Joe Anderl is one of the nicest, most sincere and genuine people ever to grace this city. He is soft-spoken and pauses often when he speaks. He is the type of guy to spend the 10-year anniversary of Jeff Buckley's death watching his videos on YouTube. But what is truly remarkable about Anderl is that he engages an audience like few other musicians can.
The 28-year old songsmith from Dayton has been in bands for half of his life and now he is really starting to come into a mature style of writing and performing.
Playing music is not about writing hit songs; can you create a moment with the audience? Anderl asked. That's what art is
and that's what's important.
Anderl's art has evolved from humble beginnings at the age of 14, when he and friends started their first band together and toured nationwide. The experience was invaluable, but the music they played was not what Anderl was looking for.
All I wanted to do was G? pick up an acoustic guitar and move people he said. At the end of the day that's all you've got. The real fun thing about music and what really fuels your art is the courage to express yourself and be who you are.
Anderl eventually got what he wanted picking up his guitar and several other musicians to form Joe Anderl and the Universal Walkers
a six-member group which has since gone defunct and led into Anderl's current band
Joe Anderl and the Imaginary Friendship Choir.
The two people who make up the Imaginary Friendship Choir are Jeremy Apland and Darryl Robbins. As opposed to the huge undertaking of the Universal Walkers
Anderl's new project is a solo project. Anderl's third and latest disc
I Love Joe Anderl, uses loops to augment Anderl's acoustic sound
and the backup members will recreate these loops live.
The album's name may appear to be a bit egomaniacal on first glance
but Anderl claims it is not superficial at all. The record turned out to be a disc about love and hate. He claims the feel of the disc is a step in the direction he's always wanted to go with music
in a folk music meets Spiritualized way. This new feel keeps the songwriting up front so the songs aren't as affected by the music behind it.
(The songs) have some sound around it to give you a moment to breathe, Anderl said.
Even though Anderl went to school at Ohio University
after he graduated he fell out of the music scene when he moved back home to Dayton. It was at a concert in Columbus that Anderl met Adam Remnant of Southeast Engine. The two got to talking and Remnant invited Anderl to play a show with them in Athens.
From that run-in
