Joshua Michael Garrels (born September 25, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and composer from

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. His music combines traditional folk music with other musical elements and the nontraditional exploration of Christian themes.

Biography

Garrels is originally from

. He currently lives in

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...

, with his wife and five children. In 2005, he co-founded Small Voice Records and released ''Over Oceans'', ''Jacaranda'', ''Lost Animals'' and ''Home''. Garrels released his sixth album in June 2011 titled ''Love & War & The Sea in Between''. ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

'' called the album "prophetic, incisive, achingly human, and longingly spiritual", and rated it as their 2011 Album of The Year. In 2012, Garrels collaborated with the music collective Mason Jar Music to film the music-documentary movie ''The Sea in Between,'' in which Mason Jar and Garrels traveled to the remote

Mayne Island Mayne Island is a island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of over 1300. Mount Parke in the south-central heart of the island is ...

to perform music on several of Mayne's most beautiful locations. "Don't Wait For Me" was featured on ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' on January 29, 2014. He released ''Home'' on April 7, 2015.

Charity

From March 14, 2013, to March 28, 2013, (14 days) Garrels had 161,245 album downloads on Noisetrade.com which raised $71,566 in "tips". All of the funds were given in full to

World Relief World Relief (officially, World Relief Corporation of National Association of Evangelicals) is a global Christian humanitarian organization whose mission is to boldly engage the world’s greatest crises in partnership with the church. The orga ...

to help with their work to bring peace and restoration to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Continued work with Noisetrade

In the weeks leading up to the 2015 release of the album ''Home,'' Garrels gave away free copies of his previous albums on Noisetrade.com. When ''Home'' was released, listeners had a choice between buying it on

ITunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

or downloading it for free. Garrels gave away 42,000 copies of ''Home'' its first week.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Stone Tree'' (2002) * ''Underquiet'' (2003) * ''Over Oceans'' (2006) * ''Jacaranda'' (2008) * ''Lost Animals'' (2009) * ''Love & War & The Sea in Between'' (2011) * ''Love & War: B-Sides & Remixes'' (2012) * ''The Sea In Between'' Soundtrack — with Mason Jar Music (2013) * ''Home'' (2015) ( ''Billboard'' 200 No. 83) * ''The Light Came Down'' (2016) – Christmas album * ''Chrysaline'' (2019) * ''Peace To All Who Enter Here'' (2020) * ''Peace To All Who Enter Here, Vol. 2'' (2025)

Compilation albums

* ''Early Work Vol. 1'' (2020) * ''Early Work Vol. 2'' (2021)

Videos

* ''The Seven Stars: Live At The Off-Center Garage'' (2004) * ''The Sea In Between'' (2012)

Notable interviews

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(December 26, 2013) *

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA (IVCF) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses in U.S.. It is a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students ...

(October 17, 2013) * Relevant (April 8, 2013) *

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

(March 26, 2013)Huffington Post
accessed March 26, 2013.

References

External links

* * *Billups, Sara
"About Josh Garrels."
N.p., n.d. Web. October 26, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrels, Josh 1980 births Living people Musicians from South Bend, Indiana Musicians from Portland, Oregon Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance American performers of Christian music