Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joe Buckley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Joe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I suppose I was too young and dumb at the time to care, but heading down to Nashville after college without a job, any connections, and nothing but lyrics in my pocket and a guitar on my back was nothing short of reckless. But sometimes I think the reckless and restless fling ourselves into the chaos of irresponsibility not for the sake of absurdity, but for the sake of challenging ourselves to navigate seemingly impossible odds. It’s knowing that you’ll likely fail, but also knowing that for some – your idols, your heroes – the risk paid off to the tune of a lifetime of adoration and financial success. But they, like any artist, simply started by taking a risk against incalculable and improbable odds.
For any artist aiming to make a living in the music industry, know good and well going in that those are your odds. The risk is believing that lyrics on a notepad or the melody in your head could be worth something to someone, and maybe even worth a great deal to many.
What taking the risk does guarantee is rejection, frustration, ridicule, and expenses, both in money and time. The good news is that all of this applies to every artist at every level – from whoever’s topping the charts right now, to me, to the kid who just unveiled their first song at a talent show. The question isn’t if the risk is worth it, the question is if you’re worth the risk. That’s for the rest of the world to decide, but you’ll never know what you’re worth if you never take the risk.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My musical odyssey began at a small local guitar shop in my hometown in the Chicago suburbs. It’s there that I bought my first guitar and took my first guitar lesson from the shop owner’s son. The shop doubled as a venue for local punk rock shows, and my guitar lessons quickly evolved into recording and live performance lessons. I started teaching myself drums and bass as well, thinking that it’d be cool to create entire records as a one-man-band.
It wasn’t long before I played my first show at the shop as the headliner of a student showcase concert. I think I was 13, and my entire baseball team showed up along with family and friends. I’d be lying if I said them chanting my name at the end of the show didn’t give me the chills, and I knew right then that I wanted to chase that feeling, and here I am still chasing it at 31.
My music took somewhat of a backseat throughout high school as football, basketball, and honors classes took up most of my time. They also added up to an opportunity to play football at a well-regarded liberal arts college. But the classes, coaches, and coeds could never keep my full attention, as I still managed to find time for late night recording sessions and one-off performances with bands of all kinds. I was also known to fuel the fraternity party dance floor with live electric guitar on occasion.
Looking back, I’d say, do everything you can at 100 miles an hour while you’re young, because you’ll never have that time, energy, or freedom ever again – enter the real world, and the next chapter of my sonic journey.
So, what does a 22 year old at the end of his athletic career, armed with nothing but a writing degree, a guitar, and a hand-me-down Dodge do next? Well, move to Nashville of course. It was there in Music City that I truly honed in on my craft – songwriter rounds at 2:00 am, 4 hour cover band sets with touring pros twice my age, opening for local legends at iconic venues – all the while holding down the sales floor and online operations at Nashville’s oldest independent music store from 11 to 7. If you could imagine such a thing as rock ‘n’ roll grad school, well, I attended it.
What did I learn? Everything I needed to steer the rest of my life in a musical direction. What did I earn? Nothing, and that was maybe the most important lesson of all. If I was going to make a living in the music industry and achieve financial stability, I needed to get out of the late night Nashville hustle and open the next and current chapter of my musical story.
The Joe Buckley Band found a new rhythm after Nashville. Back in Chicagoland, happily married, working internet trust and safety in the musical instrument industry, and with a 2 year old running around, I’ve found artistic freedom amidst the more important things. I’m no longer writing for Nashville, I’m writing for my friends, my family, and myself.
I’ve never been happier as an artist, and it’s led to my most successful string of album releases and some of my biggest shows yet. From an amphitheater hidden in the cornfields of Illinois, to annual town festivals in the heart of Indiana, I’ve had the privilege of playing with some of the coolest up-and-comers in the Chicago music scene, and for some of the rowdiest rock ‘n’ rollers in the midwest. A big rockin’ thank you to all of them, as well as my family, friends, fans, and everyone else who’s played a part in my wild attempt at making classic rock matter in the modern era.
I would love for anyone to listen to my one-man-band rock ‘n’ roll records, all handcrafted in my humble home studio. You’ll find The Joe Buckley Band on Spotify, Apple Music, and many other streaming platforms, and check out The Joe Buckley Band YouTube channel for live show clips, music videos, and more. Peace, love, and high quality rock ‘n’ roll to all.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
As an aspiring songwriter, there’s nothing more rewarding than hearing the crowd, or even a single crowd member, singing along to your lyrics. Admittedly, it’s not something that happens very often at my level. I don’t think anyone really knows why their favorite song is their favorite song, or why some lyrics get stuck in our heads when they do, but to know that I’ve put in enough time, effort, and emotion into something that it’s become more than just my own, that means a lot. I suppose it’s like when a couple says, “It’s our song!” To them, it’s not the artist’s lyrics, melody, or arrangement, it’s something deeper, something ethereal. Those are the kind of songs I aim to write – the kind that will hopefully resonate with someone and become their own song for their own reasons.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I had my biggest run of shows to date lined up for the summer of 2025, and each and every one of them was cancelled for reasons outside of my control – everything from bandmate time conflicts to a promoter being arrested for committing fraud. Over the course of a couple weeks, the shows fell off of my calendar like dejecting little dominoes. By the time I’d learned of the cancellations, I had no time to book anything else for the season. It was truly crushing and I considered taking a break from music altogether, figuring I’d just cut grass and focus on being a dad all summer.
Little did I know that there was a musical surprise waiting at the end of the day once the grass was cut and the kid was in bed – I had nothing but time to create. Without hours of riffs to rehearse and lyrics to memorize, I pivoted towards writing and recording with reckless abandon and it led to my most successful string of album releases yet. And while I’d sure love to have those shows back, I’m sure glad I didn’t take the summer off from running down my dream, even if I was running in a different direction than I had planned. Heck, maybe the key is to just keep running.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thejoebuckleyband.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejoebuckleyband/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejoebuckleyband/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejoebuckleyband
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-joe-buckley-band
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Ux0yq211tuh3UXbjQPKSH
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-joe-buckley-band/1084275264
https://thejoebuckleyband.bandcamp.com/music
