Joseph Ignatius Greenwell Junior. (born August 26, 1988), known professionally as JOSEY or Josey Greenwell (pronunciation: jo-see /dzou si:/), is an American singer-songwriter and model. In late 2007, while attending college at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, he was signed to an independent country record label in Nashville, Tennessee, after creating quite a buzz at various writer's nights there with his unique, autobiographical songwriting style. Only nine months
later, in 2008, he was dismissed from the label based on his sexuality. This highly controversial dismissal from the label gained him national recognition in various magazines, as well as outraging many LGBT groups and Gay Right Activists. He independently re-produced and distributed online the album written entirely himself, titled My Life on The Radio, that was set to release under the label. As he marketed this album to his social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter, his strong internet presence won him a fan-voted online competition, held by Eventful, to open for Little Big Town on their 2009 A Place to Land Tour, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. To continue marketing himself, he created a YouTube channel called "JoseyTV," where he then gained international recognition for his pop cover songs of today's mainstream artist's, including Britney
Spears, Katy Perry, Adele, Maroon 5, and Lady Gaga. His most notable cover is ironically his first one, where he acoustically plays and whistles "I Wanna Go" by Britney Spears. She later posted his rendition on her official webpage and Tumblr claiming, "she was amazed". He also is well recognized for being the cover on the 2011 November Issue (#142) of DNA Magazine in Australia, as well as being selected,alongside Rodiney Santiago, (Braziilian model and cast member of Logo's The A-List: New York) for the face of the 2012-2013 issue of Spartacus International Gay Guide following Eliad Cohen's 2011-2012 cover. On April 2, 2012, he released his debut pop single "Stuck in My Head" worldwide on iTunes. On June 29th and 30th of 2012, Josey was featured as a guest in Gloria Trevi's back to back Auditorio Nacional Tour Dates in Mexico City, Mexico.
Early life
Josey was born on August 26, 1988 in Bardstown, Kentucky to the late J.I. Greenwell and Susan D. Clark (remarried). He has two older sisters, Lisa and Lesley, who both grew up with him on the family's horse farm. Josey competed in 4H and AQHA horse shows until he was 13, with his highest awards ranking 5th in the nation for novice showmanship, top 10 for novice equitation, as well as earning the top rank in 5 overall novice divisions in Kentucky. In 2001, his father was diagnosed with a cancerous skin melanoma and passed away six months later. Josey attended the private catholic Bethlehem High School in Bardstown, Kentucky, playing both basketball and soccer all four years in attendance. In 2006, his senior class won the Kentucky Class A State Championship for soccer. His family owns and runs a funeral home.
Music career
2006-2008: Musical beginnings
While attending Bethlehem High School, Josey participated in many clubs offered, one being the school choir. He has been quoted saying "One of the reasons I began singing was because I was dating the choir director's daughter at the time, and she kind of forced me into singing with them. After multiple solo's, I got the hang of it!" While Josey was always focusing on sports, his family quickly recognized his unique singing talent and began encouraging him into competitions and local events held in Kentucky. Josey then entered a local competition called the Colgate Country Showdown, winning first place with his versions of "Hicktown" by Jason Aldean and "Tonight, I Wanna Cry" by Keith Urban. Josey cites Keith Urban among one of his main influences, also including John Mayer and Britney Spears. Upon graduating high school in 2007, Josey was awarded a scholarship to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he briefly attended. He eventually transferred mid-semester to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. During his freshman
year of college, Josey would travel down to Nashville to better pursue his career. He explained to Ultimate Music that, "Honestly I don't even know what I was thinking. I would just drive to Nashville and walk around with a guitar, which I couldn't even play yet, in hopes omeone would see me. Little did I know it took a lot more than that and just asking for songs to sing wasn't going to cut it." Josey received some advice from a management executive in town that songwriting was key in anyone's artistry and that "he'd better learn to play that guitar walking around with him." Being a quick learner, Josey then taught himself how to play and spent most of his first semester at Western Kentucky University locked in his dorm room experimenting with different songs and writing styles. Writing over 100 songs in this period, Josey continued traveling to Nashville, only this time handing out demos and playing his songs acoustically at various writer's nights willing to let him play, all while uploading his acoustic music online for feedback. It was during an acoustic show at the Bluebird Cafe where he was spotted by an independent record label executive and began communicating over the next several months, eventually landing his first record deal. Josey's writing style has been described as "shockingly refreshing" and "very autobiographical and relatable."V Entertainment of South Africa states that "some people can either simply write a song or simply can't, but Josey can simply
write a hit in the amount of time it took to write this statement, so you can tell he not only is a talented songwriter, but is truly passionate about his songs as well."
2008-2010: My Life On the Radio
Josey chose to leave college and not return for his sophomore year, only to begin writing and recording for what was to be his debut album (later titled My Life On the Radio) released and distributed under the label. During the following several months in production, the question of Josey's sexuality arose and rumors began to swirl throughout the label, halting any further progression. Once confronted and confirmed, Josey was ultimately dismissed from the country label in the next month. When speaking about the incident with DNA Magazine, he states "Looking back, it was a very difficult, but a bittersweet moment in my life. I had never had a problem with my sexuality and wasn't sure why anyone else would have a problem either, especially people I was working with that were so impressed by my talent, to all of the sudden not be. It was interesting coming out that way, especially when I hadn't told anyone yet, but I've honestly had nothing but support since, so I'm thankful." This highly controversial dismissal from the label gained him national recognition in various magazines, as well as outraging many LGBT groups and Gay Right Activists. Having already moved to Nashville from Kentucky, he decided to stay and worked with a small production company to independently re-produce and distribute online the country pop album written entirely himself. He titled the thirteen track album My Life on The Radio. Having already then quite the following online, he continued to build it up by marketing the album to his social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. His strong internet presence won him a fan-voted online competition held by Eventful to be an "unsigned act" to open for Little Big Town on their 2009 A Place to Land Tour, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His home-made video of his song "Red Lights", off of My Life On the Radio, was featured on CMT during their "2009 Music City Madness"
He promoted My Life On the Radio at multiple festivals that following year, including the 2010 CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee and the 2010 Detroit Hoedown in Detroit, Michigan.
2010-2011: Modeling and "JoseyTV"
To better promote himself and his independent album, Josey continued reaching out to media and publications around the nation, landing several covers and feature articles. Josey talks about his determination in Out and About Newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee stating "I'm not afraid to reach out to people and try to get my music out there. People say good things come to those who wait, but I like to think great things come to those who go and get it." Among those to feature Josey were Out and About Newspaper, Manner Magazine and Blu Magazine in Germany, Tetu Magazine in Paris, France and twice in DNA Magazine of Australia. His feature article and photo shoot with friend Rodiney Santiago, Brazilian model and cast member of Logo's The A-List: New York', was the focus of DNA Magazine's 2011 November Issue (#142) with Josey as the cover model. A shot from the same photo shoot, from photographer Richard Gerst, was selected as the cover image of the 2012-2013 issue of Spartacus International Gay Guide, following Eliad Cohen's 2011-2012 cover. Josey promoted the new cover in Berlin, Germany at the ITB Festival 2012. In an interview with DNA Magazine, Josey states that "modeling just came out of no where for me, but I really enjoy it. I reached out to several publications for my music and the next thing you know I have a modeling portfolio from all of my article photo shoots. I definitely feel blessed to be thriving in both modeling and music" Josey has also been featured for his fitness in Men's Exercise November 2011 Issue. He currently has over 50 worldwide covers and feature articles. He also was in two music videos, which are "Top Down" by Fast Ryde and "Covert Undercover" by Toni & Ash.
In early 2011, Josey received some advice from a friend that he should be filming all of these experiences to broadcast to his followers. "JoseyTV" was then created under the username "joseygreenwell' on YouTube, where he began to upload videos. To test out the response he might get, he decided to acoustically cover a mainstream radio song to see people's reaction. Ironically, his first video is to date his most notable one, where he acoustically plays and whistles "I Wanna Go" by Britney Spears. She later posted his rendition on her official webpage and Tumblr claiming, "she was amazed." This cover Charted on YouTube's trending and "Most Watched" lists. He then started to heavily gain international recognition for his pop cover songs of today's mainstream artist's including Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Adele, Maroon 5, and Lady Gaga, earning him well over 4 million hits from all of his social media sites alone. He claims these covers are the most influential way to get personal feedback on how his viewers relate to his music.
2011-present: "Stuck in My Head"
In late 2011, Josey began recording his debut pop album in Miami, Florida with Circo Massimo Entertainment and with Twin Studios in Paris, France. He intends to keep his unique acoustic style, while experimenting heavily with pop and urban sounds. He claims songwriting as "the most important and crucial part of an artist to truly express who they are to the listener." The lead off single,"Stuck in My Head" written entirely himself, was released on April 2, 2012 worldwide on iTunes. The single has been described as "an acoustic pop summer anthem equipped with whistling and dub step."Themancrushblog.com stated in a song review that "Josey has written an excellent debut pop single. With the infectious whistle hook he screwed into this song, as well as rapid pace lyrics, I applaud him for giving his millions of followers and instantly recognizable "Josey" track." Promotion for the single consisted of a month long tour in Europe, visiting over 15 clubs in 6 different countries. Josey is currently unsigned.
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