LOS ANGELES, CA- When Lauren Ruth Ward entertained a sold out Troubadour back in March, one of the opening acts that evening was Josiah Leming of Josiah and the Bonnevilles. In this particular instance, Josiah took the stage solo without his Bonnevilles.
His music is introspective Americana and as he stood alone on stage he was able to let his powerfully delicate tenor convey the emotions and sensitivities of his compositions. The cowboy hat he wore had me recalling Dylan circa “Desire” and he seemed to summon that spirit- less political messaging- in his performance.
This was my first time hearing his music, but I assumed that his set consisted of cuts from his latest release (or re-release?), On Trial. It was a solid performance that proved to me that Josiah could handle his own, all by his lonesome, with just a guitar and sometimes a harmonica.
After acclimating myself with his latest effort after the fact, I imagined what he would sound like live backed by a full band and background vocalists. I am particularly fond of his recording “Swing”, and imagined what the layered vocal/choral arrangement in the chorus would have sounded like live with a chorus harmonizing behind him. The same could also be said about his recordings of “Can You Hear It” and “Appalachia”. Could you image what it would sound like if the chorus in “Appalachia” harmonized the slide guitar outro of that track? I can.
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LIVE CLIPS
Josiah and the Bonnevilles at the Troubadour 3/29/18. Thoughts and photos coming soon to @BlurredCulture. pic.twitter.com/gzxYpDn3ek
— Derrick K. Lee (@methodman13) April 16, 2018
