Wednesday, June 27, 8 p.m.
Codfish Hollow Barn, 5013 288th Avenue, Maquoketa IA
Praised by Whatsup Magazine for music that delivers “the lyrics as spells, the melodies as enchantment, the rhythms as the primal beatings of the heart,” the folk artists of Joseph play a Moeller Nights concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn on June 27, sharing what the magazine lauded as “a harmonic alchemical transmutation of word and music into shimmering epiphanies of transcendent meaning.”
Based in Portland, Oregon, Joseph was formed when Natalie Closner Schepman – who had been pursuing a solo singer/songwriter career – recruited her younger twin sisters Meegan and Allison to join her on vocals for a new project. They chose their band name as a tribute to the town of Joseph, Oregon, and their grandfather Jo, and self-released their debut album Native Dreamer Kin in 2014, a work that, according to NPR, “allowed the sisters' voices to transform butterfly harmonies into an unexpected, rapturous chorus.” Joseph subsequently built a following playing intimate house shows as a trio accompanied by acoustic guitar and foot drum, and signed to ATO Records in 2015, releasing an acoustic two-song digital ATO Sessions EP and accompanying video series.
Later that year, Joseph recorded I'm Alone, No You're Not, and after the album was released in August of 2016, it debuted at number-one on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, a position it kept for the next two weeks. The sisters' single “White Flag,” meanwhile, reached number-one on the Adult Alternative Songs chart that October, and also charted on Spotify's U.S. Viral Top 10 mere days after its release. Joseph made its television debut performing “White Flag” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and went on to make appearances on Ellen, CONAN, CBS This Morning, and NBC's TODAY. With a third album released in 2017's Stay Awake – which NPR acclaimed for the musicians' “willingness to balance shimmery prettiness with fist-pumping power” – Joseph has been widely in-demand as a touring act, the trio's recent appearances including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, and the Newport Folk Festival.
The Joseph musicians perform their June 27 concert with an opening set by Becca Mancari, and admission to the 8 p.m. show is $20-25. The Codfish Hollow Art Gallery will also be open, with vendors from the tri-state area selling arts, crafts, and jewelry, and more information and tickets are available by visiting MoellerNights.com or CodfishHollowBarnstormers.com.
