Joy Kills Sorrow: home
Joy Kills Sorrow is a prodigiously tasteful pop-grass ensemble emerging from the bubbling frenzy of young folk talent in Boston, MA. The five band members--each already respected practitioners on their instruments--share a deep knowledge and respect for the bluegrass tradition and have virtuosity to spare, but as an ensemble hold above all else a commitment to playing great songs well, and forging a new brand of folk music at once innovative and beautiful.
JKS was formed in 2005 and released their self-titled debut in 2007, which prompted Sing Out to call the band "'poster children' for the burgeoning Americana format." Also in 2007 JKS won first prize in The Podunk Bluegrass Festival Band Contest, and was invited to perform on the festival's main stage the following year. JKS has performed at theaters, listening rooms and festivals from coast to coast and has been featured on nationally syndicated radio shows. Since their inception, the band has continued to evolve and change. Their newest and freshest line-up is proud to be working on an increasingly polished sound and lots of new material composed by the band members. The band is excited to begin touring and will head to the studio this winter to record their follow up release.
Members of Joy Kills Sorrow include:
Matt Arcara (guitar) - 2006 winner of Winfield's National Flat-picking Contest;
Emma Beaton (vocals) - 2008 winner of the Canadian Folk Music Awards' Young Performer of the Year;
Wes Corbett (banjo) - has toured with The Bee Eaters, Crooked Still and The Biscuit Burners;
Jacob Jolliff (mandolin) - grew up performing with his father, renowned banjo player Bill Jolliff and also has shared the stage with David Grisman and Mike Marshall;
Bridget Kearney (bass) - 2006 Grand Prize Winner in The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, a graduate of The New England Conservatory and accomplished freelance bassist in bluegrass, folk, rock and jazz.
NEWS:
2/23
Well, folks, we killed a lot of sorrow this week on our all-too-brief tour of the Northwest U.S. and Canada. We had a killer time initiating our brilliant new mandolinist, Jacob Jolliff and performing the new material for our upcoming album for the first time ever!
Here’s a recap:
We started the tour in Emma’s hometown of Qualicum Beach, Canada--a beautiful little town on Vancouver Island. It seems the whole town was in attendance, and also some folks who had heard us rehearsing on the ferry ride there! The concert was followed by an awesome Scottish jam back at the Beaton house, and hot tubbing.
The next day we drove to Victoria to play a Valentine’s Day show at the charming Orange Hall. Ollie Swain opened the evening for us with a set of intriguing original tunes, bass playing and banjo playing.
We got up early the next morning to make our way back to the states, but were halted by a 3 hour line at the border and a portly border patrol agent who seemed to think Matt may be trafficking Bridget and Emma. After escaping these suspicions, the band decided Matt should shave his beard.
We arrived in Seattle just in time to play a house concert in the beautiful home of Lance and Laurie Haslund, who designed their home with concerts in mind. The living room includes a stage, sound system and great view of the Puggett Sound! Also at this show, we were honored to perform our version of Dave Keenan’s “We Will Have our Day” for Dave Keenan himself, who approved whole-heartedly.
The next day was a travel day to get to Spokane and the astounding hospitality of Jay Dean Ludiker and her 100+ studio of fiddle students! Waking up in Spokane the next morning, the band had a chance to work up a new tune of Bridget’s, tentatively titled “I Got Lots of Books” (she claims the grammatical error is ironic.) The evening held a performance in another beautiful home and afterwards a double banjo jam back at Jay Dean’s with Crooked Still’s Greg Liszt.
We completed the tour Wednesday night in Wes’s hometown. Playing the Bainbridge Island Music Guild Hall is always fun, but especially when the Bee Eaters are in attendance! We were thrilled to have Tashina Clarridge, Tristan Clarridge and Simon Chrisman sitting in with us on some tunes on twin fiddles and hammered dulcimer.
Now that we have all parted ways for the time being, we are looking forward to reconvening in Portland, ME next month to immortalize our new songs with a recording! Meanwhile we are reflecting fondly on the week of music and triple mochas and nice folks in the Northwest.
Thanks for tuning in.
JKS