Amazing Local Musician- Sidney Joseph

by Jessica Nguyen

If you were wandering around Phoenixville this past Friday or Saturday, you may have heard Sidney Joseph. He was there both nights, as it’s his hometown. And if you haven’t, he’s headed out again this upcoming weekend. People have described Joseph as an artist who sounds a bit like Lenny Kravitz, Ben Harper and Van Morrison. That’s definitely a valid comparison, but  I quickly learned that Joseph knows how to hold his own and has no trouble bringing about an original sound.

As a Philadelphia-area native, Joseph says one of his favorite local venues is the The Fire on Girard Ave. One day, he hopes to play at the TLA, too. Though, he’s happy to perform at any venue. Playing live is the ultimate positive experience for him,  being a musician. “I don’t need therapy or medication because playing music is therapy for me,” he says. “Sometimes I play a song and I’m exhausted, but it’s just what I needed.” The song he enjoys playing live the most is “Love Has the Power”- there’s a great live version of it available to stream on his website, recorded at The Puck in Doylestown.

It’s a good thing he can consider performing his music as a good release. Joseph doesn’t have much downtime.  “I am happier focusing more on music,” he said. He’s currently working on an upcoming EP with David Ivory- a producer who has worked with The Roots and Erykah Badu.  “I always wanted to work with him because of his track record,” explains Joseph. “We kind of did like a try-out acoustic session in the studio for him and it worked out.”

Other people Joseph would like to work with? “Alive- it would be Bjork because she is wild and unconventional. I also have been listening to a lot of Jamiroquai, so him, too,” says Joseph.  “A dead musician I would have wanted to work with would be Jimmy Hendrix. I probably wouldn’t be able to play with him though, I would just stand there in amazement of him and watch him play.”

Sidney Joseph and his band, The Organic Reverb, also need to be looked at in amazement. They’re a powerful local group that’s clearly headed in the right direction. Joseph himself is very kind, asking me almost as many questions as I asked him- where I was from, venues around me, etc. Such a wonderful guy to speak with and after you have the ability to stare at his band for a while, definitely go say hi.

This Friday Dec.14th, you can see him at The Social Lounge in West Chester and a solo, acoustic show on Dec.22nd at Cedar Hollow Inn, Malvern. No New Year’s plans yet? Then join the guys on Dec 31st at The Colombia Inn in Phoenixville.