Josh Groban (photo: Alice Quade)Of course I had to include him, even though I’ve mentioned him a lot already and everyone must know by now that I’m a huge fan - a grobanite. I realised though that I’ve never written any straight to the point- text recommending his music, only the juvenile, giddy "OMG you have to listen to this guy" sort of message on discussion boards.
Better late than never.
Josh has always been said to have a voice that doesn’t match his age, in the sense that people didn’t expect that big a voice to come from the mouth of a barely 6 feet tall, slender, baby faced self proclaimed geek. So it’s suprising when he reveals in interviews that he didn’t start singing seriously until he was 16 - which means that he'd only been singing for 4 years when he was discovered by the famous producer who was to become his mentor, David Foster. With the help from David and another handful of producers, engineers and songwriters, Josh released his self entitled debut album in November 2001. It was, as David Foster mentioned later in an interview with AOL, probably the album that first introduced the new classical crossover genre to the market; many artists has followed in that same direction since. In the 5 years that have passed since the debut, Josh has released 2 live DVDs and one studio album, plus another studio album that will be released worldwide on November 7. His fan club now has close to 20 000 members, he has his own charity foundation that his fans help raise money for by arranging online auctions, he is showered with gifts wherever he gives concerts - everything from intern joke items like toy llamas and pixie sticks, to "chick magnet" t-shirts and football sweaters. The whole grobanite thing may seem intimidating to outside people, so I’ll focus on what started the whole circus in the first place - his voice.
True, it has been critizised by vocal coaches and opera experts and one can analyse it and break it up into pieces and point out flaws, but as a whole, the unique sound in his voice and his ability to communicate emotions through his singing is impressive. He can sing songs in Italian or Spanish or any other language and though most people won’t understand the words, they still believe in the story he’s telling through his voice. Many people have even found that his voice has a healing effect, both psychologically speaking and as pain management therapy.
WHY LISTEN TO JOSH?
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, he can adapt his voice to fit into several genres, which of course shows his versatility as a vocalist - but to describe his voice in general I would say it’s smooth, has a rich tone and a nice, natural vibrato (which unfortunately becomes a little too rapid when he’s nervous, performing live). I must admit I find it hard to describe it with words since my ears have grown so accustomed to it.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: The new single You are loved, Gira con me, Per te, Mi mancherai, To where you are
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