Music has always been a part of JOE YOUNG’s life. His mother, Winnie, was a country singer and would cover such classics as “”Blanket on the Ground”” and “”Take Me Home Country Roads””, singing in and around the local working mens clubs.
Joe received his first real guitar at the age of 11 and he promptly formed a band called the Bob Bats, playing in the local youth club and trying to cover such classics as “”Glad All Over”” by Dave Clark 5 and “”Twist & Shout”” by The Beatles.
Joes music taste and the influences on him were definitely the swinging 60s. However, even at this early stage the American music of the time had also started to influence him. The Beach Boys, Dylan, Hank Williams and the resurgence in Delta Blues sounds captured his imagination.
The early 70s brought a change in direction when Joe and two friends formed a folk/country band called Freeway with the band playing at local folk clubs and open nights etc. Always keen to write and play his own music, Joe decided to leave when two additional members joined the band and the direction moved to a more traditional Scottish Folk style.
Disillusioned with the whole group politics, Joe moved from the live music scene and set up a mobile disco. Skinnys Disco played a big part in Joes life as he manoeuvred the business from mobile to residencies. At this time Joes love of the American folk/ country music scene took a back seat as he built his disco business working four or five nights a week at various venues including hotels, clubs and castles.
During this period the big names in the live music scene included The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, The Byrds and Jackson Browne and they would be the influences which would provide the building blocks when he returned to his own live music career. Joe had business responsibilities outside music but even when they grew to be full time commitments he never stopped writing his own material. Joe finally quit the DJ role in the late 90s but the plan was always to return to writing and live performing on his own.
Regular visits to the Southern States of America rekindled and cemented Joes love of the country/folk music associated with the South. Three of the songs on his First Album The Journey Home were written on a visit to the USA. Visiting Montgomery, Alabama and Madison County, Georgia, Joe found both places musically inspirational.
More recent influences on his style have come from Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, and a host of others. Lifes experiences, like the majority of songwriters, litter his songs, the restlessness and constant travelling theme that are prevalent in his writing, in conjunction with his taste for the history of the South makes his style easy to listen to as well as being loaded with a heavy shot of reflection.
After a lifetime of writing songs Joe decided to record an Album in 2011 which reflected his style of writing and story-telling. Using the studios at Good Vibrations and assisted by his friends John Deans, lead guitar and Donnie (The Brush) McAvoy, drums, Joes unique style and sound took shape. In January 2012 the recording of the Album The Journey Home, a collection of 10 songs was completed at LOOP studios. Eight studio tracks and two live tracks later, Joes first album launched in October 2012.
The loss of Joes only brother Richard (Chip) who was killed in a tragicroadaccident inspired the track “”18 Wheels””. His articulated truck was blown over when a freak gust of wind lifted his unit and trailer and crashed into the central barrier. Chip was a true trucker who drove all over Europe; it was all he ever wanted to do. His ambitionwas to drive throughout the USA trucking across the states with nothing but the open road.
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