The thousands of miles that troubadour Josh Okeefe has travelled from his birthplace in England, to his current home of Nashville, Tennessee, tells just one small part of a nomadic life in music which spans generations and encompasses myriad genres, traditions and disciplines.
His travels will take him to Galway this month, where the protest singer – called an heir to Bob Dylan by the US music media – will play the Róisín Dubh on Sunday, June 30, at 7.30pm.
Although a relatively new artist, the young guitar and harmonica-playing singer-songwriter delivers unforgettably potent lyrics with the gravitas of a seasoned veteran.
Attesting to his versatility and wide appeal, Okeefe has had his songs recorded by Nashville-based major-label artists Ashley Monroe and High Valley.
The artist from Derby has performed sold-out shows from Nashville to New York, Belfast to Kilkenny, London to Manchester and beyond. Okeefe has shared stages with legends including Kris Kristofferson, when he playing for a crowd of 10,000 at London's Kenwood House for the iconic songwriter's birthday celebration.
He's also performed with Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Alison Krauss, John Spillane, Rufus Wainwright, The High Kings among many others. In addition, he joined Bernie Sanders for a 'Virtual Town Hall Meeting', standing up for social justice at protests, amplifying the voices of the Black Lives Matter movement, and bearing witness to the sombre site of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in West London, commemorating the tragedy with an original, haunting composition.
Okeefe dropped out of school at age 16. Living briefly in numerous places including London and the seaside resort town of Brighton, Okeefe often slept on the floors of recording studios, music coffee houses and other small venues. After travelling to America in search of the places his musical idols once roamed, he began writing songs at an astonishing pace.
Okeefe has earned coveted spots at major music events on both sides of the Atlantic including the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, Black Deer Festival and at Glastonbury for the first time in the summer of 2019, at the invitation of English folk musician and political activist Billy Bragg.
Tickets €15/€10 from www.roisindubh.net
