Neil Joseph, a 26-year old in the merchant navy, grew up listening to BB King, Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan thanks to his dad Stanley Joseph who was a part of a rock band called Excalibur in the 80s. After more than a decade since he picked up the guitar for the first time, he released his first music album, Shades Of Blue.
Neil remembers, “Whenever we had a house party, dad had to perform. I grew up thinking music made dinner parties better. Thanks to him, music was never a ‘task-to-be-done’ for me and I picked it up naturally.”
Shades of Blue is mix of blues tracks, love songs and songs on world peace. One of the tracks, ‘Blues for Jeff’, is an ode to Jeffrey Kirk who passed away in 2017. Jeffrey taught music at city-based Timpany School for over two decades and was the lead guitarist for The Tempest, a local rock band. Neil writes in the song, ‘Hey son, don’t you worry now/I’ll show you a thing or two/He said, mark my words one day you’ll play the blues.’ “I remember Jeffrey’s performances. He brought a smile to many faces each evening; this song is an attempt to capture that.”
Most of the songs were written inside his cabin says Neil during the long days at sea. He says, “When not working, I am just thinking about music. It keeps me calm and focused.”
Neil has travelled to more than 80 countries since he joined the merchant navy in 2011. However, he rarely gets more than a few hours to explore the cities he docks at. In 2015, he got the rare opportunity at Veracruz, Mexico. He explored the city and stumbled upon a local guitarist performing on the street. “It was a humbling moment for me and I learnt not all artists seek fame. This moment changed my perspective towards music,” he says adding he is yet to encounter a guitarist who played as well as that Mexican street artiste!
When not sailing, Neil plays the lead guitar for Kairoz, a city-based rock band and gives guitar lessons in Visakhapatnam. He has been playing for Kairoz for the past eight years. Last year, Neil decided to embark on his personal project which after seven months of writing and music production took the shape of Shades Of Blue.
Neil and his friend Paul Livingston, keyboardist at Kairoz, produced the album on a laptop using Cubase 7, a music production software. “I’ve made about 100 CDs and sold about 80 of them. The album will be soon available on digital platforms like Apple Music and Play Music,” says Neil.
- HIS Favourite bands are Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Eric Clapton, John Mayer and Greta Van Fleet
- He plays electric guitar, drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica and piano
- He has Gba signature, Fender strat and Yamaha FG 20.
- To get a copy of Shades Of Blues contact 79810 33615
