An Eclectic Touch

Valparaiso-based rocker Josh Holmes to mesh musical genres on new album

BY TIM SHELLBERG
Times Correspondent
Friday, December 23, 2005 12:35 AM CST


Region rocker Josh Holmes was inspired to become a performer after seeing the Richie Valens character perform in the 1987 biopic "La Bamba."

And come February, he's going to get as close as ever to an important piece of that rock architect's legacy.

"I'm going to play at the Surf Ballroom in Iowa, where he and Buddy Holly played their last show," he said. "I get to open up for the Crickets, who were Buddy Holly's band. It's really special for someone who got into music after seeing that movie."

Scheduled to perform today at Crown Point's Pop Culture Coffee House along with his weekly Tuesday showcase at Bookies in Dyer and Wednesday gig at the Registry in Crown Point, the Valparaiso-based songwriter and performer has been a fixture of the region's music community for a decade now.

In 1998, the soul-fused rocker stepped out on his own after several years in the area-based rock act Krooked Minds, releasing his namesake band's debut, "At the End of the Tunnel." The following year saw an eponymous EP, with a second full-length set, "364 Days," arriving in 2001.

He also rolled up his musical sleeves, performing on stages throughout Northwest Indiana and beyond. In addition to regular gigs and showcases throughout the region, Holmes has graced stages on campuses throughout Indiana and at venues in the Windy City such as the Cubby Bear and House of Blues set.

In 2002, he released "Live: Taste of Chicago."

Last year saw his first-ever solo set, appropriately titled "A Table 4 One." A song of that set, "Greener on the Other Side," was prominently featured in September on an episode of the Daphne Zuniga-starring ABC Family drama "Beautiful People."

Holmes is working on a six-song EP, which he hopes to have released come next month.

"It's going to be a combination of all the genres from my past albums," he said of his forthcoming set. "It'll have everything from the heavy rock to the acoustic music. I get a lot of people who tell me they like my first CD, which is a little more heavy, and I get a lot of people who like the pop stuff from the last few CDs, so I wanted to encompass all those genres."

Holmes is putting the finishing touches on the EP, which he is recording at Chicago's Alien Studios with producer Christopher Greene.
 

Yet he also continues to hold court weekly at Bookies, where he's performed every Tuesday for the last six months, and at the Registry, where he's called home every Wednesday for the past two years.

"For me, (those shows) can be hard because I have to reinvent myself every week," he said. "But the crowds are great out there at both places. You get good music at both places for free."