MEET THE BAND: Joe Joyce (vocals, acoustic guitar), Ryan Marquette (guitar), Bobby Vaughn (keyboards, vocals), Ryan Grimes (bass), Ryan Moore (drums, vocals)
MUSIC AS AN OUTLET: Joyce grew up in North Olmsted and started playing drums after his dad got him his first drum kit when he was 7. He then learned to play bass and guitar when he was in his teens. "I always liked music as an outlet and a way to try to express myself," he says. "The Beatles are an influence. I like 1960s pop-rock music. I like poetic outlaw country like Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. I also like some emo and punk music like Saves the Day and the Get Up Kids. I just write music that I would enjoy listening to. Based on all those influences, I try to put a contemporary flair on everything I do." Joe Joyce Band came together last year.
AN ACOUSTIC FOUNDATION: All the songs were constructed as acoustic tracks, and then the band fleshed them out for the group's debut, Between You, Me and the Cherry Tree. "I really like the other guys in the band, and I feel like I'm in a band with four clones of me," says Joyce. "We decided to cut a record with some songs that are as old as 12 or 13 years old." Joyce and the album's producer, Kevin Koch, actually started playing music together years ago in the local indie rock act the Promise Hero. "[Koch] records as a hobby, and we did everything in-house," says Joyce. "We cut everything at his house and then mixed it ourselves. It came out way better than expected."
WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: Between You, Me and Cherry Tree, features perky pop numbers like "Hello Dear" and "That Was a Friendship Bracelet," tunes that recall emo-ish acts such as Never Shout Never. The album has quite a bit of diversity too. "Newer songs like 'The Shape I'm In' are like my country-folk take on the indie rock I'm into," says Joyce. "I can't make much sense of [how all my influences come together] other than that my biggest goal is to make something that resonates with me." Joyce says the group has started to compose new music as well. "We made the decision we want to be an actual band and not just record the songs I've written," he says. "We started writing new stuff, and we're thinking about an EP sometime within the next year."
WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: joejoyce.bandcamp.com
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Joy Joyce Band performs with Ledges, Corey Kilgannon and CJ Thompson at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, at Mahall's in Lakewood.
