Album Reviews

Josh Harty

Holding On

Artist:     Josh Harty

Album:     Holding On

Label:     Self Released

Release Date:     04/08/2016

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Josh Harty is a mid-West, singer-songwriter with a keen eye, observant lyrics and a fine, driving guitar-style that pulses with feeling and fire. Holding On is his fifth or sixth offering, full of sly takes on life, love, the trials and pleasures rare of a journeyman musician’s time out on the road, and just about everything in between.

Harty’s fretwork is crisp, zingy and always compelling, catching you unawares almost, at times, with hints of traditional country in the mix; Chet seems to hang in the background balance at times, followed by ole Doc Watson before he twists the tail, snapping free with a trace of Knopfler at his best and a clear grip of the very fundamentals of good quality modern country music/Americana.

His lyrics cast a thoughtful eye on all the usual themes with a laconic feel that at times conjures up the spirit of Hank Williams Jr. or Kris Kristofferson mixed with John Prine. Whatever the theme, whatever the thought, he always hits the spot in Holding On with deliciously rhythmic drive and melodies that linger in the mind long after the disc has reached its close.

Harty is one of those genuine guys, a jobbing musician who travels almost constantly, chasing a dream, a rainbow, a whiff of challenge or change, always with one ear open for the next passing lyrical train that he might just pull into. Holding On is an album well worth discovering if you’ve yet to catch this guy. For the rest of us, it’s simply a very nice release indeed.

– Iain Patience

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