My old friend Josh just sent an email around to everyone in the world that he knows telling us all to go a grab a copy of a free acoustic album he recorded back in 2001. In his email he said “Feel free to share and post it anywhere.” So I hope he doesn’t mind if I give it a plug on here.

I met Josh back in 98 or 99 at Gordon College, MA. I particularly remember a night in 2000 when he arrived at a friends house amid an unfolding drama that involved an overly theatrical girl called Ruth quite literally wailing over some unimportant incident like some sort of grief stricken mourner at a Baltic funeral. Josh found a quite spot on the balcony whereupon he took out his guitar and started singing songs in the company of those who were trying to steer clear of the overly emotional meltdown.

Between the wailing and shouting downstairs, and the passing cars where the engine was drowned out by the booming bass emanating from them, Josh played a selection of songs which cut their way through Salem’s seedier side setting us all free like prisoners on day passes. He saved that night as I recall, then he got back into his famous white Chevy Cavalier which everyone knew as ‘Mr. Whippy.’

At some point in 2000 I recorded one of my ‘Reality Radio‘ shows in the Salem Beer Works with Josh and friends Anne and Jodie. He told stories and sang without prompt as we whiled away the evening drinking strange brews like the ‘Bunker Hill Blueberry Ale‘ and ‘Beantown Nut Brown Ale.’

A year later in 2001, Josh and his guitar known as ‘The Ever-Vigilant Birdy Pie’ set out on a 45 day Greyhound bus trip all the way around the Continental United States.

On the day that they returned, and after a 10 hour bus ride from Ottawa to Boston, they went right into the studio to record “Trans-American Bus Roots”. Now, some 7 years later Josh has decided to give that collection of songs away Josh Cole’s website
Reality Radio : Me, Josh and friends recorded in a bar in Salem, MA