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This is the debut full-length by Joseph Childress.  The ten songs on this record, dubbed “The Rebirths” by fans, were penned on the road during nearly two years of “hard traveling” – hopping freight trains, hitchhiking, and eventually living out of a car.  All this came to a halt shortly after finding trouble in New Orleans, prompting Joseph to find his way back to his childhood home in the Colorado Rockies. Once there, he locked himself in the bathroom with his road-worn guitar – its neck cracked while jumping from a train – and recorded this album.  Filled with young wisdom, heartbreak, and spirited jubilee, this self-recording of Joseph Childress is a stirring introduction to a young songwriter with a soul-piercing voice and an undeniable gift of song.

A low-fi snapshot of his experiences, The Rebirthscaptures a moment of euphoria as Joseph’spersonal stories unfold into timeless songs.  Peppered with thumps, creaks, improvised percussion, the weather outside the bathroom window… these recordings serve as a raw document of the time and space in which these tracks were laid.  Joseph’s emotionally charged voice is powerful as it tackles tragedy and triumph over guitar that ranges from intricate finger-style to furious strumming.  Fans of haunted troubadours Jason MolinaJackson C. FrankTownes Van Zandtand early lo-fi pioneers will find many similarities in Joseph’s music, but even more striking will be Joseph’s refreshingly original command of song.

In print due to relentless demand, this presentation of The Rebirths – available worldwide on bright white vinyl and digital – is newly mixed by The American Opry and mastered for the first time by Paul Oldham.

Praise For Joseph Childress:

“Joseph Childress has made some of the best music you may never hear. After recording a debut of startling folk titled The Rebirths in 2006, Childress — the son of a minister from Colorado — up and left to hop trains across America” — The Stool Pigeon [UK] 

“His voice is strong, burbling like a stream, and it’s one of his greatest assets; and then there are the songs – melodic stories about landscapes, both inner and outer..” – Amoeba

“Childress packs his lush acoustic lullabies with the wizardry of Devendra Banhart and the earthy innocence of Vashti Bunyan, as heard on his widely circulated demo, dubbed The Rebirths by his fans – if “fans” is an accurate word. Intimate, otherworldly and hypnotically engaging, Childress makes friends, not followers, with his music.”–Westword Magazine

“It seems Joseph Childress is that classic fast disappearing vagabond American storyteller. He can pull off this heart-wrenching confessional songwriting style, like the greats of the genre. …his performance is just amazing.” –7 Inches

 

Links:

Empty Cellar Records
Joseph Childress Facebook
Joseph Childress Twitter

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