CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Josh Rouse

Zankel Hall
Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 8:30 PM

Josh Rouse

In just under ten years, singer-songwriter Josh Rouse has released as many recordings, reflecting on the eras and places in which he’s lived—from the smooth sounds of ‘70s pop to the local flavors of Nashville and Spain.

Program Notes:

Anthony DeCurtis
ON JOSH ROUSE

Josh Rouse understands that beauty is not something that requires an apology, and that a vital connection to the past doesn’t preclude a visceral commitment to the present—or the future. And while beauty is an integral element in Rouse’s songs, that, too, is not an end in itself. His often-delicate, carefully sculpted melodies are frequently the means of conveying stories of lives that have reached a hard pass—characters who don’t necessarily understand themselves, why their lives have come to be the way they are, or how they can change.

The gentle touch of Rouse’s music works to leaven the unsentimental clarity of his lyrics. The combination provokes in the listener an empathy with the people he is describing—maybe even an identification with them. The sound seduces you before you come to know what the song is really about, but then it is too late. You’ve already learned something about the subject of the song, and about yourself.

That is the trick of Rouse’s art. His songs are easy to listen to, but the lives he chronicles are not always easy to live. The world can be a difficult place, his music suggests, but at the same time, wonderfully beautiful.


Anthony DeCurtis, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, is the author of Rocking My Life Away (Duke University Press, 1998) and, most recently, In Other Words (Hal Leonard, 2005).

Josh Rouse
Throughout his career, Josh Rouse’s musical output has incorporated styles ranging from soft rock, ’70s soul, and retro-lounge to Nashville country and Spanish flamenco. Rouse began his music career in Tennessee, initially signing to Slow River Records and releasing his debut album, Dressed Up Like Nebraska, in 1998.

Working out of Nashville, he continued to record albums such as the darkly surreal Chester, a collaboration with Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner, as well as the genre-hopping retro pop homage 1972, a concept album written in the styles of songwriters active during the year of his birth. Rouse later relocated to Spain, where he settled in the seaside town of Puerto de Santa Maria and released the 2006 album Subtítulo, as well as She’s Spanish, I’m American, a collaboration with Spanish vocalist Paz Suay. In 2007, Mr. Rouse toured as the opening act for John Mayer, and in July, he released his latest album, Country Mouse, City House.