Josh Nolan: Kind Heart to Follow
My friend, Josh Nolan, has this voice, this presence. He’s a killer songwriter and instrumentalist who asked me to write a little something for him on the event of his upcoming May 2019 release, Kind Heart to Follow.
As genres fall to the wayside and “Americana” is the buzzword for independent American music, Josh Nolan’s sophomore album, Kind Heart to Follow, falls into what Gram Parsons coined as “cosmic American music.” It is a perfect marriage of country and rock and roll, a collection of ideas that are, at the same time, both Southern and deeply universal.
Over time, Nolan’s songwriting and musicality has evolved from his time as a college dropout, a side man in country dance halls and ruckus bar rooms—even from his 2014 debut album, Fair City Lights—to reflect a finely-tuned ear to the subtleties of his craft.
Nolan is a powerhouse multi-instrumentalist, performing on stage and in the studio with contemporaries William Matheny, Short & Co., Sean Whiting, Senora May, and his sister, Chelsea Nolan, to name a few. He has also performed at festivals and venues all across the region, highlights of which include Master Musicians Festival, Well-Crafted Festival, and Kickin’ It On the Creek. He’s shared bills with heroes like Dwight Yoakam and Willie Nelson to Langhorne Slim and Darrell Scott and has opened for the likes of Shooter Jennings and Tyler Childers.
With Kind Heart to Follow, Josh Nolan takes the stage—a frontman in his own right—asking his audience to question everything they think they know and embark on a journey under his wing, so to speak.
Working at his own pace this time around, Nolan recorded and self-produced all 9 tracks of his newest release in his own home studio, with engineer Kenny Miles of Wayne Graham at the helm. Though Nolan is responsible for much of the instrumentation on the album (vocals, electric guitar, bass, dobro, synth and keys), there are other notable musicians who make an appearance on the album including friend and drummer, Josh Anglin, sister and songwriter, Chelsea Nolan, Montana Hobbs of The Local Honeys and drummer Hayden Miles of Wayne Graham.
We all search for words and music that encapsulate a moment in time, that we can use to help narrate our own lives, and Josh Nolan’s Kind Heart to Follow is a powerful contribution to consider for that honor. Blurring the lines between country, rock and roll, and folk music, Nolan gives voice to our questions and longings, supplying a soundtrack that takes the listener beyond the backroads of Kentucky and into a new space of musical contemplation and possibility.
