Michigan - Blues, Folk, Gospel
Josh White Jr.
Musician and actor, Josh White Jr., was a child star, performing with his famous father and namesake. In the early sixties, due to the lack of acting opportunities for a young black man, Josh White Jr. turned to folk music during the folk revival in America, carving out a long, successful career. He has appeared on countless stages in concert halls, clubs and festivals across North America, and we are very pleased to present him at Mariposa Folk Festival this year, accompanying Oscar Brand.
Josh White Jr. is celebrating his 65th Anniversary in show business, beginning as a child star performing and recording with his legendary father Josh White, an original Carolina Piedmont blues player who pioneered the blues and spirituals: first to New York’s folk community, and then on to Broadway, nightclubs, and concert stages around the world in the 1930s and 1940s.
He carries forward the immense musical and social activist legacy of his father, while also able to transport you back to the time when his father's recordings of John Henry, House of the Rising Sun, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, Strange Fruit, One Meatball, Miss Otis Regrets, The House I Live In, and Waltzing Matilda first became popular songs to the masses; and to the experiences he shared as a child with Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Bojangles, Leadbelly, Joe Louis, Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday, Dorothy Gish, Arthur O'Connell and Burl Ives, and as an adult with Pete Seeger, Odetta, Miriam MaKeba and Nina Simone.
In the meantime, Josh Jr. has established his own musical and activist legacy since becoming a solo artist in 1961 - with more than a dozen albums ranging in a variety of styles, including his 1987 Grammy nominated album Jazz, Ballads and Blues; and with heart-felt songs written by his artist friends, his own self-penned positive message songs (which have also been recorded by other artists such as Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte), and those made famous by his father.
He has toured the world’s greatest concert stages, starred in four TV concert specials, is a TONY Award winning actor, educator and teacher, honored humanitarian, environmentalist and passionate idealist, and a supreme children’s performer.
In 1980, Josh was named the Voice of the PEACE Corps and the Voice of VISTA; and he has sung his songs of peace, inspiration and hope for presidents, prime ministers, the Pope, the imprisoned and the poorest of the poor around the world.
Josh White Jr. is a living link to 20th Century African-American history, the history of the blues and to his legacy and inherent responsibility of being an artist/activist. Silverwolf Records released By Request last year, and will be releasing his fans' long anticipated Live at the Raven Gallery in February (to accompany his tours of North America, Europe and Australia); to be followed this summer with his latest blues offering Tuning For the Blues.