"I want to bring out more romance in
R&B," he says. "I love to write songs with sweet
melodies, songs that are going to be sketched into a person's mind in
pure feelings."
Music has always been a central part of Joe's
life. The son of two preachers, Joe was always singing, playing
guitar or directing the choir in his parents' Pentecostal Church in
Opelika, Alabama. Gospel greats like Commission, the Winans, Clark
Sisters and
Vanessa Bell
Armstrong, as well as soul legends
Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and
Sam Cooke provided constant inspiration. However, it wasn't until Joe
discovered Bobby Brown, Guy and
Keith Sweat
that he recognized his own calling: as a singer and a songwriter.
"By the time I was 16, I was playing in a
7-piece band in local clubs from 9 pm till 4 am, covering
Johnny Gill,
Bobby Brown and
Babyface tunes," he says. "I was like a DJ,
a vocal DJ."
After graduating from high school, Joe moved
back and forth between Alabama and Georgia, writing music, singing and
doing odd jobs. Then one day, he took a life-altering risk and
purchased a one-way bus ticket to New Jersey where he knew some people
who knew some people in the music business.
Although closer to fulfilling his ambitions, Joe's
longed-for break was still to come. In the meantime, he worked at a
gospel music store where his encyclopedic knowledge of the genre came
in handy, and played guitar for a local church. Through the church he
met Keith Miller and Noel Gorey who introduced Joe to record
producer Vincent Herbert, with whom he recorded a three-song demo.
Soon after, Tse Williams signed Joe to a publishing deal with Zomba.
He made his recording debut with the track "All The Things You
Want to Do," on the soundtrack to the movie "Don't Be A
Menace..."
Joe produced his Jive Records album debut,
which was recorded at "The Crib" in New Jersey and mixed at
Bear Tracks and Battery Studios, with
Gerald LeVert, Tony Nicholas,
Larry Campbell and Rodney Jerkins. He co-wrote "Good Girls"
with Joshua Thompson and
Michelle Williams and "No One Else Comes
Close" with Gary Barker and Wayne Perry.
Joe remixed the Tina Turner/Barry
White duet "Never In Your Dreams" and Turner's
"Something Beautiful Remains," as well as working with
LaFace on "Dreamings" for the 1996 Summer Olympics album.
He's also written songs and produced debut albums for Ideal and Deja
Groove.
Genre: R&B
Styles:
.Adult Contemporary. / AdultContemporary
.Adult Contemporary R&B. / AdultContemporaryR&B
.Urban. / xUrban
Years active:
x90s, x00s, x10s, x20s
Born: ..in Georgia / born nGeorgia
Born: ..in Cuthbert / born CuthbertGA
Born: Jul 5, 1973
Raised: ..in Alabama / nAlabama
Raised: ..in Opelika
/ OpelikaAL
Based: ..in US
Based: ..in New York / based nNewYork
Based: ..in New York City
/ based NewYorkNY
