New Album “Beautiful Tragedy” Already Racks Up 100,000+ Listens On Spotify!
Canadian singer-songwriter Josh Taerk (pronounced Turk) is streaming the video for his brand-new single “Beautiful Tragedy” exclusively via Music News!
The single from his latest album of the same name has picked up stunning reviews across the board, with Fireworks Magazine stating Josh Taerk, “Continues to make waves on a global scale,” and “continues to beat the standard,” with his music. The single has already picked up airplay on over 100 radio stations around the world and is climbing up the US Top 40 Charts.
The new video for “Beautiful Tragedy” can be found here:
Over the last few years, Josh has been a busy man. In April 2011, Josh played two shows at the Aspen Songwriters Festival hosted by John Oates (Rock & Roll Hall of Famer). Oates recorded background vocals on two songs off of Josh’s “Here’s To Change” album and said of Josh and his song writing, “I've enjoyed getting to know Josh & his music over the last few years…I think “Here’s To Change” is his best work to date.” He’s toured the US and UK several times, made it to the semi-finals of Indie Week Canada’s 2014 Band Competition and was then invited to play five shows at Indie Week Europe 2015 in Manchester.
With the high energy of his live shows, Josh was named one of the “Top 5 Live Acts” of 2015 by acclaimed music writer Jason Richie and Josh’s previous album, Here’s To Change, was chosen as one of the top 25 albums of the year. In 2015, the title-track off of Here’s To Change was play-listed on over 40 radio stations throughout The U.K. In 2016 & 2017 he toured North America opening for / playing with Max Weinberg, Kevin Costner & Modern West, Jon McLaughlin, and The Weeks amongst others.
Stages was released in The US on October 20th 2017 and received airplay on 80 Triple A Radio stations across North America. The second single off the EP, “Anywhere Love Took Us,” has over 70,000 streams on Spotify and received rave reviews and amazing support from US outlets such as No Depression, Paste Magazine and AXS. His live shows are second to none and continue to wow fans and industry representatives alike. Lyrically Speaking Magazine raves, “the audience could feel the passion and enthusiasm Josh puts into his music...you can instantly tell that he has a large and confident presence onstage,” and the Bournemouth Daily Echo described Josh as a “rising star hailed as the new boss.”
Max Weinberg (Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band) calls Josh, “the most exciting new talent I have come across in years.” Josh and Max have been working together since 2010 when Max asked Josh to open for Max and his band in South Orange New Jersey. Then in 2011, Josh joined Max at Summerfest in Milwaukee to pay tribute to the late Clarence Clemons of The E Street Band. This past October 2017, Max once again asked Josh to join him onstage and sing “Thunder Road” at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Canada.
Josh also sat down with Music News recently to talk about his new record and his plans for the future!
Who thought of the music video concept? Josh Taerk - I came up with the video concept. I didn’t want to make a traditional music video for this song, I wanted to do something that had a sense of humour to it. So, I called a friend in Nashville, explained my idea, and he immediately connected me to Josh Lockhart. I got on the phone with Lockhart, and when we talked about the idea on that first call, we were completely on the same page. We started brainstorming more ideas and moments to add to the video on the spot, it was a lot of fun working with him on this.
Who wrote the song? JT - I started writing the song in London England when I got back to my hotel room after one of my shows. It was 2am and I was about to wash up and go to sleep when the first lines of the song came to me, “These days I leave the light on when I go to sleep / Thinking maybe we’ll come back to what we could have been.” I wrote the rest of the words that night and brought them back to my brothers Ryan and Matt in Toronto to work on the arrangement.
Where was the video filmed? JT - The majority of the video was made in Nashville TN and put together by Josh Lockhart, with the exception of the bridge or solo of the song. I thought about it a little and came up with the “multiple Josh’s” idea. It was so much fun filming and playing all those different parts.
What is the video about? JT - The initial idea was to make a simple lyric video, but I always like to add a little extra when I do something. The video ended up being a combination of my and Lockhart’s sense of humour, especially when it comes to my relationship with my computer.
What has been the hardest part about making a video? JT - This video was actually the easiest video I’ve ever done. The hardest part was filming the live performance. We had to time the music correctly so that the videos matched the right part of the song, and I had audio to follow along with when I filmed the parts. I especially liked showing off my tambourine skills.
Are you comfortable on camera? Any tricks that you use to make yourself relax on camera? JT - It took me a little time to become comfortable in front of the camera when I first started making videos, and now I love being in front of the camera. Aside from playing my music and connecting with people; I really like making people laugh. That was a big part of making this video, I wanted people to have as much fun watching it as I did making it.
How long did the process take to make the video? JT - From start to finish the video took just over a month to make. Lockhart was amazing to work with and the two of us got a long really well on the project.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? JT - Continuing to do what I love. Writing music, recording, producing and playing my songs live. I definitely see myself continuing to tour, as well as bringing my music and shows to new places, new fans, and bigger stages.
What 5 artists inspire you the most and how have they played into your sound? JT - Bruce Springsteen is a huge influence on my songwriting and the way I perform onstage. He’s so emotionally invested in the stories that he’s telling that they feel so real and emotionally powerful. The same goes for his performance, he gives everything he’s got during his shows. John Mayer and Ed Sheeran’s writing has definitely influenced mine. Each of them has their own voice and style of storytelling, both aren’t afraid to mix different genres and I really admire them for that.
The thing I love the most about both of their writing styles is how understandable and relatable their stories are. They choose words that everyone can understand so people can connect with their songs. The latest album Harry Styles put out impacted me as a recording artist and producer. I loved how they layered background vocals on the record and how raw the album felt. I found a lot of inspiration in that record when I co-produced my latest album.
Shawn Mendes is really good at taking very emotional and vulnerable stories and making the tracks sound epic. “Stitches” and “In My Blood” are really emotionally charged songs, and the arrangements on both are so big they’re almost uplifting too. I love doing that with my stories and songs.
What advice would you give budding musicians? JT - Everyone talks about the business being insanely difficult and how the chances of making it are a million to one. The way I see it, any business these days is not easy. The job market is not what it used to be and there’s a lot of competition in every field. I believe that you have to be passionate about what you’re doing and, whatever you do, do it because you love it. That’s what’s going to keep you going and push you to continue to follow your dreams. Anything worth achieving doesn’t come without effort. If it did, it wouldn’t be as worth it.
For more info on Josh and his upcoming world-wide tour, head over to his www.joshtaerk.com
