00:01:32Josh is from Charlotte, North Carolina
00:01:46Recently appeared on American Idol
00:02:13Received first harmonica aged six
00:03:24Started learning piano age 13, and a little guitar
00:04:35Advantages of learning a musical instrument as an adult
00:05:04Josh is 25 years old at the time of speaking
00:05:38Plays a little chromatic harmonica but isn’t so great on it
00:06:11Mentorship with James Cotton from age 8 or 9 after his mother took him to one of Cotton’s shows and Josh sneaked into his dressing room
00:09:30Cotton described Josh as his ‘musical grandson’
00:09:38Cotton encouraged him to take up singing and piano in addition to harmonica
00:10:27Spent quite a lot of time with Cotton and the time he locked the band out of an RV
00:11:49Recollections of Cotton’s passing
00:13:49Didn’t give Josh harmonica lessons as such, more hints and guidance on performing
00:15:26Cotton’s showmanship
00:17:22The time Josh played Hooch Coochie Man with Cotton on stage at age 10
00:18:59American Idol journey
00:19:16Humility Josh felt being surrounded by the other great contestants on American Idol
00:21:06Josh came across as humble a little shy on Idol
00:22:37Comparing the coaching he received on Idol to what Cotton taught him
00:23:58Some of the thinking behind the song choices Josh made for Idol
00:26:42His use of the harmonica on Idol gave him a unique selling point, but he wanted to leave them wanting more
00:28:20Seydel provided the harmonicas for Josh to use on Idol
00:28:31Impact of using the harmonica on some of the songs on Idol
00:30:11Playing harmonica on a rack with the piano, including on the song Hopelessly, as performed on Idol where the wrong rack caused him problems
00:31:18Uses some different tunings, including Paddy Richter, and custom harmonicas built by Ben Bouman
00:33:52Josh made the last eight on Idol, so went far in the competition
00:34:20The physical toll that Idol took on Josh included a visit to hospital
00:37:05Performed as a teenager with Buddy Guy and Tommy Emmanuel at the BB King’s Club
00:38:31Sang the national anthem at a NFL game and America The Beautiful at the US Open, both when 13 years old
00:39:28Why prefers playing the piano over guitar
00:41:02Lionel Ritchie encouraged Josh to use the piano on Idol
00:41:59Working on a new album with plenty of harmonica planned for that, with harmonica still his main instrument
00:43:18Ten minute question
00:44:35Spreads harmonica practise between other music creation
00:45:17Has the neurodiversity condition: ADHD, and the impact that has on his music creation
00:46:03New album will probably be ‘alt pop’ and the difficulty in defining genres
00:48:43Advantage of vintage equipment over more modern equipment
00:50:13Is a Seydel endorsee
00:50:28Uses the Paddy Richter tuning for some pop songs
00:51:13Didn’t use the harmonica on every song on Idol as wanted to keep it fresh
00:52:27Mainly tongue blocker
00:52:35Cotton mainly taught him by giving hints
00:53:19Amps and mics
