The Josh Dion Band is a musical group based out of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

led by singing drummer/songwriter Josh Dion. The group is commonly associated with the

rock n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and ...

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

genres of music.

Personnel

* Josh Dion -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

::Dion is a "singing drummer" who made his first impression in New York in February 2004 at

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

with, among others, guitar master

Chuck Loeb Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay. Early years and education Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At ...

, saxophonist

Kim Waters Kim Waters (born March 20, 1965) is an American jazz artist born in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Early life Waters grew up in Harford County, Maryland. Waters learned how to play the saxophone at a young age. He attended C. Milton Wright High ...

and

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hoope ...

. Before that, he toured the country with jazz funk quartet ulu from 2003–2004 and played drums on their fourth record, entitled ''Nerve''. * Patrick Firth - keyboards/vocals * Brian Killeen -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Daniel Hindman -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

/vocals * Sarah Versprille -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

History

In early 2004, Dion began writing and rehearsing original material with guitarist Daniel Hindman, keyboardist Pat Firth, and bassist Brian Killeen. All members of the band at one point attended

William Paterson University William Paterson University, known as WP, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey, United States. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 an ...

in Wayne, NJ. Their first performance date was at the Sarah Street Bar and Grill on February 4, 2004 in Stoudsburg, PA. At the time, the focus of the group was based loosely on songwriting and heavily on improvisation because of the lack of original material. Early influences of the band included blues, funk, jazz, and rock n' roll, though this sound would become more consolidated as the band progressed. In July 2004, the JDB (as it is affectionately abbreviated) began performing in New York City at such venues as Suite 16 and

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...

. By this point, the band had acquired enough original material to perform a consolidated set focusing now primarily on songwriting. Shortly after, vocalists Sarah Versprille and Justin Wade joined the group to help fill out the missing vocal harmonies in the developing songs of the band. The band continued to perform in the New York City area as well as travel throughout the East Coast opening for the likes of

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

Los Lonely Boys Los Lonely Boys are an American musical group from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll", combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown-eyed soul, country music, country, and Tejano music. The ...

, Eric Johnson,

Spyro Gyra Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from ''Spirogyra'', a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenste ...

, and

Cowboy Mouth Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...

. During this time they recorded their first album entitle
'Give Love'
which included appearances from guitarist

and bassist

. The 'Give Love' album opened doorways for the group to travel to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

for their first international tour in May 2006. This tour was dubbed the 'Word Of Mouth' tour simply because the band was an unknown quantity in Europe at the time. The band was received with excellent reviews and attendance at all of its shows. After returning to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

the group began recording their second album of live material simply entitled ''Live'', released on October 7, 2006. In 2007, the band continued touring heavily with an appearance at the Den Hague Jazz Festival as well as a second tour of Spain and an opening performance slot with the

Spin Doctors Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and N ...

. Their last album, 'Anthems For The Long Distance' was released on May 2, 2008 at a release show at the

Highline Ballroom The Highline Ballroom was a music venue and nightclub located at 431 West 16th Street in the neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Description Primarily featuring musical acts, its capacity was approximately 700 people hosting divers ...

in New York City. Shortly after, the band returned to Spain for a third tour with an appearance at the

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

festival in Cáceres. Josh Dion Band officially performed their last show on December 31, 2008 as part of a New Year's Eve celebration at the Bitter End in New York City.

Discography

*''Give Love'' (2005) *''Live'' (2006) *''Anthems For The Long Distance'' (2008)

References

{{Authority control Rock music groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2008