We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Josh Holland a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Josh , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I’m quitting my dayjob to do music full time..I have worked at a factory for nearly twenty years. I have been performing 2/3 times a week locally at bars/venues for the last 12 years..just recently I have had viral videos on Tik Tok and IG and they have opened up more booking opportunities. I have been traveling and making more money..it’s a scary to lose that security and health insurance but the factory is an unhealthy environment, and a soul draining job that pays little to nothing compared to what I make playing covers in bars. I am starting make a little money off streaming also. My goal is to take this extra time and hammer down on content for my original music and also spend more time with my family.i want to focus on writing more also.
Josh , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Around 2008 I started playing cover shows in bars locally, A couple shows a month when my job would allow.. Around 2013 I stopped singing in metal bands and learned a country set and played an acoustic show opening for a Nashville guy. The bar was packed the people were singing with every word and I got paid.. Changed my whole perspective.. I used Facebook to get my name out locally and started booking shows every weekend..this all happened when I was around 30 years old. I had spent years doing drugs jail/prison/rehab…I hit sober in 2005..around 4 years..I had picked up drinking again and had around a 10 run with alcohol..being in bars peforming it’s pretty common. After DUIS and failed relationships I ended up getting sober from alcohol in 2018..That is when I started writing my own music and releasing it. I had been doing solo acoustic shows the entire time. I found a group of guys to firm a backing band around then also.. I have been lucky enough over the years to open for acts such as Daughtry, Aaron Lewis, 38 Special, Tracy Lawrence, Stone Temple Pilots, and many more.. Now after the last two years of success on Tik Tok and IG, and building a fan base beyond my local area, I’ve decided to go all in on music! As I’ve booked out my next 5 months and will have enough income enough to cover my bills. It’s scary but I have been performing so long at worst I could get by on bar gigs.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I had one Pearl Jam cover video back in 2023 do about 500k views. I spent years covering country music locally in the Midwest, but my heart has always been with 90s grunge.. After that I had gathered around 25k followers on Tik Tok..I hadn’t been so consistent with it and I stayed there for around a year…I had another video hit after that and realized that I needed to post nonstop, so I started hammering down on these live video clips of the 90s rock covers. Consistency is the key..Trying find what works and sticking to that. Now I’m steadily growing almost at 200k on Tik Tok and 70k on IG.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I had gotten addicted to meth and OxyContin after high school, I was strung out an IV drug user, and heading down a bad path. I had partied all through high school, Booze, weed, LSD coke whatever I could get my hands on..which eventually led to me learning how to cook meth. In 2001 I did a small stint in prison just to get out and relapse. After that I had gotten caught manufacturing and had a class X felony. Spent almost a year in county jail. Then was on 5 years felony probation, ankle bracelet, rehab classes, thousands of dollars to keep me out of prison long term. I continued to use after getting out…I eventually got sober in 2005 luckily before violating my probation after dodging drug test for over a year.. fast foward to 2008 I started drinking again once I started going to bars to do shows. I spent 10 years straight getting blacked out drunk at shows and driving home. I was a weekend warrior, at one point I didn’t think I could even play music without drinking. After 2 DUIS and destroying a relationship I had to go through out patient treatment. Because of my drug arrests in the past I was required to have one year sober from alcohol to even begin the process of getting my license back. I had to have church/rehab confirm for me, plus pass weekly tests for alcohol and drugs. In 2018 I got wasted and cheated on the girl I was with. This was during the period where alcohol had already started to destroying my life. Dealing with the DUIs and such….I wasn’t having fun anymore I had no license..she was having to take me everywhere…I ended up getting caught cheating I was at a low point…I promised her I wouldn’t have done that had I not been drunk. In order to prove to her I wouldn’t cheat again I promised her I would stay sober..so I did the next few shows sober actually the first show I did sober was opening up for Daughtry to a couple thousand people. I was a mess..but after a few weekends of shows I decided I wanted to try to stay sober. I powered through a few weekends and eventually got used to it. The first year was very hard. After that is got easier. Now it’s been almost 8 years I don’t even desire alcohol when I’m performing..although I do still have temptation to drink when I’m on vacation and stuff like that, I don’t know if that will ever go away.. I’m very lucky to be alive, I had a few ODs back in the drug use period, and multiple car wrecks during the alcohol periods…some of my early songs I released No Regrets and Outlaw are documenting my journey with drugs and alcohol. I’d never thought at 43 I’d be sober and quitting my dayjob to pursue a full time music career
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joshhollandband.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshhollandband?igsh=NGxuZXc2am1xd2dz&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16YJr5YWPU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@joshhollandband?si=sX6Mzw2nlF2zXfkt
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@joshhollandband?_t=ZT-8x78Uxo14KA&_r=1
Image Credits
Josh Holland