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Josh King interview
Manage episode 515518648 series 3646035
Josh King joins me on episode 145.
Josh hails from Charlotte, North Carolina, and picked up his first harmonica at just six years old.
By the time he was eight, he’d found an incredible mentor in the legendary James Cotton, after boldly sneaking into Cotton’s dressing room at a show. That chance encounter turned into a lasting mentorship, with Josh joining Cotton on stage numerous times during his teens.
In 2025, Josh brought his talents to a national audience as a contestant on American Idol. While the spotlight was on his singing and piano playing, it was the harmonica that gave Josh his distinctive edge.
Today, he continues to create and perform new music, keeping the harmonica right at the heart of his sound.
Links:
Josh’s website: https://www.joshkingmusic.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJoshKing
Videos:
House of the Rising Sun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgiGWD9cOWI
Playing Hoochie Coochie Man with James Cotton age 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blBAqb_jyn0
Rolling In The Deep on American Idol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-3dWlkR7q0
Hopelessly on American Idol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np8YhQM6kjk&list=RDnp8YhQM6kjk&start_radio=1
Playing with Buddy Guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcV04BKOdc0
Playing with Tommy Emmanuel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G353LZWD52E
Singing US national anthem in 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FCLnN1384Y
Chapters
1. Josh King interview (00:00:00)
2. Josh is from Charlotte, North Carolina (00:01:32)
3. Recently appeared on American Idol (00:01:46)
4. Received first harmonica aged six (00:02:13)
5. Started learning piano age 13, and a little guitar (00:03:24)
6. Advantages of learning a musical instrument as an adult (00:04:35)
7. Josh is 25 years old at the time of speaking (00:05:04)
8. Plays a little chromatic harmonica but isn’t so great on it (00:05:38)
9. Mentorship with James Cotton from age 8 or 9 after his mother took him to one of Cotton’s shows and Josh sneaked into his dressing room (00:06:11)
10. Cotton described Josh as his ‘musical grandson’ (00:09:30)
11. Cotton encouraged him to take up singing and piano in addition to harmonica (00:09:38)
12. Spent quite a lot of time with Cotton and the time he locked the band out of an RV (00:10:27)
13. Recollections of Cotton’s passing (00:11:49)
14. Didn’t give Josh harmonica lessons as such, more hints and guidance on performing (00:13:49)
15. Cotton’s showmanship (00:15:26)
16. The time Josh played Hooch Coochie Man with Cotton on stage at age 10 (00:17:22)
17. American Idol journey (00:18:59)
18. Humility Josh felt being surrounded by the other great contestants on American Idol (00:19:16)
19. Josh came across as humble a little shy on Idol (00:21:06)
20. Comparing the coaching he received on Idol to what Cotton taught him (00:22:37)
21. Some of the thinking behind the song choices Josh made for Idol (00:23:58)
22. His use of the harmonica on Idol gave him a unique selling point, but he wanted to leave them wanting more (00:26:42)
23. Seydel provided the harmonicas for Josh to use on Idol (00:28:20)
24. Impact of using the harmonica on some of the songs on Idol (00:28:31)
25. Playing harmonica on a rack with the piano, including on the song Hopelessly, as performed on Idol where the wrong rack caused him problems (00:30:11)
26. Uses some different tunings, including Paddy Richter, and custom harmonicas built by Ben Bouman (00:31:18)
27. Josh made the last eight on Idol, so went far in the competition (00:33:52)
28. The physical toll that Idol took on Josh included a visit to hospital (00:34:20)
29. Performed as a teenager with Buddy Guy and Tommy Emmanuel at the BB King’s Club (00:37:05)
30. Sang the national anthem at a NFL game and America The Beautiful at the US Open, both when 13 years old (00:38:31)
31. Why prefers playing the piano over guitar (00:39:28)
32. Lionel Ritchie encouraged Josh to use the piano on Idol (00:41:02)
33. Working on a new album with plenty of harmonica planned for that, with harmonica still his main instrument (00:41:59)
34. Ten minute question (00:43:18)
35. Spreads harmonica practise between other music creation (00:44:35)
36. Has the neurodiversity condition: ADHD, and the impact that has on his music creation (00:45:17)
37. New album will probably be ‘alt pop’ and the difficulty in defining genres (00:46:03)
38. Advantage of vintage equipment over more modern equipment (00:48:43)
39. Is a Seydel endorsee (00:50:13)
40. Uses the Paddy Richter tuning for some pop songs (00:50:28)
41. Didn’t use the harmonica on every song on Idol as wanted to keep it fresh (00:51:13)
42. Mainly tongue blocker (00:52:27)
43. Cotton mainly taught him by giving hints (00:52:35)
44. Amps and mics (00:53:19)
145 episodes
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