Artist to Watch: Josh Thompson

Blue-collar workers and the country way of life is something that newcomer Josh Thompson not only sings about, he’s also lived it growing up in Milwaukee.  As soon as Josh became old enough to help out with the family business, Josh’s hard-working father put his son to work pouring concrete.  Although the concrete business kept him busy, Josh found the time to pursue many other varied interests, including football, track and gymnastics.  Josh’s gymnastics career wasn’t something he took lightly; he, in fact, was named all-around state champion for two years!  Upon high school graduation, Josh worked on a road crew for three years as a journeyman concrete finisher.  He followed that with a stint in college studying forestry and fish and wildlife management fueled by his passion for the outdoors.

Music came to Josh a little later in life when you compare him with other country artists, many of whom found their musical gifts at an early age.  At 21, Josh got his first guitar and tried his hand at songwriting like his traditional country heroes who include Merle Haggard and Randy Travis among others.  After “living off the grid” in Alaska, Josh moved to Nashville in January 2005 and quickly scored himself a publishing deal.  Josh hit the road with a band and toured across the country and soon wrote a song that turned out to be crucial to his career – “Growing Up Is Getting Old.”  The tune became the title track of Jason Michael Carroll’s sophomore album and earned Josh an important meeting with record executives at Jason Michael’s label.

The execs loved what they heard from Josh and offered the singer-songwriter his own record deal.  Josh’s debut single “Beer On The Table” became a Top 20 hit for him and his follow-up “Way Out Here” is currently climbing the charts.  Earlier this year, Josh hit the road with Eric Church on his Jagermeister Country Tour, but Josh will soon find himself on the much-buzzed about H2O World Tour headlined by superstar Brad Paisley.  The tour is set to kick-off on Friday, May 21 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Josh’s debut album Way Out Here is available now, in stores and online.       

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital © 2010

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