Singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur was discovered by Peter Gabriel in the mid-'90s and soon signed to his Real World label. His debut, Big City Streets, was released in 1997 and was practically unnoticed. Not discouraged by industry politics, the native of Akron, Ohio, continued to make music and dove into his Earth-inspired abstract art. His eclectic brooding is similar to the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joe Henry, and the late Jeff Buckley. He doesn't stick to one sound, for his time spent with Gabriel exposed his musical styles to a global palette. Arthur participated in Gabriel's annual WOMAD shows and spent the latter part of the '90s on the road with residency tours in the Northeast and Northwest, which included opening dates for labelmates Ben Harper and Gomez.
In 1999, Arthur released the seven-song EP Vacancy, in which he received a Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package, thanks to his design with co-art director Zachary Larner. Following brief critical acclaim, Arthur released his sophomore effort, Come to Where I'm From, on Virgin a year later. The album showed Arthur's musical fondness for basic country-rock and Americana. He spent summer 2000 headlining club dates across North America and additional opening dates with The The followed that fall. Two years later, Arthur issued the four-EP series Junkyard Hearts, a precursor to his third opus, Redemption Son. North American dates with Tracy Chapman followed in summer 2003, then one year later, the critically acclaimed Our Shadows Will Remain appeared. After starting his own label, Lonely Astronaut (distributed by Sony), Arthur published a collection of his artwork entitled We Almost Made It, complete with a mostly instrumental accompaniment, The Invisible Parade, in the spring of 2006. A few months later fans were greeted with his fifth record, Nuclear Daydream, as well as a tour that featured Arthur with a full live band, something he had never done before. Arthur also provided vocals on "Sublime," from the Twilight Singers' iTunes-only five-song EP A Stitch in Time. In April 2007, he released Let's Just Be, his second album with his own label, with help from his Lonely Astronaut band. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
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