Josh Zuckerman & This Week's Statistics

Hello, everybody! I’ve managed to write a second story after only three days. I think that we may be back on the right track.

Today’s story is about a rock musician who has been out right from the start and has recorded some very interesting albums during the last fifteen years. I discovered him early – a little after he released his first album – and I’ve been waiting for the chance to write his story. He is Josh Zuckerman.

Josh Zuckerman (born August 18, 1970) is an American performer, musician, singer, songwriter, and recording artist. He plays the guitar, violin and some piano on all six of his albums; while some of his early work shows his talent musically where he fiddles with the violin; fusing the country music and rock/pop sound.

Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, a music town in its own right, Josh developed his first love for music at the age of eight when he was introduced to the violin, which he studied for the next five years. Inspired by the music sounds of the east coast, Josh's interest in music drifted to rock’n’roll. After gigs in several cover bands, Josh relocated to New Jersey where he began to compose his own melodies and lyrics. 

He performed extensively with his former band China White from 1990 to 1996. Josh went solo in 1996 and toured extensively, while he also performed with the group, Up With People from 1996 through 1998. All I Want For Christmas was a single he released with China White:

Before his recording music career, Josh Zuckerman was a teacher at Highlands Elementary School in Highlands, New Jersey.

Rocco Colella of Edge Media Network wrote, "While...his other early influences, from Bon Jovi to Kiss, don’t top his list of favorite musicians today, Zuckerman cannot deny their influence on his music. '(Joan Jett) and these artists had really strong hooks and melodies, which is what I focus on with my music, in terms of hooks and chorus," he said. 'Back in those days, people really put on a show.' As a child of the 80s, Zuckerman remembers these artists very well and 20 years later tries to incorporate these antics into his own musical and performance stylings."

He released his first album, A Totally New Sensation, on the indie label PLH Records in 2002. I found the album a few years later, while I was searching for albums by gay musicians. I was pleasantly surprised by his sound; it had echoes of Tom Petty and lots of good energy. This is the title track:

The title track received limited airplay and its accompanying music video was popular with some success online among the gay community. The album received positive reviews and Zuckerman promoted it mostly by performing at Gay Pride events and nightclubs across the United States.

Zuckerman is quoted in his website saying, "this studio album was a catalyst to my solo career and introduced me to a larger audience. With the first single receiving online attention by national media and through print publications, my career was catapulted to a new level."

From the same album, this is Spiritual:

… And this is Karma:

Since for many of you, some of these videos are geo-blocked, alternatively, this is a live version of Karma. The quality of the audio and video are not very good, however, it conveys the feeling of Zuckerman’s work on stage.

Most of his songs are original compositions. However, the album’s last song was Josh’s cover of The Devil Went Down To Georgia:

Josh Zuckerman's second album, Out From Under, was released in 2006. It is a 13-track CD of original material. The album features Steve DeVito of The Secret Syde.

Indiemusic.com, Jennifer Layton, wrote: "Always one of my indie faves. Josh is country, he's edgy, he's sophisticated, and he's playful. He brings everything to the table - his spiritual nature, his love of rock and roll, his string-scorching violin playing, and his brazenly honest lyrics. Zuckerman's CD, Out From Under, is stamped with the words BE REAL. I get the feeling this artist wouldn't know how to be anything else. Good thing for us."

After the album's release, the first single Out From Under soared to number one for four weeks on Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006. The music video for Out From Under was ranked #1 for 8 consecutive weeks for 2006 on MTV Logo's The Click List and ranked #4 for 4 consecutive weeks for 2006 on Sirius XM OutQ. Here it is:

At an interview with ChicagoPride.com, Josh revealed the inspiration for this song. JZ: it was actually written about a famous guy in Sweden that I fell for and was obviously in the wrong but it ended up being a good thing because the title song came from that experience ;)

At the same interview, Josh says: “My favorite song on the album is Be Real because it is really the motto for my life lately. I try to remind myself this as much as possible, to just be Josh and be myself!” This is Be Real:

Another song that received love from the radio stations and the public was Something Inside:

Another song that stood out was Another Reason. Its music video was highly regarded for being uniquely and completely animated with its science fiction storyline:

During this time, bass player Ricardo Rodriguez joined the band.

Josh Zuckerman's third album, Got Love? was released in 2009. This album received high praise for the production value and lyrics by magazines and indie critics with reviews from Edge Magazine - Boston, TimeOut NYC. Bay Windows – New England, PM Entertainment and Instinct Magazine; among many others.

Brian Juergens from our dearly departed AfterElton.com wrote: “A little bit country …  a little bit Rock N Roll … 100% Josh Zuckerman. That’s what we heard when the out music icon himself took his place on the all-knowing couch at Homophonic and shared his exhausting, exhilarating summer stories with Alex. Inspired by the music of his birthplace, St. Louis, Missouri, and influenced by a cadre of outstanding artists from blues, rock, and country, Josh’s work as a singer-songwriter has won praise from queer and mainstream media alike.  And, despite a cold and a whirlwind performance schedule, he still found the time to lend a little of his cred to our boys at Homophonic.”

Tommy Raniszewski from Out In Jersey was enthusiastic: "Solid", "Electric", "Amazing from beginning to end". These are just a few of the things fans are saying about Josh Zuckerman's CD Got Love? Boy, oh Boy, how right they are! Got Love? is 12 red-hot, smokin' rock songs that will certainly be making waves on the independent music scene. With this latest effort, Zuckerman has achieved an entirely new level of production quality, and a higher standard to which he will no doubt surpass as he continues to make his mark as one of the independent music's most charismatic performers. One of the album's tracks most likely to become an instant hit sensation is the highly charged When We Dance, which in this writer's opinion is the heart of one of the best and most highly polished rock albums to come along in the past few years.

This is the album’s title track:

This is a rocker called I Thought You Loved Me:

Fall In Love Again is a cool ballad:

… and this is When We Dance:

Josh Zuckerman's fourth album, Mr. Z and the Shashka Frashkas From A to Mr. Z, was released in 2012. It is a CD of original music geared to children of early elementary school age.

A kindergarten teacher in New Jersey himself, Josh has stated on his CD Release, "This long-awaited CD had been in the works for almost 6 years. Mr. Z and the Shashka Frashkasis a perfect CD for parents and children. Mr.Z puts the fun in learning with just enough eclectic sounds of today's modern music!"

The video release of It Starts With You received thousands of views on Youtube and has become a motivational and positive message for parents, teachers, and students across the nation. Here it is:

In 2014, Josh Zuckerman's fifth album, Background Static of Perpetual Discontent, was released. It contained songs like The Turn Around:

… Cause I’m Gone:

… Evaporate:

Guilty Pleasure:

… Who’s That Cat?:

Finally, there’s Apart:

The latest from Josh Zuckerman was titled Gone With The Music and was released in 2018. The lineup included special guest musicians - legendary drummer Thommy Price and original bassist Gary Ryan from Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. This was a dream come true for Josh as these were his musical heroes growing up.

From this album, here’s Who I Am Is:

This is the album’s title track:

This is Wait Till I See You:

This is Up:

And – finally for today – this is My Hallelujah:

Josh Zuckerman's motto is: "Be who you are, Be Real, it’s all about love..." He and his band members have donated much of their musical talents performing for many charitable events including the American Red Cross, HRC for Kids in NYC, 4-H for kids, Relay for Life (a breast cancer benefit), The Matthew Shepard Foundation, The Robert Mapplethorpe Residence,The Rivington House for people affected by HIV, and many others. After Super Storm Sandy devastated the New Jersey Shore, Zuckerman and his band performed fundraisers to help raise money for the victims of the disaster. He has donated performances to various New York City Charities, including Life Beat, for the LGBT Community to raise funds for HIV prevention and research. He has proclaimed himself an 'out' musician and is proud of the work he has done to further the LGBT causes. Happy to have you on our team, Josh.

Now, it’s time for our statistics. The most recent stories, A Salute To the United States and Pansy Division did well but it’s older stories, like the all-time most visited story (George Maharis), Joe Jackson, Peter Straker, Dave Clark, and Freddie Jackson that get the most visits.

As far as countries are concerned, Canada and Germany kept their percentages stable, while winners include the United States, Russia, Egypt, Brazil, and Ukraine. The other major players suffered minor losses.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. Russia

3. the United Kingdom

4. Germany

5. Canada

6. Egypt

7. Brazil

8. Ukraine

9. Australia

10. Greece

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Ghana, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zambia. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 34.4%

2. France = 15.7%

3. the United Kingdom = 11.2%

4. Greece = 7.3%

5. Russia = 2.9%

6. Canada = 2.0%

7. Germany = 2.0%

8. Australia = 0.97%

9. Italy = 0.85%

10. Cyprus = 0.74%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!