First/Last-Joseph Childress

"This is the debut full-length by Joseph Childress. The ten songs on this record, dubbed "The Rebirths" by fans, were penned on the road during nearly two years of “hard traveling” – hopping freight trains, hitchhiking, and eventually living out of a car. All this came to a halt shortly after finding trouble in New Orleans, prompting Joseph to find his way back to his childhood home in the Colorado Rockies. Once there, he locked himself in the bathroom with his road-worn guitar – its neck cracked while jumping from a train – and recorded this album. Filled with young wisdom, heartbreak, and spirited jubilee, this self-recording of Joseph Childress is a stirring introduction to a young songwriter with a soul-piercing voice and an undeniable gift of song."

Check out Joseph at his official Website and Facebook. Recently featured on the Paste 50 States Project reppin' Colorado, Joseph's debut, "The Rebirths" is available via Empty Cellar Records. I want to thank him for taking the time to participate in this edition of First/Last.

The first album you ever bought?
My first purchase was a cassette single for the song ‘Love Me Do’ by The Beatles. My first full-length album was "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" by the Smashing Pumpkins, but I didn't buy it. My brother stole it for me for my birthday. I was really touched by that.

Your last album bought?
I just bought "Takamba" by Ali Ag Amoumine. Field recordings from Mali released by Mississippi Records. Good stuff.

Favorite album of all time?
"Highway 61 Revisited" by Bob Dylan. The most transformative album of my life by far.

Least favorite/most disappointing album?
"The Love Movement" by A Tribe Called Quest. I was obsessed with Tribe as a kid. Their previous album "Beats, Rhymes and Life" was my favorite album, so when they announced the final album, I was expecting the best album of all time. I tried really hard to love it, but it felt flat and uninspired. It's certainly not my least favorite album of all time but it was a huge disappointment.

First concert attended?
A basement show in Colorado Springs in 1997 with two Colorado punk bands called The Nobodys and The Deadites. I remember it being incredibly loud and loving it.

Last concert?
Neutral Milk Hotel at the Fox in Oakland. I cried. I've only cried at one other show; the first time I saw Bob Dylan.

Favorite concert ever?
A band from Iowa called Ten Grand at a warehouse in Denver called Monkey Mania. It was a fairly large space, decrepit with rotted wood flooring. My kind of place. There was only one working light bulb that night hanging from the ceiling on a piece of wire. The band set up in a circle, facing each other with the light bulb in the center. The crowd formed a larger circle around the band. They destroyed.

Least favorite concert?
I took way too much acid at a Brightblack Morning Light show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. I heard the performance was great, but I had to leave early because my friend found me talking to my own reflection in a glass door.

Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
I took a bus through Pittsburgh once on the way to visit a friend in Boston. We didn't even stop. I recall sitting next to a British man who was very passionate about the game of Cricket. He literally talked for hours about Cricket. Interesting fellow.

Thanks, Joseph. A British dude blabbing endlessly on about Cricket reminds you of Pittsburgh? That is a first!