Today, we sat down with Josie Lockhart to discuss his inspiration to write music, type of music listened to growing up, and much more. Be sure to check out the music of Josie Lockhart below after the interview!
Interview:
What inspires you to write music? Is it your
surroundings?
Surroundings are certainly a part of it. I made up songs all the time as a kid, and then when I learned to play guitar at age 12, I learned power chords first so I could move easily around the guitar neck to write songs. I wasn’t a player who practiced scales or learning other people’s songs, I just wanted to make up my own. Definitely the scenery and the sounds around me feed into it, the people I love and strangers I encounter moving through the community. I do my best thinking on bike rides, and that’s a big part of how I put together song ideas.
What type of music did you listen to growing up?
My first favorite album was Graceland by Paul Simon, I wore out that cassette in my walkman as a three or four year old on a family road trip, then I cried until my parents pulled into a wal-mart to buy a replacement cassette. My dad introduced me to Lucinda Williams, Townes Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, and John Prine, and that’s a lot of what I listened to as a child. Great songwriters with great melodic instincts.
Is there someone you looked up to as a hero?
I’d have to say Paul Simon. In Elementary School, other kids loved Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys. I did too, but Paul Simon was at the top of the mountain for me, which was a bit unusual for my age group. I sang Slip Sliding Away for my 2nd grade talent show, brought down the house, or at least I felt like I did.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing today?
For the past 5 years, along with being a musician, I’ve been a Special Education Teacher. I’m very passionate about providing community involvement and expanding opportunities for people with disabilities, and will always find a way to stay involved with the disability community. I’m a very lucky person in that I’ve been able to do two things simultaneously that I am passionate about.
What can you tell us about your upcoming single ‘Every Kind Of Light’?
This was the first song I wrote for my upcoming album, ‘What Golden Hues.’ It started with the slide guitar melody, which you’ll hear in the intro. That melody popped into my head while I was paddling around Lady Bird Lake here in Austin actually. I didn’t have anything to record it with as I was on the water, but my general rule of thumb is that if a melody is good enough, or if it’s meant for me to have, it’ll stick with me long enough for me to get it into my voice memos, which this one did.
How does it compare to what you’ve released previously?
I think it’s a little more refined than what I’ve released previously. For a lot of my music up to this point, I’ve played all the instruments. For this album, I used studio players who could play their instruments much better than me. My friend Todd Harris is on the drums, Adrian Haynes is on lead guitar, and Carey McGraw is on bass and rhythm guitar. I programmed the synths and sang.
What advice do you have for our fans out there that want to create
music?
Have fun! Write stuff you like. Don’t try to follow trends. I’ve spent years stressing out about the music business and release strategies, not having enough followers and streams. What helped me is to zoom out. When you’re an old person, who knows if Spotify or Instagram or TikTok will even exist. What will exist is your catalogue of songs, so make stuff you think is cool, and take your time doing it.
Music:
