Roots, Rhythm & Revolution: Mighty Joshua

On this episode of The Hook, Johni & Jess sit down with reggae artist Mighty Joshua—joined by his guitarist Ian Hartman (aka Ian I)—for a conversation that goes far beyond the music.

From his early connection to the roots of reggae to building a sound that blends classic influence with global energy, Mighty Joshua shares the journey behind his artistry—and the purpose that fuels it—while Ian brings perspective from the stage, the sound, and the chemistry that makes it all come alive.

With his 2024 album DREADUCATION earning national recognition and GRAMMY® consideration, this episode dives into the stories, collaborations, and message behind the music.

But what makes this conversation hit differently? Mighty Joshua wasn’t just chasing music—he was simultaneously shaping young minds through education, creating a powerful intersection between purpose, platform, and impact.

You’ll hear about:

•  The origins of his sound and spiritual connection to reggae 
•  Balancing a career in education while building a music movement 
•  The story behind DREADUCATION and working with legends like Junior Marvin 
•  What it really feels like to share stages with icons like Ziggy Marley and Steel Pulse 
•  The dynamic between artist and guitarist—and how that translates live 
•  His decades-long commitment to the Makindu Children’s Centre in Kenya 

Plus, a live music moment featuring Mighty Joshua and Ian I that brings it all home—raw, real, and exactly what The Hook is all about.

This isn’t just an interview—it’s a conversation about music with meaning, living with intention, and what it really means to Stay Mighty.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome to The Hook, where music and art come together with the people that created it. I'm Johnny. I'm Jess. You're on the hook.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Today on the hook, we're diving into Roots reggae, global rhythms, and music with a mission.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

We're sitting down with Mighty Joshua, an artist whose sound blends classic reggae with powerful modern energy. The kind that makes you move and think, maybe even question a few things.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

His 2024 album, Dreducation, earned national acclaim and even Grammy consideration, featuring legends like Junior Marvin of the Whalers, Lunky Branch, and Ross Mel.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

He's open for icons like Ziggy Marley, Steel Pulse, and Barress Hammond. And his live shows don't just light up a room, they shift it. There's energy, there's purpose, there's connection.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

And what's really interesting about his journey, he wasn't just building this as an artist. He was also working in education, shaping young minds while building a message-driven music career at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

And beyond the music, he's doing incredible work supporting youth in Kenya through the McAndo Children's Center, a partnership that's been going strong for over 20 years. So yeah, this isn't just an episode, it's a whole experience. Mighty Joshua and Ian Hartman, you're on the hook.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

What pulled you into reggae? Was it a sound, a feeling? Was it a moment?

SPEAKER_05 1:46

It was it was my big brother. My brother went away to college. I grew up in Charlottesville. So he went off to Virginia State and was exposed to all of this good music, culture, food, information. And he started coming home with these tapes that were these soundclash tapes out of Jamaica. And they were like live Soundclash. And that's what kind of got my attention initially. I guess I was like 14, 15 years old. It blew my mind. And then I got into like roots, because that's more of a dance hall culture, the sound clash culture. Got into roots and culture, and it changed how I listened to music, changed how I did everything. It was mind-blowing the world of reggae music for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

I want to know what you were listening to before that moment.

SPEAKER_05 2:32

A lot of a lot of rap music. Okay. Yeah, and I still listen to rap music. But yeah, NWA, Public Enemy. My I mean, my brother would my brother exposed me to a lot of music. So my first real concert, I mean, my mother and father took me to see Cool in the Gang. I want to say, like, do y'all remember these music series that they do at King's Dominion? Oh, yeah. So I saw Patty LaBelle, I saw Cool in the Gang as a youth. And then my brother started taking me to concerts. Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff, run DMC. He would not let me be home for too long. My big brother would pick me up. We drive to DC. My mother knew nothing about any of this. Yeah, we go to go-go shows, yeah, like junkyard bands. So I got exposed to live music at a pretty young age and had my mind blown.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

So we might have crossed paths because that's when I was in DC. Okay. So that's where I went to high school. So I was going to Safari Club and 9 30 and fifth column. Yeah. I mean, that's I was running around DC going to all those shows. I mean, and my mother didn't know where I was either.

SPEAKER_05 3:38

Yeah. It's probably best she didn't.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Yeah, we were just, we're gonna talk to somebody who is a big 9 30 club person tomorrow, but I was trying to remember what the last show I was at the OG 930 club, and it was Bismarcky. And it was so good. It was such a good show. And I can't even, I don't even know how he ended up there, but and or how I did, but it was fantastic.

SPEAKER_05 4:01

I got a Bismarcky story I'll share with you another time.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Nice. He's dirty.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

That's why he's sharing it with you a little time. That's the way you said it.

SPEAKER_04 4:14

He's dirty.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Well, Ian, what got you into reggae?

SPEAKER_07 4:20

High school friends had early Bob Marley stuff, like Lee Perry type recordings, a little bit of exposure there. On a recommendation of my cousin, I got a uh King Tubby album. King Tubby is a dub engineer from Jamaica. Yeah, so the art of dub is to take a recorded full band, full performance, and then strip it down to drum and bass and kind of highlight that as the main elements of the of the mix and then supplement it with like wild reverb and delays and stuff. It's it's a pretty wild musical form, but I clicked that in my in my CD player, and man, my life changed at that moment. I bought a bass just months prior to that, went from like the blues to reggae full time, you know, at that moment. That kind of developed into starting a band in 1999 in San Luis Obispo, California. Big up resonation that they're still playing today, and then just kind of been part of my life ever since.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

And now Mighty Joshua.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

So I realized, thinking about you guys coming in, that I have kind of a legendary story. I saw Yellow Mon in DC balls to the wall on LSD. The greatest part of that story is that he literally had a yellow glow. And I'm talking about like 10 feet in all directions off him. It was real. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:42

It's not as real as it gets.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

He was one of the best reggae shows I ever saw until Mighty Josh Club.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

I've seen Yellow Man a bunch of times. Well, I lived on the Outer Banks for God, 10 years or so. Okay. And I was telling her earlier that I got to see Ziggy back in the 90s. Porta Call, maybe? Yeah. Porta Call. That's where you live in. Yes. They actually played there. It's right behind Porta Call. Oh, you you lived in the middle of it all then. Oh, I could hear the ocean and the music.

SPEAKER_05 6:10

Yeah, the cool thing about playing Port A Call was that they they had a beach house for you for the bands that was in the corner. And then the after party was at the beach house. You remember? I think we played there a couple of times.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

I know exactly the house. I know. We won't even talk about what she'd been doing in that house. Yeah, it was going for Shella. So Reggae has such a deep culture and spiritual foundation. Who were some of those early voices or artists that really shaped the way you hear and create music?

SPEAKER_05 6:44

Bob and Peter were really accessible. Old pirates rabbi sold I to the merchant ships. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:03

Old pirates, yes, they rob I sold I to the merchant ships. Minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit, but my hand was made strong by the hands of the Almighty. We forward in this generation, triumphantly. Won't you help to sing?

SPEAKER_05 7:44

And then also kind of getting some of that Icomause, he has a very dynamic voice and style. Bob got me pretty early, and then Peter right after Bob. And then Burning Spear really started to kind of hold me. The feeling that Burning Spear and the Burning Band would really push me to want to be a part of that energy. So Burning Spear was a huge part of that. And then later, there's a band called Midnight out of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. And when that band hit the scene, um, they were based in DC for a little while. When that band hit the scene, everything changed. Like even reggae music changed forever.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Are they still playing?

SPEAKER_05 8:27

The lead singer transition to Zion maybe what three, four years ago? The band still plays, and the producer Tippi is very active. So influential that you're seeing a lot of reggae artists throughout the entire Caribbean start to work with Tippi. So the sound that Tippy helped create with Midnight is now being stamped on reggae music in a way that the sound is like changed and evolved quite a bit. Vaughn, his voice alone, you feel it in your everything. His lyrical content is so different from like traditional roots reggae. It's very spiritually scientific in some ways. It's the future and the past at the same time. It moves things. The band that they were in right before he transitioned, it was a band called Ake Becca. That name alone is like the sound that is made by the angels. When you listen to their music, the sound is made by angels.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Everything that you're saying to describe that is how I feel at one of your shows. So if that was your influence, it is working really well. So we saw Mighty Joshua last month. My husband ran into a friend of his that was in a band he drummed in. We all ended up kind of hanging out in the same section. And while we were there, he said, I'm not really big into reggae. It's my nephew's birthday. Here for that. He like had this disclaimer. Okay. And I'm like, okay, whatever. Weird. John Jay. If you're listening. The two opening bands played. He's just kind of kicked back, having his drink, chilling. Y'all start playing. I start seeing him move just a little bit. And then I see him start moving just a lot a bit. And then all of a sudden his hands are out and he is up and down the VIP section. And I'm looking at him, and he looked at me and he goes, Maybe I do like reggae. I said, No, you like Mighty Joshua.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

Big up John Jay.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:19

This tune right here is called Sometimes.

SPEAKER_06 10:37

Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. You're on my mind all the time. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. You got me checking for you in the daytime. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, all the way to the night time. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, Majesty, you move me. Caught between a dream and reality. It's not just your beauty, it's your heart beating inside of me. I love it when we do what we do and we do it. You're gonna make me write a love song for you, baby. And another one for you, babe. Oh, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Sugar cane juice in the summertime. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Love is a fresh vegetable alkali. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. We'll obselect a press free wine. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Watch, woman, you strengthen me. Good for my heart and my soul. Yeah, nothing can break with strong like the lion in Zion. Together we will conquer anything. I'm blessed to spend a lifetime with you, my queen. Lord of mercy, what do you need? Oh, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. You're on my mind all the time. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. You got me checking for you in the daytime. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, all the way to the night time, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Yeah, so Johnny and Jess.

SPEAKER_05 12:50

You ever have somebody on your mind? You thinking about them all the time, but you're trying to tell yourself not to think about them all the time.

unknown 12:57

It's bad.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

And so you can't even admit it. It's like I I can't just say that I'm thinking about them all the time. So I tell myself it's just sometimes. But deep down in my heart, I cannot stop thinking about them. Yeah. So, change. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_06 13:13

Hey, Majesty, you move me. Caught between a dream and reality. It's not just your booty. This is your heart beating inside of me. I love it when we do what we do and we do it. You're gonna make me write a love song for you, baby. And another one for you, babe. Oh sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Sugarcane juice in the summertime. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Love is a fresh vegetable alkaline. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Wheel up select a press rewind. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes And you just can't stop.

SPEAKER_05 14:20

Ian on Guitar. We're in here with Johnny and Jess. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_06 14:30

Sometimes. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 14:41

That's that song right now is probably the most listened to song on like Spotify. People seem to like it. It's a song that we I think we started it in what, North Carolina? We were on tour with a band called Signifier. We slept at their house, somebody's house, and they had a setup piano keyboard. Me and the backing vocalists, we slept in a camper out in front of the house, and then everybody else kind of slept in the house. Out came in to brush my teeth, and they were already like playing this kind of melody, the song. And so we started it there, recorded on our phone, came back and like finished it up.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

One of the things that we loved learning about your story or that I did talking to you was that while you've been building Mighty Joshua, you have been also in tandem in education.

SPEAKER_05 16:04

I went to VCU, studied psychology, got a bachelor's in psychology, and then I got a job at a group home. Went back to school to get my master's and got real distracted by music and started seeing I could kind of make money, and I just got distracted by music. So ended up getting a job at a private school out in the country. That was 23 years ago, and been in that school the entire time. I usually don't talk about it too much, but the kids find out that I play music. And now the organization also likes to celebrates. They come out to shows, they support me going on tour. When the kids find out, it's actually quite funny because it's like, hold on, wait a minute. I saw you on YouTube. Is this you? And I'm like, that ain't me. Um you know, somebody from work will show up with a t-shirt on, and I have my face on it, and it'll just be like, it's like putting it together, like, like that's not you. It's two different worlds. It's two different worlds. Very cool. I like doing what I do, you know, and it's starting to get to a point to where I have to talk about it. So I come in and I'm walking to my office, I come through the back door, and there is a guy sitting in my office with the head of school, and he looks at me when I walk in, and he says, What the fuck?

SPEAKER_06 17:23

It's my Joshua. Whoa, what a joy it is to see the unification of my family. We can debate the source of self-hate, but we don't have precious time to waste. Now we're here. So what do we do? We must seek our elders not for senseless clues. Trust me, they are the soul, the rhythm, the black and the blues, the pep and the step, the stone at the builder refuse. So stand up tall and throw away your fears. The victory is ours. Wipe away those tears and dash away any hesitation. Be sure to know unity is our weapon, weapon, weapon. Please, my children, hear me when I say our ancestors walk with us every step of the way. Let not their fight and sacrifice with her in vain. Marcus, Magilena, and Malcolm's aim was the same. They left us with the blueprint stamped in our DNA. There is not an obstacle that can stand in our way. We must power through for the generations to come. Put your differences aside. You can't make a feast with not the world. So stand up tall and throw away your fears. The victory is ours. Wipe away those tears, and dash away every hesitation. Be sure to know unity is our weapon. So stand up tall and throw away your fear. The victory is ours. Wipe away those tears and dash away every hesitation. Be sure to know Unity is our weapon, weapon, weapon.

SPEAKER_05 20:46

Yeah, that tune has not been released just yet. It's been recorded. We recorded that at Mountainside in Charlottesville. It's one of my favorite tunes of our new newer tunes right now.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

When you're riding, are you chasing a message or does the message kind of find you along the way?

SPEAKER_05 21:03

Stories are already there. I just need to find a comfortable space to let them out. Today I was running and I couldn't concentrate on running because I was trying to get to my phone to jot down this memory that I was having. When I find peaceful places or like meditative spaces, it's almost like I'm a conduit for the stories that's like already inside. Or stories that haven't even happened yet. So a lot of songs that we tend to write, they take place a lot of times during soundcheck. So it's a time when we're playing, everybody's just kind of tuning or fingering their instrument, and they're just finding a space. And the music is usually not a song that we're about to play. Everybody's just kind of, and we've written multiple songs through soundcheck as well. But if I'm sitting down or to write, then it's probably me running to a space to try to get this off of me.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

We just interviewed a musician who was essentially saying that he believes that all these songs are already in the universe and that you just are the conduit. Some are, some aren't. And if you have your antenna up to receive it, and he was saying the same thing. He literally pull his car over and feel almost like it's being transcribed through his pen and it's nothing that he's actively thinking about.

SPEAKER_05 22:20

Some of them write themselves. For me, everything was icing on the cake. Like after one song, to me, it was like, all right, we got now, we got two songs. All right, cool. I just love reggae music. And it just happened that way. It was never a plan to like be a recording artist and perform it. For me, I just love reggae music.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

I want to know the story of how this happened if it was not intentional.

SPEAKER_05 22:47

Like right now?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Right now.

SPEAKER_05 22:49

It's an interesting story to try to explain. Ooh, I don't know how far I should go back. I had a job at a place. I was in Richmond. I didn't really like the job. It was cool because I was in Kerry Town and I would see people all the time. I had access to really nice clothes and stuff like that. And it was cool. But I realized that I was like, first of all, I was making somebody else a bunch of money by selling their stuff. And then also, it just wasn't what I wanted to be doing. So I came to work one morning after a very long night. I walked to work. I didn't sleep at all. My mind took me to other places, other universes. I was on a journey for about 24 hours.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 23:32

And I walked to work, same clothes I had on the night before. And I I'd never quit a job before. I walked in, my father would never let me quit a job. I walked into this place and I was like, you know what? I hate this place. Matter of fact, I don't like you. My manager at the time was looking. First of all, I got there early and she was like, something's not right. Like, I told you I'm late to everything. She was looking at me like, are you all right? You're early and quit.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

And I said, You're early and quitting. Is that what you said?

SPEAKER_05 24:02

I said, I said, you know what? I hate this place. I quit. Yeah, yeah, I hate this place. And I quit. And she was like, Are you all right? And I remember saying, I'm better than ever. And I and I walked out, and on my way home, I ran into this dude to ask me if I played percussion. Asked me if I played music. And at the time, I was also playing an African drum class at VCU. That's where I'd like started to learn how to play percussion. It was an African dance class. And so, long story short, I was like, Yeah, he was like, Well, I'm looking for a percussionist. You should come to my house. And I went to his house and they already had a percussionist. And I'm like, this isn't good. Either this guy's getting fired if I get hired, or I don't know what's gonna happen. And I ended up joining the band, and it was my first reggae band, and I played an African drum rig. So I played Jum Jum, Jimbe. I had a whole rig where I played African percussion with this band. That band was called Ja Revelations, and we kept pretty busy. I was going to VCU at the time. I didn't have to uh get another job for a little while. The music kind of kept me alive. So then I went to another band, Richmond Dub Collective, all the while, Sammy, Sammy Thunder, you probably know his name, bass player. He and I worked at Elwood Thompson's together, and that's my brother. Ended up being in a band with him, Richmond Dub Collective. Then it went to Antero. Um, and I was in Entero for a while, and we were we were pretty busy. We were busy as we kind of wanted to be, but I played percussion in that band as well. But that's where I ended up with two songs. It was Mighty Joshua and a song called Economic Crisis, and a song called, actually three songs, and a song called Locks of Oppression. Those were all accidental songs. They were just songs where we would play around and practice and rehearsal. Wiley, Crazy Horse Jones, the lead singer of that band, he got a small bladder. And so he'd have to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Sam would tell me, Joshua, pick up the microphone, man. Sing that song that you were working on. And I'd start singing whatever, whatever. That was the song by the Joshua. But fast forward, I ended up singing that song. We ended up having a substitute keyboard player that toured with international acts. And he sat in with us. We used to Martini Kitchen, I think. That's where I met you guys. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah. All right. So there was a reggae Mondays. Yeah. Yeah. Made for a tired Tuesday. Made for a very tired Tuesday. It built up. Every Monday, you would catch a reggae band of some sort, the band I was in in Tarot. We played there and we had a substitute keyboardist who toured with Culture, who toured with Ecomiles, toured with some pretty big international bands. And I did my song Mighty Joshua. And after the show, he was like, yo, man, the way people respond when you touch the mic is like how I see these guys respond to these big acts, man. You need to write more music. And I was like, nah, I'm good. I'd rather just play these drums. And he was like, nah, man, I'm gonna send you some music. So he started sending me music and I kept telling him I'm good. But then I started listening, I started writing, and I wrote one song, I wrote second song, third song, went up, recorded them with him, and then he continued to send me music. And so, you know, me sometimes being so absorbed into like right now, that's why I'm always late. Because like right now is like pretty cool, right? You know what I'm saying? I don't really care to rush off. It's like I like being in this space. And so sometimes I like it so much to where I just don't, you know, be honest with you, I didn't even realize that we were really creating an album. By the time we were done, we had an album, and then this whole thing was like, you know what's next? We gotta perform these songs. And I was like, oh hell nah. I'm good, man. Like, I'm good. And he was like, nah. We put together a band, and my first like Mighty Joshua show was at the Hampton Coliseum, which is kind of crazy. Like my spot, I only did three songs, but like the spot that I had was pretty much butted up against the headliners, and nobody knew who I was. Nobody. But after those three songs, people, people were screaming mighty, and I'm shaking. They're saying one more song, and I'm like, I ain't got no more songs. Like, that's all we got. And I think that placement appeared to be known by somebody in front of people who didn't have a clue who I was because of my placement on you know on the stage, and name was on the billboard on the highway, and it's just like, who is my Joshua? Nobody heard of me because I had three songs at the time. From that, he got busy and wasn't really available. And I had a show scheduled, and it was my first like show outside of that. And he was like, I gotta go on tour. He was like, just cancel the show. And I was like, I'm not canceling the show. Nah, man. Why would I cancel it? And it was like first show in Virginia Beach. I reached out to Sam. I was like, Sam, this is what's going on. Help me. Sam was like, I got you. And this is the way I remember things. So I it could be completely wrong. So let's get that straight. Little disclosure.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Did you read The Dirt? Motley Cruz book. So good. Every chapter is a different version of the same time period by each band member, and it is a completely different story.

SPEAKER_05 29:09

I love it. So I leave, I'll leave it to Ian if he cares to explain, because I know the part that I just gave you is pretty accurate, but I just remember I know that I had a gig that was canceled that he left for. He was like, just cancel it. And I was like, I can't cancel it. Call Sam. Sam was like, let's put something together. And I remember being in Ian's basement. It was me, Sam, and Ian. And it's just like, all right, cool. We practiced the music. And then I'm like, wait, we we need a drum. Like, what are we gonna do about that? I knew Amon at the time, but I think you all had more of a aligned where you asked him to end up joining us.

SPEAKER_04 29:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:46

It was the three of us, me, Sam, bass player, and Ian and the bass, but putting together our own band. And it it just kind of grew. It just kind of grew from there.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

All right. I have two things to say about this. I have a question too. I'm first.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Wait, I just have to ask one question. Where in Virginia Beach was your first show then? Where was that?

SPEAKER_07 30:06

It was actually in Hampton, but down by the water. Yeah. Public park. And you had like dislocated your knee prior. Yeah. So you were purchased.

SPEAKER_05 30:15

And I was told to just do that show. Yeah. By everybody. My mama, the doctor. I was like, that is we had some obstacles to get to it. That's a dope organization, Virginia Reggae. They supported us big. So we did a couple of Virginia reggae festivals and shows with them.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

One of the things that just jumped out to me was that you made this decision for whatever reason that you were done. You had reached the end of that job and walked in and left. And the fact that you shut that door and one opened literally as you were walking out is just such, it's just how the world works. If you're if you're open to it, we're receiving it. But it just tells you you could have forced yourself to do that job for another five years and been miserable and missed that entire opportunity. And then would I be that's wild. And then the second thing is I had no idea you were a drummer till this moment.

SPEAKER_07 31:13

I mean, just to expand on that, I think when you kind of like open yourself up to the universe, doors open for you. When I decided to pick up the bass and play reggae music and pursue that, someone introduced me to a whole house of musicians that were like looking for a bassist at the time, uh, playing reggae music. So I I stepped in and joined that unit, and it was a fruitful career of like, you know, 12 years of being in that in that band before I moved out here. And my wife was actually living in the house. It's like when you open yourself up, things happen.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

And contrary to that, if you are constantly trying to break down doors that are shutting for you, determined to go in the wrong direction, you know, it's always telling you the answer if you listen. We're learning that more and more and more through this podcast because of the creatives we're talking to. And everybody's on the same page with that. There's definitely something to all have the same story, but just different versions of it. And you tried to fight it when they got tried to get you to be the singer. You were trying to fight it. You were trying to shut that door back. It was cool.

SPEAKER_05 32:11

Just kind of hanging out in the back and being oh, improvise, make sound, you know what I mean, and just not be the dude up front. Again, I always thought I would say something crazy on the microphone. I just have to stick to the script.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

It's less hauling when you're on tour for you.

SPEAKER_05 32:27

But I did learn that you can't stop by guitar center and get new vocal cords. So after like five or six days of singing, it's an interesting dynamic when you look at your choice of instrument. I don't have to carry drums, like big, you know, that's his job. You know, that's the drummer's job. But I do have to carry the the weight of trying to take care of myself, my voice, because if I can't sing, I can't go to work.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

Like when allergy season kicks in. It definitely makes it difficult. And now a message from Vix. I believe there's a hot toddy too, Punta.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Yeah, yeah. Johnny likes a hot toddy. All right, you know we can't be in here having any kind of conversation without talking about stay mighty and what that really means and where it came from.

SPEAKER_05 33:18

So when I first started singing, a friend of mine gifted me a like a button that said be mighty. His name is Brian. Big up Brian. He's an amazing spirit himself. He he does bonfire t-shirts. I don't know if you're familiar, but it's like a crowdfunding thing online, supports us hugely. And then also he has Bell Out Moonshine. He's a part of that team of people that puts together a pretty cool beverage as well for A B. We were at school together, very good friends. Uh, he gave me a button that said be mighty. It was red and black. And that's the colors of the Mighty Joshua brand is red and black. We got some made and then we'd give them away. And so once, you know, we continued to develop, it was now that we've been mighty, now we need to stay mighty. It's really just about really sticking to your plan, whoever you are, however you present in the world, really sticking to who you are, not letting go of your morals or the way you see the world just because there's pressures around you that will squeeze it out of you. But just trying to stay focused, be courageous, and be brave at just being exactly how you are. So that was the stay mighty mighty thing.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

So mighty just a light answer. Now we gotta stay. Now we gotta stay mighty because stay mighty. Let's talk drecation.

SPEAKER_05 34:39

So I'll say that drecation, there's a lot of mystery around the history of dreadlocks and around the history of oppressed African people throughout history. Dreducation is my attempt to kind of educate the people about dread, which is already a very interesting word. You know, in Rastafari, we speak in positive or in forward words, word sound is power. So the words that you use can change and shape your destiny. So being very careful of the words that you use. So even calling somebody a dreadlock is is kind of a conflict because seeing ourselves as blessed people, you see the dread is already a negative connotation. But dreadlocks was also a word given to African people that grew their hair this way out of a away of from the oppressor. So when they saw us, we were considered a dreadful people because the dread was always the revolutionary, the dread was always the one fighting the oppressor. Dread education is kind of it's a new word, and it's an attempt to educate myself because a lot of these songs are stories to remind me of who I am. The things that you say and the things that you chant, you can manifest your destiny with these words. So a lot of these songs are songs to myself as well, because we have to sing them every night. Dread Education in itself is an album that is filled with stories to kind of give the history of the diaspora from the continent to the Caribbean to America to Europe. And so it's the education of my people.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

I love that. And also I heard along the way that dreadlocks were actually you grow them because Rastafarians believe that they are ropes to heaven and it helps them get there faster. Have you heard that before?

SPEAKER_00 36:37

So it's I mean, it's it's like It was somebody trying to get in her pants.

SPEAKER_05 36:44

But no, yeah. I mean, it's you know, it's they're like antenna. So the longer your locks grow, it's reaching for communication with the ancestors, it's reaching for communication. It's a it's an energy. You know, when you look at the energy of black hair, the hair coils nine times before it even leaves the scalp. So if you think about that energy in a spring, that energy has come from the crown, it's reaching and receiving energy as well. And so it's a you know, it's a communication with the ancestors, it's a connection to the creator.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

So this album got national attention and Grammy consideration. Was there a moment where it really hit you? And you know, or were you thinking, is this real? I mean, that's that's that's a big deal.

SPEAKER_05 37:39

We started the project maybe six or seven years before we finished it. And there were moments when I wasn't sure it would it would finish. We had to rebuild it a couple times. Studio got flooded, bought some stuff, and then kind of changed directions with some of the people that we were working with doing production and whatnot. And so we were just trying to finish it. Really? We were just trying to like put a bow on it because we had kind of started to make some other music that doesn't sound like this, to be honest with you. I mean, seven years, you kind of change a little bit. You learn a little bit. My voice has changed since then. So we were just trying to finish it. And then somebody from the academy submitted it, and I think 70 albums were submitted, and we were just a part of the 70. I didn't see it coming. I mean, I think people write albums to try to be in that position. But I'm also learning also just kind of how they the academy works. It's great, it's great, but it's nice to talk about. It's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

It's a huge accomplishment.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Yeah, it is. It really is. It's exciting. You brought in some serious legends on this project. Junior Marvin, Plunky Branch, Rosmel. How did those collaborations come together?

SPEAKER_05 38:49

So Junior Marvin, who is, I think, one of two, I guess, of Bob Marley's whalers that are still on this side. The list of reggae superstars, I'll say, that live in Virginia and DC is it's insane. Like a lot of people don't know it, but a lot of people have either lived in DC or presently living in DC and working out of DC as well as Virginia. So working with this producer, Big D, his name is Derek Parker, big up D. He's somebody who I always wanted to work with. He picked up the album when it was kind of not dead in the water, but I always wanted to work with him. I was like, D, please let's do something. He's like, I'm busy, I'm busy. He was on tour with Steel Pulse at the time. He's their front of the house sound. He's just like, I'm busy, I'm busy. And I'm like, come on, man, I need your help. And so he picked the album up, produced it, brought in some musicians, and Junior was one of those people who he introduced me to. And to see that whole process, we ended up doing that through Zoom. He's in D studio, and I'm at home with my mouth wide open, our eyes bulging out my head because I'm looking at Junior Marvin played guitar to one of the songs that we're working on. Crazy. Desi Heysen, big name, big cool brother. He's also on the album. That's another DC link. Plunky, I've just been a fan of Plunki's forever. And at you know, at some point, it's like, you know, just ask. You know, like what will people say? No. And if if they say no, then you got what you had when you began. There's nothing. So, you know, closed miles don't get fair. So I'm a big fan of Plunky. He is a legend. And uh it was just one of them things where I was like, uh, let me go to one of his shows and talk to him. And I think I saw him at Dogwood Dell or something like that. And I was like, hey man, look, I got this reggae album. It's you know, he was like, sure, just call me. And that whole thing was crazy. Said he was coming to the studio, but we never confirmed it. I called him and he answered the phone. He was like, hey, Plunky, yeah, we're at the studio tonight. All right, cool, just send me the address. And I didn't know if he was gonna come or not, but he showed up and listened to that tune. D is a huge connection to like a lot of pretty cool musicians. Worldwide. Worldwide. Yeah, yeah. There's some people on the album names that you may not know, or names that you may not be familiar with that are part of huge projects and reggae music. And that's what he sent some stuff out, came back. And D works off of favors. You know, he takes care of people. And so he's like, hey, remember that time, you know, you got a little minutes for this album, and people are like, sure. So it's it's nice working with people who have good reputations in the business, who work hard, who aren't afraid of trying something different. Big D has been a big resource for like access to a lot of cool musicians.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

You've opened up for Ziggy Marley, Steel Pulse, Barris Hammond. What do you take away from sharing space with artists like that?

SPEAKER_07 41:46

It's always such an honor to share the stage with with elder artists that really paved the way. They've really made reggae what it is, and it's it's an honor to be in their vicinity, you know.

SPEAKER_05 41:57

It's pretty cool. During our formative years, it's music that again I became a singer by accident in some ways. And it it wasn't my plan, you know, in elementary school. They say, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up? I did not say a reggae singer. I didn't what did you say?

SPEAKER_00 42:11

I don't know. I was a dolphin trainer.

SPEAKER_01 42:17

I was cardiologist.

SPEAKER_03 42:20

Dolphin trainer. Look at us now. Look at us now.

SPEAKER_05 42:25

I will think about it though. I'll think about what I don't know. I don't I don't really remember. I just wanted to be. I had I wanted to be left alone. I wanted to just do what I felt like doing. You know, I didn't I don't I wanted to be happy, I guess, you know. But to listen to reggae music and these guys become like almost like superheroes, you know what I'm saying? Like they are very real, but you know, they're so ingrained in like that space of feel happy, feel good, feel motivated that to see them, to then share a stage with them, and now to start to do some collaborations with them is a whole nother world. But it makes it all very real too. So then your superheroes become your brothers, and your brothers are superheroes, you know? It's kind of cool. It's it's real cool. Big D. Yofrian.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

We'll tell you that story later, Big D.

SPEAKER_05 43:17

He was with Steel Post for like 16 years, and I go on tour with Big D. This is another thing that not a lot of people know. I've been assisting Big D is the tour manager for Carl Denson's Tiny Universe. Now at San Diego, he's also the saxophonist for the Rolling Stones. Real cool dude. You know Sexual Chocolate?

SPEAKER_03 43:43

Oh my god, yeah. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:44

That is one of my favorite movies for the record. So if you go back and you watch one and two, Carl Denson, when Eddie Murphy looks over and says, give it up for my band, sexual chocolate!

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 43:55

Carl Denson is the lead singer of Sexual Chocolate. So, long story short, I assist D. I like to call myself assistant tour manager for Carl Denson's tiny universe. But really, I'm just a roadie that's lifting, driving and lifting heavy stuff. But because Dee was on tour with Steel Pulse for so many years, we were on the road. I think we were coming from like Georgia, not too long ago. And I said, Hey Dee, I mean, you on tour with Steel Pulse, and you know David Hines, you know. He's just like, Yeah. I was like, Can you call him?

SPEAKER_04 44:25

And he was like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:27

I was like, No, you can't. No, you can't. He was like, watch this. So he calls David Hines, and it's a voice that I listened to since I was 15, 16 years old, you know, and he answers the phone. And I'm driving a Box truck, and I'm trying to just keep it in the road, you know. And I want to yell a bunch of things into the phone.

SPEAKER_03 44:45

I love you, David. You know.

SPEAKER_05 44:48

They talk for like an hour. Yeah, Steel Pulse has a song called Bodyguard, and he said the word bodyguard, and the whole song just started playing in my head. So to be in the car, they like superheroes, and then we get to play music with them. And then again, yeah, they're your brothers, they're superheroes.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

So Steel Pulse was definitely my heart and soul growing up. So I would definitely geek out. Johnny and I were talking for a lot of reasons about Dave Grohl the other day. Yep. And she met him in Nag said or saw him in a rest of the bar. No, I waited on him. Waited on him.

SPEAKER_01 45:18

You're so cool. Oh my God. This is after. Okay, hold on. I played it cool. I waited on him. He was awesome. He was there with his sister. And then at the end, everybody stood in line to say goodbye to Dave. And he's like, hey, you did great. And I'm like, you're so cool. And he looked at me like this.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Dang.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

Oh, man.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Not a proud moment. We're gonna talk about the new single that's coming out. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_05 45:47

So we have a single that we have recorded. It's pretty cool. Big D is Oh my God, I just can't anymore.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

We might need to have Big D on.

SPEAKER_05 45:58

He brought this tune to us, and it's an Al Green cover tune. And it's a tune called God Bless Our Love. And it's very different. It stretches me vocally in a way that I just I wasn't prepared and I still kind of feel a way about it. But it's a pretty dope song. Another guy named B.B. Seaton out of Jamaica, he also covered the tune. And to my knowledge, there's only two other cover tunes of this song. We recorded some of it in Mountainside, and then we've recorded some vocals in Richmond at Chuckle Records. It has features from Desiree Roots. She's a beautiful, beautiful uh voice, a beautiful spirit. And then Plunky is also featured on it. It's it's a big tune. It's it's a little different from what we normally sound like, in my opinion. But I think we pull it off quite sweet.

SPEAKER_00 46:48

So when is that coming out?

SPEAKER_05 46:50

Hopefully, we will do some of the photo stuff for it the end of March, and then we can start pumping it and pushing it online, probably promote it for a couple of weeks and then and then drop it.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

So spring. We get it for spring?

SPEAKER_05 47:06

Let's just say late spring.

SPEAKER_00 47:07

Pre-summer. Maybe we'll do a launch here. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 47:13

Now, how does that shift from Dication?

SPEAKER_05 47:16

It's a big shift. I would say. I mean, if you think about Al Green, it's it's you know, it's definitely it's love and happiness. It's RB, it's soul, it's reggae, and we flip it, so it's in a reggae version, a reggae style y. But it's definitely it's it's real, very soulful song. It feels different.

SPEAKER_00 47:36

I cannot me either wait.

SPEAKER_05 47:37

I do know that song, yeah. I love it. Yeah, that okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01 47:41

That's one I'm excited. So you're you're flipping it to reggae, which is I can't wait.

SPEAKER_07 47:47

I think there's a lot of similarities between Motown and Reggae as well, you know. So it's kind of natural.

SPEAKER_05 47:52

I'm excited. We are too. And then after that, we have another project that Ian is dialing in, focusing in on. And that that's our mountainside sessions. Already, I mean five tunes, six tunes, five. Explain that. Some of these songs, I think that a couple of tunes maybe came from rehearsal. Yeah, we played one tonight. I know that like during COVID and people still like washing their groceries off before they brought them in the house. Ian and I would sit in his studio space and and work on some stuff that we were doing in rehearsal with the full band and also just spending time trying to make music. So we came up with about five or six tunes between that and went to Mountainside in Charlesville, recorded it, and I really like it a lot because it speaks to a time. Like it's a very, it's a capsule. It's a very strong time capsule. Short, but hopefully you'll get that at the end of the year, too.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

We have to talk about the McKindu Children's Center. This is such a powerful part of your story.

SPEAKER_05 48:49

Again, I'm you know funny with Tom, but I've me as well as the band have been supporting a children's center in Kenya, East Africa, in a small town called Makindo. Um, I met a guy named Michael Farley out in Gushlin County probably 20 years ago. He was the CEO of the organization I worked with, and he walked up to me and he says, Would you like to go to Africa? And so I knew what he was doing in Africa. He was in the Peace Corps in the 70s and he met a woman who was working in a space with some kids in a small town called McKinduk. They didn't have anything, much of anything. Some clothes, the clothes on their back, and she was helping these youth. It was like six or seven kids, I believe, that she would feed every other day. I think she was in the Peace Corps. Her name is Winnie. Michael met Winnie and Michael says, you know, what are you doing here? And she was like, you know, I do this, I do that, supporting these kids. And she was like, I could use some help. And he was like, How can I help? And she was like, Money. I need money. And he was like, let's see what we can do. So Michael and some friends in the Peace Corps came together and was like, look, let's raise some money for this woman that's helping these orphaned children. These children were mostly orphaned by parents with AIDS. So there was a place where kids would could come and get start to eat and get medication, and and now it's grown to something where it's not fully self-sufficient, but it's a center where kids can get anything and everything that they need to be great. Serves about 500 children on-site. And then it's also off-site, it's another 500 children that are served. And we have guardians in place to take care of the youth. And we have like a goat program where we raise funds here in the United States and we gift homes with like uh female goats get pregnant, and you have milk and you have meat and all types of things. So Michael says, How can we get people to pay attention to the AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan East Africa? And he said, Let's do a walk-a-thon. So the first plan, I think, was to try to walk from South Africa to Egypt. I think that was the plan. And somebody was like, Michael, that's, you know, that's that's crazy. It's logistically impossible. And so, you know, Michael, doing what he does, he he is a superhero. He's talking to people trying to figure out how he can do something called, but they ended up doing something called a proper walk. And the proper walk is a walk that you you don't necessarily know your, you know, your destination. You're you're on a walk, you're on a walk about. They started doing this proper walk where they would take about 15 Americans and about 30 camels and would walk for about 10 days in in East Africa. And we'd tent at night, walk during the day, and raise money and awareness for the for the children at the center here stateside. The first year I did it, uh, we had to raise$10,000. And so everybody that walks would raise$10,000. And we do it every other year. This will be my eighth, I think my eighth year. It's going strong. We will be at Potter's Cider April 11th, where we do something called Harambe Yamakindu, which is a big party that we do with the catering outfit, and it's to raise as much money as we can that night. It's a real party. The food is amazing. We'll play along with three or four other bands: Josh Mayo, Fan, The Pollux. It's a couple other bands that'll also be there.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Is that Charlottesville or Richmond?

SPEAKER_05 52:05

It's Charlottesville. It's the fourth annual, so this will be our fourth. I'm gonna try and raise$10,000 this year. Last year, the goal was like$5,000, but I want to see if I can raise$10,000 this year. I go there, we walk, raise money, and I have some musicians that I work with too. So we've performed there as well a couple of times.

SPEAKER_00 52:23

Have you been able to hang out with any of the kids when you're there?

SPEAKER_05 52:25

Yeah, when we arrive, it's an emotional roller coaster because you have about two, three, four hundred kids racing towards you down this stretch of red dirt, dust flying all over the place, smiles, people holding on. And now it's just like, I mean, it's just family at this point. Like, go back and I'm now I'm able to see the children grow and they uh are very appreciative of the sacrifice that's made. Thank you for singing for us. Thank you for mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty. It's it's pretty cool. So if y'all want to go, talk to me. Like it's an amazing trip, amazing mission, amazing organization. The people that work to make this happen are some of the most beautiful. They're angels, they're beautiful people.

SPEAKER_00 53:06

We gotta add the April to our calendars. Yes. Outside of coming to the event in April, for anyone listening that feels pulled into the mission, can you share a little bit about how they could help support?

SPEAKER_05 53:18

McKindu.org is a place that you can go, that you can donate, or you can even find out more information about the Children's Center. And just talking about it. You know, one thing I've learned about hanging out with these elders that have done this for a while is that just if you know something good, then talk about it. You know what I mean? And you never know who's in in the elevator with you. I talk to strangers. You know what I'm saying? They say don't talk to strangers, I talk to strangers because anything can happen. I know that there are children who who are amazing lights that need what seems pretty basic, you know, food, clothing, shelter, books. Things we all totally take for granted. Yeah. And so, you know, I tell people about it. So if you don't have money, it's not always about money. Sometimes it's about speaking to somebody that got money. If you know something good, then share it.

SPEAKER_03 54:05

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 54:06

With everything you've got going on, travel, music, purpose, what keeps you grounded?

SPEAKER_05 54:14

No matter where you go, you gotta come home and wash the dishes. You know what I'm saying? So like I walk down a downtown mall and it's like, hey, Mighty Joshua, Mighty Joshua, and you gotta go home and walk the dog. So family. Like my family is pretty close. You know, my mother and father would come to my shows. My brothers are at my shows, pull up in Charlottesville, the guest list is like ridiculous. But family definitely will keep you grounded and just remembering like what we really doing this for. Like, I don't feel like we'll ever be filthy rich doing this. And it doesn't matter if if we are if we're not, like, we're still gonna do what we do. So I think just the knowing like your purpose, and then also the children at the center. Knowing that like what we do comes with a mission and a responsibility. Like reggae music is different than some other genres of music. Like some music is for the party completely, and then some music is for really trying to like the betterment of the world in a way. And so when you sing that music comes with responsibility. So remembering like where you are with the whole thing's just a messenger and never forgetting that part.

SPEAKER_00 55:20

All right, we're gonna jump into a speed round. But this is just your instinctive answer. Pre-show ritual.

SPEAKER_05 55:27

Find a moment to be by myself, and things we can't talk about.

SPEAKER_00 55:30

I mean, we can talk about it.

SPEAKER_05 55:31

Yeah, we can talk all day about it.

SPEAKER_01 55:33

I'm a grown ass man.

SPEAKER_03 55:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 55:38

First thing you do after the show.

SPEAKER_05 55:40

Try not to leave the dressing room if I can help it, because that's I mean, that's when I say weird stuff.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

That's the word we need the mirror meow. Yeah. Mare meow.

SPEAKER_05 55:53

I try to have a moment before I try to talk to people. Because, you know, you're on stage, you give everything you got, and then people want to have a conversation, and you really don't have much to say. So I just try not to leave for a few minutes. I'm pretty much the same, you know. Just kind of decompress.

SPEAKER_07 56:07

Yeah, decompress.

SPEAKER_00 56:09

What is your go-to snack?

SPEAKER_05 56:11

I like dried fruit. I got a sweet tooth. I like chocolate and like cashews and pistachios and stuff like that. This is easy to eat on the road and it's not bad for you.

SPEAKER_01 56:20

And what are you what are you snacking on?

SPEAKER_07 56:22

Probably, probably like mixed nuts.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

So who's the first person you text or call after a big show?

SPEAKER_05 56:28

Probably my big brother. If he's not at the show, then I'm probably gonna call him or text him to tell him about the show. Ian, you want to jump in on this one?

SPEAKER_07 56:38

Yeah, probably just to text my wife to let her know I'm on my way home.

SPEAKER_00 56:42

All right, I want to know a song outside of all of this that grounds you spiritually.

SPEAKER_05 56:49

Silence. I think the misconception about musicians sometimes is that we always listen to music. And I think silence is absolutely beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 56:58

We've actually heard that from a number of musicians that just really prefer quiet. It's definitely a common thread.

SPEAKER_07 57:05

Probably right now, it's the the tunes that we have that we're working on in the studio. I get a lot of inspiration from them. I've listened to them a thousand times at this point, probably with more. Every time it's you know, try to get the most out of it. And, you know, they're inspirational tunes, they're big tunes. A lot of uh talent on the recordings as well.

SPEAKER_00 57:24

Ocean or mountains? Mountains. If it's surfable all day.

SPEAKER_01 57:30

City you could play over and over again. Bahia.

SPEAKER_00 57:33

One thing fans might be surprised to know about you.

SPEAKER_05 57:38

Did I ate goat one time? I don't even know.

SPEAKER_00 57:41

I was out in the middle of the bushes.

SPEAKER_05 57:44

I I don't tell I don't think I've told anybody that. Yeah, I was in Kenya and we we bought a goat. We were in the bush like day five walking, and everybody was talking about how good it was. I haven't eaten meat since I was like 15. So I was just like, all right, let me see what it tastes like. It was really chewy.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

Oh boy. I'll make you feel better. In the Cayman Islands, I was talked into tasting, and it's hard for me to say it. It's actually hard for me to say it, but turtle. If you like filet mignon, my God. Really? It was good? It was the best I have ever had in my life. But I'd never do it again because I love turtles and I feel bad. That's like me with frog legs.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

No, thank you. I don't like anything that says they're gonna taste like something. You know, if you're gonna be chicken, be chicken. Be who you are, man. You know, don't tell me frog legs taste like chicken and tell me to eat it. Dream Festival lineup, who's on it with you?

SPEAKER_05 58:47

Jacob Miller, Mortimer, Fay Lakuti, James Brown, and Midnight.

SPEAKER_07 58:54

I'd have to say this classic Jamaican artist, Gregory Isaacs, Rich Raddocks, Dennis Brown, of course, all three whalers.

SPEAKER_04 59:36

All right, every single time.

SPEAKER_06 59:45

No matter the question love, it's always the answer. Answer no matter the question love, it's always the answer, the answer, no matter the question love, it's always the answer, it's the answer, no matter the question love. So you say, Hey Brother Joshua, how do you live some with so many backbiter and blood sucking vampire? When it comes to love, there can be no reservations. An offering of love, there can be no conditions from the Genesis, the design was perfection, purity at heart, we've learned the visions. Here I no matter the question love, it's always the answer, it's the answer. No matter the question love, always the answer, it's the answer. No matter the question love, always the answer, it's the answer. No matter the question love. Reconnection with the one, pure reception. Just don't overthink. I say we move by feeling. More love like the trees love the wind. Uh-huh. Matter the question love, always the answer, it's the answer. No matter the question love, it's always the answer. Answer. No matter the question love, always the answer, it's the answer. No matter the question love, you can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:47

Alright, let's tell everybody where they can find out about upcoming shows for Mighty Joshua.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:52

Mightyjoshua.com was just upgraded to like premium status. It's amazing. And I think that you can find pretty much everything you need to know about us, mightyjoshua.com. But at Mighty Joshua on Instagram, um, I believe it's like at Mighty Mighty Joshua on YouTube and TikTok.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:09

All the links in the body of this podcast, so you can just click and follow Mighty Joshua everywhere they are. And Ian and Joshua were so excited you guys were on the show.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:19

Thank you for having us. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:20

Can't wait to go in April. What else did we commit to? August. August Charlottesville.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:25

I can't wait for that. I love that venue.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:27

And if you know anybody in Colorado, hopefully we'll be out Colorado June, end of June, maybe. Just stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:35

Stay mighty. Stay mighty. To follow Mighty Joshua on Instagram and Facebook, go to at Mighty Joshua and on TikTok at Mighty Mighty Joshua. And check out their new website, mightyjoshua.com. This has been such an incredible conversation.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:53

Thank you so much for bringing your music, your energy, and your purpose.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:57

This is the hook.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:59

So if you're creative and listening to this, we want your story. The messy one. The real one.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:05

And the one that you don't usually post. You can submit to be on the show by visiting our website and filling out the Be On the Hook form. Just head to johnnyandjess.com. That's J-O-H-N-I-A-N-D-J-E-S-S.com. That's where you'll find everything you need to get started. Make sure to follow us on social media at Johnny and Jess on TikTok and you can find the hook with Johnny and Jess on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

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To stay up to date on new episodes, featured artists, and what's coming next.

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This has been Jess and Johnny reminding you every artist has a story. And every story has a hook.