to study jazz at Lee University in Cleveland TN. I really just went to study with one man named Alan Wyatt. Alan was kinda like my Yoda, From him and his wife I learned a lot about life and spirituality but it was all through music. I learned that there was no way of music (and life) that is superior to any other. Genres in music are just a set of languages and cultures. There are rules and Do’s and Don’ts, but they are all relevant to the culture they come from. While I was in college, I was playing gigs the entire time as well as began to play in a lot of Charismatic churches that did mostly Gospel music. Gospel music and Jazz are the biggest parts of my musical makeup and has informed a lot of what I understand and know about music.
After college, I lived on the East Coast for a long time traveling, teaching and recording. While I lived there, I played and worked mostly in Nashville TN, East TN, Atlanta GA, Asheville NC, all over Florida. I also played a decent amount up North East as well as a few times internationally in Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago.
I have lived in LA for the past three years getting to know this scene. While I’ve been here, I’ve been blessed enough to travel with some really great groups of people and play and record locally with so many artists.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Like everyone else, I have had my share of ups and downs. The first realizing that after 10 years spent in a music career on the East Coast, I was hitting a hard ceiling. It was a real blow to realize that I hit the height of what I was doing over there and that I needed to make a big change. I moved with my family over to CA to try and reach some more goals but also to try and find a place where musically I fit in more. I believe that currently, I have found some of that. Besides that everyone goes through hardships in life and without getting specific, through the pandemic I had some pretty big life changes, lost some things that I cared about. Through that, it was trying to realize and except that the people I surround myself with are my family, they are here to support me and those are the people I can lean on.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently, I’m really leaning into my online content. It’s pretty well understood that now a person’s online presence is crucial and kind of like an online business card. I have received more than a few messages saying “Hey! I saw your post of you playing this song and I was wondering if you’re free for this gig…”
But recently I have been using my online profiles to focus on adding to other creative people’s lives. I have been streaming and taking videos of conversations I have with other musicians in LA, and I make clips all around giving advice or an informed opinion on real issues and topics creative people face in their careers. Topics like: the creative process from start to finish, dealing with failure, mental health in the music industry, how do you update your priorities as you get older, etc. I have been getting a great response and in the new year, I will be continuing to lean into the semi Motivational content geared toward creatives.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorites was getting a Nintendo 64 for the first time. I got Mario 64, Mario kart, and wave race pretty early on. I played a lot of video games growing up so they hold a special place in my brain cells.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @jhow275
- Youtube: youtube.com/@Jhowar04
Image Credits
James Meder Erica Silva Donovan Washington
