The Josh Dion Band is led, as you might expect, by Josh Dion, its drummer, main songwriter and lead singer. The first thing that you notice when you see Josh perform is that he is an amazing drummer. That may sound like a "duh!" statement, but when you find yourself thinking back to the last time that someone knocked you out like this, it makes sense that you can't say it strongly enough. After growing up in Storrs, Connecticut, Josh attended William Paterson University in New Jersey. After college, Josh spent time on the jam band circuit with New York funk band ulu, where Josh became accustomed to being ready to go with whatever happens. Rounding out the sound that is the Josh Dion Band is bass player Brian Killeen, a former bandmate in the NYC funk band ulu and a current fellow with Josh as a sideman for guitarmeister Chuck Loeb, who guests with a blistering performance on "Indecision." However, most of the guitar work on Give Love belongs to 23 year old Dan Hindman, co-writer of "Birdwalker." The main keyboard duties are the province of Pat Firth, who co-wrote "Movin' On." The backing vocals feature the talents of a number of people, but Sarah Versprille and Justin Wade, along with Josh Dion, are the main voices in the backing vocals on all of these songs, as they are when you see the band live. Drummers who become the lead singer have only a few prominent role models in the pop world. Sure, there's a handful of names that people can name, but only a handful. Josh's inspiration for his future is a name that you don't hear very much in this context: Maurice White. Josh's love for Seventies funk led him to "Earth, Wind and Fire which became my all time favorite group because of their fusion of all different styles of music." Josh enthuses. "All the singers are drummers. Maurice White was originally a session drummer for Chess Records and played with the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Their lyrics are positive and spiritual so it connected me with all these different parts of my life that I had been through. It wasn't just 'sex, drugs and rock and roll', it was 'life is great, love is the answer and we're badass funky dudes.'"
Product Description
Give Love, the debut album from the Josh Dion Band, is an album that comes from musicians in their early twenties that covers so much ground musically and thematically, it lands on your doorstep as a complete, welcome surprise. Featuring complex vocal harmony arrangements, sometimes unusual time signatures and great guitar solos, this is not the product of the prevailing winds of teen pop music, but it is very much in the tradition of the best pop music can be. Give Love has been born fully formed as a funky celebration of life, love, personal freedom, commitment and responsibility in the world while never losing sight the main reason that it's there is to make your hips move.
