Josiah and The Bonnevilles Tour Stop in Northern California
Josiah and the Bonnevilles pull over in Northern California for the night, here is what went down...
Pictures and Words: Jim Brown
I thought I'd never see someone live for the first time and immediately know it would never happen again, but it happened in Sacramento because Josiah and the Bonnevilles' sound is so distinctly American, so infectious and familiar, its clear an artist like this is never going to play a 300-person capacity bar again.
What a treat is was to be able to squeeze into the back corner of a small, over-crowded, sticky-floor bar in downtown Sacramento packed with fans of the Josiah sound to see him lay down the most meaningful set of songs I've witnessed since seeing Tyler Childers many years ago. Yes, I do believe Josiah and the Bonnevilles are destined for big things and big venues and are on their way to stake their place in American folk-county camp with their latest release "Endurance."
I can’t say enough about the sincere appreciation this artist displayed to the crowd, frequently restating his honor to have the opportunity to play for people that want to hear his music, because not long ago nobody did. Between songs, Josiah spun tales of his personal “endurance” in outlasting brushes with unemployment and his struggle with the uncertainty of his music career. Working odd jobs between inconsistent bursts of success with his music, Josiah hung in and endured. He emptied his wallet and coffee can full of cash (I’m guessing that's how they do it in Tennessee?) to fund his music adventure and when the pandemic hit, he shifted again and created country covers of some familiar hits and uploaded them to Spotify. Covering songs like “Ghost,” by Justin Bieber, "Anti Hero" by Taylor Swift and giving them his own sound and his unique voice, it didn’t take long for Josiah to get noticed online. That spurned him to action, he got a healthy amount of followers, released many of his own songs, and started thinking about a tour. Fast forward to tonight’s sold-out show and its easy to see this guy really really wants to be here.
Josiah cut into all the familiar tunes, showing he has some serious skills at writing his own lyrics as well, with many of his songs filled with deep reverence for his upbringing in Tennessee. The guy can write some great lines, especially in songs like "Blood Moon" and my most recent favorite "Keeping Love Alive." Take a listen and you can hear not only a great turn of phrase, but the feeling behind the words as well.
The sound was ok..not Josiah’s fault, the venue was not the greatest and I was told the tour stop was booked before he gained such a big following, so the crew kept the date and that is how Josiah ended up playing in what was not much bigger than a large family room. Josiah became very comfortable with the audience, earning their respect with each song and letting the show come to him, flowing with the crowd and telling stories between the notes. Josiah is a great guitar player and singer but also appreciated the constant engagement with the patrons in the front row, the middle and the poor blokes all the way in the back. He actually stopped playing for a minute to ask that the venue staff get somebody in the crowd a bottle of water, just another example of a regular guy who is making his way up the charts, never seeming to forget about the blue collar folks who built the room he was playing in and the van that takes his crew from city to city. Take a listen to “Another Day at the Factory” off the new album, it explains a lot about Josiah.
Josiah and the Bonnevilles are going to be touring for a while, this was only their ninth stop on the Endurance Tour, so you still have a chance to see them. When you go, make sure you find your way over to the merch booth to meet Casey, a really sweet young lady that was all too happy to find her place on this tour. When asked what the best part of the tour was so far, she smiled and said she had never seen so many different trees since leaving Ohio, and the distance traveled in the van between tour stops looking out the window at an America not seen from this perspective before felt like a movie passing by in real time. A great big adventure for everyone on tour I suppose. I wonder what new songs Josiah is writing while the van is rolling down the highway?
Click on the picture to go to Josiah and the Bonnevilles' website to find their upcoming tour dates, pay the ticket price, and if you're lucky…you’ll see him at a small venue he will probably never be at again.
Music Fan Meters:
Smoke Meter: None really, it would have set off the fire alarm anyway so no complaints here.
Fight meter: Not a whisper, even when the whiskey was flowing everyone just tucked in for the evening and accepted their place in the really small venue.
Sing Along Meter: Really cool to hear the crowd pick up on songs like "Stolen Love" and some of his country covers.