Hall of Fame’s Jerry Joseph set for Monroes

A songwriter with over three decades of performing behind him, American songwriter Jerry Joseph comes to the Side Bar of Monroe’s Live on Thursday next, October 13.

Citing craftsmen like Warren Zevon, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe as influences, Joseph’s music is for those who appreciate a well-written song.

Brother Number One is a song taken from Jerry’s latest album By The Time Your Rocket Gets To Mars. The song has a classic American garage rock sound that brings to mind elements of Springsteen and the excellent Alejandro Escovedo.

Joseph first came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a band called Little Women. Today, Joseph neatly describes Little Women as “a mash-up of Burning Spear and the Grateful Dead dressed up like the New York Dolls”.

That’s a fair spread of genres to take in, but Jerry Joseph has distilled them into something noteworthy. Mars is another quality track from Jerry’s latest, a world-weary number with a chorus that hooks you in. If they were still making the Sopranos, this has the kind of tone that David Chase used to pick out for the soundtracks to the hit series.

Having been inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, this is a songwriter who’s obviously impressed in his career. This is a gig that could fly under the radar, but it shouldn’t.

■ Doors 8pm, tickets €10/€8 online.