Joshua Bley
“Missionaries’ Kiss”
Sacred Secret
This is one of the most honest, beautiful singer’s I have ever heard. Bley is so heart-breakingly wonderful with his lyrics and with the way he has always faced life and adversary and translated into music. As Bley says in his own words:
I was born on Long Island, but raised high up in the Adirondack Mountains. Music and nature were a huge part of my survival from the very beginning. I’m not sure where I’d be without their embrace. Between my mother and oldest brother, I was inducted into the sonic worlds of Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, James Taylor and a handful of other storytellers who seemed to weave tales like no others. At the age of 14, I was introduced to the music and life of Tori Amos. Tori became my lighthouse. My beacon. I knew she was singing to so many others but it felt as though she was singing only to me, about my life – my religious upbringing, sexual abuse, and the guilt into which both had grown.
I was wild. A stray. Untamed. Rebellious. And in A LOT of trouble. Through it all, my eyes focused on the lighthouse.
And thank the gods that he did. Bley is someone that needs to be listened to. I want to thank Eldon Zwerg for introducing me to Bley. What a compelling, beautiful man.
http://www.joshuabley.com/video