Josiah Johnson

When Josiah Johnson crafts a song, he dives into the deepest fathoms to illuminate the core properties of human emotion. Never merely touching on a subject, he beholds each one fully and from all angles, propelling us to view it through untainted lenses and to accept it without protection or pretense. His music cradles the life we all share, the joys and sorrows, the triumphs and deflations, and reminds us that an unmistakably stark beauty runs through it all. There is not one false note. Not one false promise. His voice exudes understanding and resonates with the struggles we’ve all felt and will continue to feel, and the music strides alongside us as we venture into a world that suddenly shimmers in a way we perhaps hadn’t previously been able to see. Together, he says, we will do this all together, and when the music fades, our collective glow will endure. His songs provide neither diversion nor release, rather a willing companion for now and evermore. We may smile and rest assured that they will walk hand in hand with us from here on out, for no hand is happier than when it is held.

Caitlin Jemma

Few performers forge as true and impactful relationship with their audience as Caitlin Jemma. Upon nestling in behind the microphone, she immediately vanquishes the barrier between stage and seats while ushering us into her most personal sphere of revelation. She is the embodiment of the music that sweeps through her, and as in any substantive relationship, we get to embrace her growth, exploration, bold expression and humble concessions. Her songwriting dons no cloak or protective mask, instead it stands naked in the light to proclaim this is who I am, and perhaps, who we are as well. The audience that innately begins rooting for her soon realizes that she is up there rooting for us just as hard, and the place where her music is taking us is only attainable if we all hop along for the ride. Her songs are such that pause for the solitary straggler, put an arm around the most disaffected and say honey, we all need you too. The songs lift us off the ground as one and then return us to the earth in the same manner, and we get to carry each other onward as we diverge onto different paths. Like old friends we meet, we part, and we meet again, and although this dance may be repetitive, the resounding joy we take from it never is.