Beneath the Sand

Joshua Josué
Beneath the Sand
Biography

On his debut full-length album Beneath the Sand (Electric CholoLand Records), Portland, Oregon-based Chicano rocker Joshua Josué delivers a soul-bearing, genre-crossing journey of loss, love, and rebirth, set against the borderlands of Mexico, the highlands of Central America, and the deserts of the American West. With songs in both English and Spanish, the record is steeped in the dust and poetry of the open road, echoing the legacy of American troubadours and Latin folk heroes alike.

"The name of the album is Beneath the Sand," says Joshua. "It is the title track which was written by me, Ben [Rice] and Roly Salley of The Chris Isaak Band." Salley - who won a GRAMMY for writing Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' “Killing the Blues” - is one of several legendary collaborators on the album. Also featured are members of Los Lobos, Dwight Yoakam's band, The Old 97's, and Los Super Seven, bringing decades of roots-rock, Americana, Tejano, and Chicano soul to Joshua's deeply personal songs.

The album began to take shape years ago, far from any studio. "I spent a few years traveling on my motorcycle through Mexico and Central America, playing small bars and cantinas and I began writing the songs for this album at that time," Joshua recalls. "All the songs are deeply personal to me and are quite autobiographical, embracing the towns, lonely highways, and the roadside motels that I called home for those years." Written largely in solitude, the songs became a way to process a devastating loss and an unexpected new chapter. "This album has the rhythms and tempos inspired by the artists I met in Latin America," he says, "yet if you look a little deeper, beneath the sand, you will find something nuanced and introspective where layers of personal stories and cultural crossroads meet."

The album's cinematic title track, “Beneath the Sand,” embodies the album's emotional core. "It's a deeply personal and cinematic meditation on grief, escape, and transformation along the highways of Central America," Joshua says. "After losing someone very dear to me, I felt like disappearing. I wandered through Mexico and Central America for about a year, just trying to outrun the grief  -  and that's where this song lives." He completed the song with Roly and Ben in a remote Mojave Desert cabin, its sparse production mirroring the loneliness and hope in the lyrics: "Motorcycle in the jungle, I'm going somewhere. Anyplace that I can run, a place to disappear…”

From the windswept desert rock of “Bogart & Me” to the bilingual love story of “La Chica Me Cantó,” each track on Beneath the Sand documents a real moment in Joshua's life. “’Bogart & Me’ is the story of heading out to make this record," he says. "I felt like I was on the adventure of a lifetime…driving through the desert to record with my musical heroes - Roly Salley and Hershel Yatovitz from Chris Isaak's band, Mitch Marine from Dwight Yoakam's band, Joel Guzmán, Murry Hammond, and Steve Berlin." Despite the nerves, Joshua found grounding in a loyal companion. "Sometimes when you step out into the unknown…it can be a bit scary and isolating. But I had Bogart with me on this journey. Ever loving and supportive, this song is for him  -  and this adventure."

Recorded at Goat Mountain Recording Studio near Joshua Tree - a solar-powered oasis in the Mojave - the desert landscape shaped both the sound and spirit of the record. "This was the perfect studio for this album," Joshua comments. "The studio itself embodies the themes of this album…You can sit on a bench outside, drinking a cup of coffee while recording a guitar part as roadrunners and jackrabbits watch. It's the kind of place where you can be part of the landscape."

The musicians on Beneath the Sand are as storied as the songs themselves. "Having Roly and Mitch as the rhythm section was huge - they are truly the dream team of rhythm sections," he says with a huge smile. "The experience they brought from their years of recording and touring helped give the album the driving sound of a freight train." Guitarist Hershel Yatovitz provided the shimmering tones Joshua had long admired. "Over the years I've seen Chris Isaak play at least half a dozen times…I would end up at those concerts so I could try and figure out how Hershel got those guitar tones. Now I get to be in the studio with one of my all-time favorite guitar players. It just blew my mind."

Tex-Mex textures come courtesy of saxophonist Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and accordionist Joel Guzmán (Los Super Seven). "I would sing parts that I wanted to add…and the two of them could walk into the recording booth and nail their parts in just one or two takes," recalls Joshua. Murry Hammond of The Old 97's, a longtime friend and mentor, contributed ghostly background vocals and songwriting insight: "His knowledge of song structure and harmonies was the key to making the delivery and vocal performance of some of these tunes so wonderful."

Despite the emotional gravity of the songs, the recording process was joyful. "Myself and the band would wake up early and explore the desert in Joshua Tree National Park," he says with such happiness. "Then we would go record for about 10 hours in the studio, then walk a short distance to Pat Kearns' (the album’s engineer and producer, and owner of Goat Mountain Recording Studio) small desert cabin where his wife Susan would cook us dinner on the outside stove and we would stay up late writing music and drinking tequila and Modelo Especials."

Joshua's multicultural upbringing and bilingual lyricism are central to his identity as an artist. "I chose to write in both Spanish and English because that is my voice and that is also where these songs live," he says. "Growing up on the West Coast, Southern California, and having lived in Mexico…I have always been surrounded by that blend of language." He adds with characteristic honesty, "For a long time I was embarrassed by the way I speak Spanish…it's Pocho Spanish. Even my grandmother gives me a hard time about my Spanish. But it's me, it's my voice, it's just who I am."

Beneath the Sand bridges cultural traditions in a way that feels both timeless and necessary. "This is the first album that I can embrace both my Americana roots and my Chicano roots," Joshua says with pride. "Not only does it draw on John Prine and Townes Van Zandt but also Vicente Fernández, Los Lobos, and Enrique Bunbury." His fusion of traditional American storytelling and Mexican folk rhythms creates a sound that resonates with fans of Steve Earle, Jesse Wells, Hayes Carll, Alejandro Escovedo, and beyond.

Even before its release, the album is already gaining momentum. Two songs from Beneath the Sand are currently in consideration for GRAMMY nominations. "I have already accomplished my goal of this record," Joshua says. "To record it in a beautiful manner with friends who are also my music heroes. To actually win that award would be a real accomplishment, as would being able to tour more and share some bigger stages nationally."

At its heart, Beneath the Sand is a testament to survival, resilience, and artistic rebirth. With lyrics like "There's a light out in the distance, it's a sign I must move on" and "I'm at my best far away from home," Joshua Josué embraces the in-between spaces - between nations, languages, genres, and identities - and emerges with a debut album that is both deeply rooted and wide open.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT ALEX STEININGER AT IN MUSIC WE TRUST PR: 503-557-9661 or alex@inmusicwetrust.com

Photo by Christina Seluzicki

Photo by James Jones

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