Featured Artist: Vance Joy

Vance Joy went from 0 to 100 in about sixty seconds. Okay, maybe it was six months, but that’s not a very long time to transform from James Keogh, a pretty average guy from Melbourne, Australia to Vance Joy, an internationally known artist boasting a five-album record deal with Atlantic Records.

It’s unclear if James Keogh actually received a law degree, but some sort of higher education degree was involved around the time Keogh radically switched career paths to pursue his love for music. He earned a reputation playing open mic nights around Melbourne, and in January of this year signed a deal with Liberation Music, an Australian boutique label. One week in the studio produced his first EP God Loves You When You’re Dancing, five tracks of folk pop, ukulele heaven. Before it had even released, he was invited to SXSW. “Riptide,” the first single off the EP, became #1 on Hype Machine within hours of being posted to Soundcloud, and it was shortly after certified GOLD (+35,000 purchases) by ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association).

It appears that Vance Joy waltzed into fame just as easily as his infectious songs fit together. The rhythm of his lyrics coalesces with the music like jigsaw pieces. They sound as though Keogh reached into the air and simply pulled them down for the world to hear. However, in interviews, Vance Joy has revealed that he’s captivated by how words can fit music and thus his lyrics are carefully chosen. He’s said that he searches for words in books, music, or his own songwriting “that are able to hit the nerve, that for whatever reason make sense and feel familiar and true.”

One of the best lines off the EP is, “You told me ‘Boy, look the other way.’ You told me, ‘Boy, hide those hands.’ I’ve been living on the crumbs of your love, and I’m starving now,” he sings on “From Afar,” a song about unrequited love. He sings with a touch of vibrato and the sort of earnestness that hurts a heart even more than gusto or vengeance.

Vance Joy alternates between simple guitar picking patterns and feel-good ukulele rhythms. Layers of simple, organic instruments complement these—a maraca, sparse piano chords, a single snare. The simplicity works to let the songs’ themes shine, rather they be the joy of abandoning fear (“Rip Tide”) or the tenderness of abiding love (“Snaggle Tooth”).

Vance Joy has been touring hard across the globe to appease his growing number of fans. With all of the travel, it will be a feat to write and record an album by next year, which he’s named as a primary goal in a few interviews. Keogh says he will also be focusing on growing as a songwriter, an art for which he clearly has a natural knack.

“Riptide” put Vance Joy at the top of many One To Watch lists. Music trendsetters are wondering if he will deliver the same quality work as what we’ve heard on God Loves You When You’re Dancing. With five albums promised to Atlantic, these questions will be answered soon enough. Meanwhile, we have the rare privilege of watching this promising musician develop while navigating his newfound limelight. His work so far is proof that he will deliver with humility and grace.

For more on Vance joy go HERE and HERE

Photo By Ian MacLatchy

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Caroline McDonald

My first memory is of singing Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” quietly to myself during preschool naptime. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Nashville where an instrument lives in every home, but music has gripped me for as long as I can remember.

After dabbling in many parts of the music industry—recording studios, PR, management, labels, publishing—I’m expanding into music journalism because I’m yet to find anything more rewarding that finding and sharing new music.

A longtime sucker for girls with guitars, my musical taste unabashedly follows the songwriting lineage of Dolly Parton and includes Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and Neko Case. But not to pigeonhole myself, my music love is big love that stretches from R.L. Burnside to Animal Collective to Lord Huron.

I’ve recently moved home to Nashville after living in Boston and Big Sur for several years. I’d forgotten how music pours onto the streets ten hours a day, seven days a week. I’m honored to share the creative explosion happening here. If your band is in the area or of the area, please reach out!