A fresh single from Joe Stone brings a gritty and full-bodied blues rock feel to life with a deep groove and baritone vocals that boasts that raspy tone that comes along with an edgy blues feel, and it works like a damn charm.
"Slow Talker (Fast Walker)" is compiled of different chapters that relate to the topic and each verse is like a chapter in his life. A glimpse if you will into happenings that come from experience as a man, and it's all riddled with such a lush character it's crazy.
This single is brutally honest or, Stone is just one hell of a detailed storyteller which of course comes with the blues territory.
The release is character defining and the guitar work is beyond outstanding with hefty bends and wailing tones along with some real deal guitar player trickery that makes sounds you can hardly define.
The wonder of this song is the attitude and the feel of it all. It comes with some genuine undertone and this great story telling style that feels like you're sitting around a campfire with the man just listening to him tell these descriptive and alluring stories that grab at you and make you think and paint vivid imagery in your head. Even if you don't want to...there it is.
This is a skill of a true bluesman, and it is as important as the guitar playing is. You have to be able to perform with no doubts. Gain the attention of you listeners. Stone does this all like it's breathing.
It's a site to see...or a sound to hear.
This is some of the most genuine sound we've heard in ages and it's about time for it.
With the release of such a killer single, we wanted to have a chat with Joe to talk about where this all came from and what may be next for him.
here's what happened.
RAG: Okay so let's start with "Slow Talker". This single has a great swagger and gritty
undertone to it! Where did this track come from?
In 2007, I moved to NYC from Cologne, Germany, when my life was equally exciting and
depressing. NY was and still is a dream come true, and was the best possible chance for me to run from the divorce of my parents, the family dramas, the break up with my girlfriend, the
uncertainties of a young artist in the making with all its doubts and fears. As a young jazz
drummer and wanna-be-composer not having found or formulated a unique voice yet, always biting your tongue, grinding your teeth when asked for my whys and hows, paired with depression, my tongue weight a ton, just like a Slow Talker’s, impaired by circumstance, silence was golden. At the same time I could run away across the Atlantic to the city of my wildest dreams, where the locals are known for walking real fast, and I quickly became a Fast Walker.
Running fast to escape turned into fast-walking like a NYer. While obsessing over instrumental- abstract-contemporary-improvised musics, I found balance and a new second best friend in the music of Tom Waits. Then I got my first acoustic guitar as payment for playing drums with a Long Island singer-songwriter, practiced a lot, learned all the songs, and by doing so, became a songwriter myself.
RAG: So how did this all begin for you? When did you fall in love with music really?
My mum put me in pre-school music group at age 4, singing kids’ songs and drooling onto the piano, throwing triangles across the room.
At six years old, the teacher suggested I should choose an instrument, and since I was a
hyper kid demolishing furniture at home, they suggested to try the drums. I stuck with private lessons until I finished high school.
RAG: Who is in your headphones right now?
Mostly my own latest demos, recordings and mixes, mostly work related listening.
RAG: What inspires you to write a song?
Live & Death. Boredom is necessary to find a rhyme, a line, a metaphor, a melody, a seed.
Boredom is hard to come by. Those are my most precious moments.
RAG: I'm hearing some great styles on this song. Who are some of your biggest musical
influences?
Obviously Tom Waits all the way back to his own inspiration Screaming Jay Hawkins, the Alan Lomax rabbit hole, all the Bluesers with their stomp boxes and wash tub basses, all Jazzers, the great lyricists Dylan, Prine, the beatpoets, Woodstock. I have a vast and inclusive love for music. I played timpani on all nine Beethoven symphonies.
RAG: What are you doing when you're NOT working on music?
Hunting funding for the next project. Hunting gigs, booking flights. Sleeping.
RAG: Would you say live performances are a big part of what you do?
Oh yes! The more, the merrier, every gig needs to be played. Recording in the studio is not
dissimilar to performing in front of an audience. I love singing my songs into any ear or
microphone, onto any mind or tape.
RAG: This single feels like a big undertaking, is there any advice you'd give to other up and
coming artists out there?
Move to NYC. Write, gig, produce your guts out. Don’t expect anything. NYC doesn’t give a
shite about you. TipJarBlues tells you everything you need to know. My debut album
PERMABLUES was indeed a big and long undertaking, I’m glad it didn’t take me under, hence its name.
RAG: What can your fans expect from you in the near future?
My second album is ready for release with a bunch of music videos and live footage. I sing on it with my clear voice. It took me years to sound like myself.
RAG: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Please help me by sharing my stuff online every time you think of it. If you want me to keep
doing this, please share it again and frequently. And please, if you don’t mind, please tell your
friends to share it, too. Also tag and link my stuff whenever you have the chance. Don’t take
musicians for granted. Subscribe to my YT channel, follow my insta/FB, and share and
comment on it daily. Buy my music off of Bandcamp: https://joestoneband.bandcamp.com/
Also comment with superlatives, like and heart it, like it’s cat or food content. Imagine a world
without independent musicians. Oh, and don’t let a robot choose your music.