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Biography
Prior to becoming known for his well-crafted and thoughtful folk songs, Purdy worked at a loading dock and as a counsellor at a private high school back in his home-state of Arkansas. In 2001 however, Purdy left the southern state, moved to California, and before long taught himself how to play the piano and began arranging his compositions to lyrics. The singer’s first two albums “Joe Purdy” (2001) and “Sessions from Motor Ave.” (2002) stayed under the radar, unlike his third “StompinGrounds” in 2003. Shortly after, Purdy was contacted by director and executive producer J.J. Abrams, who asked the singer-songwriter to compose a song for the big-budget hit TV show “Lost”.
The result was the song “Wash Away (Reprise)”, which also featured on his album “Julie Blue” released in 2004. The song exposed Purdy to a huge audience and subsequently released the three albums “Only Four Seasons”, “You Can Tell Georgia” and “Paris in the Morning” in 2006, the latter two earned a combined 80,000 downloads online.
Purdy has since made appearances as part of Tom McRae’s Hotel Cafe Tour, been invited by The Who's Pete Townsend to play acoustically in his ‘In the Attic Series’ shows and performed with The Giving Tree Band across the U.S. Among various TV and film contributions the singer-songwriter has subsequently released the original albums “Canyon Joe” and “Take My Blanket and Go” in 2007, “Last Clock on the Wall” in 2009, “4th of July” and “This American” in 2010, and “Eagle Rock Fire” in 2014.
Live reviews
Cant’ Get It Right Today from Joe Purdy’s 2006 album You Can Tell Georgia, is one of my favourite songs. I sing it in the shower, in the car, so I was incredibly excited to see Joe Purdy in concert. Of course I’m super into all of his other music, so it was pretty cool to see him live, and he exceeded all expectations.
On a recording when he has backing from his band on many of the tracks, it’s difficult to appreciate what a talented multi-instrumentalist Purdy is. Throughout his live show he changed his setup multiple times, switching from keys, to guitar, to harmonica, and back again. With his vocals soaring over the accompaniment, you really begin to comprehend the complexity of his music.
As Purdy released a whopping 12 albums over just 8 years, I was interested to see how he would select his set list, as it wasn’t a album specific show. He chose to take us on a folk rock journey of his career, working chronologically through his work, and it was fascinating to hear his musical progression unfold. He finished with a preview from Eagle Rock Fire, which sound set to be an awesome album, I can’t wait for it, and hope there will be a tour.
yazhow
This was my second time seeing Joe.
He's brilliant at interacting with the audience, so expect to be amused and entertained when you go see one of his shows. He performs very consistently too in terms of the actual music, and this show was greatly enriched by his friend who came and accompanied him on an instrument I am nowhere near hipster enough to be able to name. Sounded pretty good though.
Unfortunately, I'd still have to say I preferred his first show because it became apparent that while he is a great entertainer with his words, Joe lacks a bit of performing intelligence.
Playing to such a small audience, song requests and more than two old tunes are usually appreciated, yet they were strangely lacking and it felt a little disappointing.
Nonetheless, Joe is a warm individual who costs £10.00 to see and such a top-quality singalong at said price seems hard to argue with.
tim-cogan
On a mild November night in Manchester, I went along to the Night & Day cafe to see Joe Purdy.
He was very good.
Having already made a smart choice in choosing his venue (it was lovely and the perfect size for him) he played an excellent set of old and new songs, and was even kind enough to take requests for his last few tunes before he left the stage. Almost as entertaining between songs as when actually performing them, he made sure that the small sum of £10.00 with which I parted to see him was money well spent.
Joe hadn't visited Manchester (or toured in the UK, for that matter) for 10 years. Before he left the stage, he said that he'd be back sometime now that he knew we were here.
I hope he means it, because if he does then I'll sure as hell be back too.
tim-cogan
It was a few first for me with this show.. The Venue, City Winery, was an awesome venue for a show... I had never heard of his opener Garrison Starr.. she was great.. her rendition of Gin and Juice was probably the best cover I have ever heard.. Joe was great.. there was more audience participation than I care for but Joe made some of it rather funny..
nanksmd
He has a haunting voice that really comes across beautifully in a small concert hall. His albums are good, but not nearly as affecting as the live performance. He is also very funny in between songs, telling self-deprecating jokes and stories behind his song-writing process that reveal his personality. I highly recommend you come see him in person!
efeder
