Joel Kosche
| Joel Kosche | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joel Sefton Kosche |
| Born | September 20, 1969 |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Associated acts | Rhapsody Jovian Storm Steep Collective Soul |
Joel Sefton Kosche (born September 20, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known for his thirteen-year tenure as the lead guitarist of the rock band Collective Soul. He is also a solo artist, and tours with his backing band, Joel Kosche Band. His debut solo album, Fight Years, was released in 2010.
Kosche self-taught himself to play guitar at age 13, and later trained in classical guitar. Active in Atlanta's music scene, he co-founded the band Rhapsody, and in 1994, along with other members of Rhapsody, he co-founded the progressive rock band Jovian Storm which achieved local success with the album Magic Show. During this time, Joel showed his progressive rock influences by specially in authoring and co-authoring several epic pieces in the tradition of his favorite bands such as Queen, Kansas and Yes.
After the dissolution of Jovian Storm, Kosche fronted the band Steep in which he sang lead vocals and embraced a leaner "American rock" style. Kosche eventually landed a gig as the guitar tech for the rock band Collective Soul.
Ross Childress, Collective Soul's original lead guitarist, left the band in 2001, with Kosche taking his place. Collective Soul performed their first concert with Kosche in Brisbane, Australia on September 5, less than two weeks before the release of the greatest hits compilation 7even Year Itch. Kosche continued to tour with Collective Soul and later became an official member of the band. Kosche's debut studio album with Collective Soul, Youth, was released in 2004. In 2006, Kosche announced that he would be leaving Steep to focus on Collective Soul exclusively.
In 2007, Collective Soul released the album Afterwords. Kosche co-wrote the album's lead single "Hollywood" with Ed Roland. Kosche also wrote and provided lead vocals on the track "I Don't Need Anymore Friends." It was the second of two commercially released songs by Collective Soul that do not feature vocals from lead singer Ed Roland; the first one is "Dandy Life" from the album Dosage (1999), which was written and sung by original lead guitarist Ross Childress.
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