Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Hailey.
Hi josh, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve spent more than 20 years working as a photographer and mixed-media artist in New Orleans, so creativity has always been at the center of my life. A few years ago, I started feeling pulled toward something new—something that would still allow me to be creative, but would also let me work with people in a much more direct and meaningful way. That eventually led me back to school for massage therapy.
While I was in school, I became fascinated with the relationship between music, vibration, the nervous system, and touch. Music has always been a huge part of my creative life, and I started experimenting with ways to physically bring sound into a massage session. That experimentation eventually became Sound Hand Massage and the vibroacoustic massage experience I offer today.
My massage table is equipped with transducers that allow low-frequency sound and vibration from the music to travel through the table and into the body. I combine that with massage, stretching, hot stones, aromatherapy, and other techniques to create something that feels somewhere between bodywork, a musical experience, and an art piece. Every session is a little different, and music is intentionally woven into the experience rather than simply playing in the background.
After graduating from massage school and becoming licensed, I opened Sound Hand Massage in New Orleans. In 2026, I decided to take the idea on the road. I built a mobile version of the studio into my van and began a multi-city summer tour, collaborating with wellness spaces and setting up temporary studios in cities across the country—including Nashville.
What has been especially exciting is realizing that I didn’t leave my life as an artist behind to become a massage therapist. I found another medium. Instead of creating something that hangs on a wall, I’m creating an experience using music, vibration, movement, and touch. Sound Hand Massage has become the place where all of those different parts of my life finally came together.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road, but I think that’s part of what has made the journey so meaningful.
I came into massage therapy after more than 20 years of working as an artist and photographer, so in many ways I was starting over and becoming a student again. I had to learn an entirely new craft, go back to school, become licensed, and then figure out how to merge massage with something I already deeply understood: music, creativity, and the way an experience can affect someone emotionally.
Building Sound Hand Massage has also meant creating something that doesn’t fit neatly into a traditional box. Vibroacoustic massage is still unfamiliar to a lot of people, so part of my job has been educating people about what I’m doing while continuing to experiment, learn, and refine the experience.
And now I’ve taken that challenge on the road. Traveling from city to city with a massage table, audio equipment, hot stones, supplies, and everything else needed to recreate the experience has definitely tested me. There have been equipment problems, long drives, last-minute changes, and cities where I’m essentially starting from zero and asking people to trust something they’ve never experienced before.
But those struggles have also been some of the best parts of the story. Every city teaches me something. Every person who gets off the table excited about what they just experienced reminds me why I started doing this. I’m still building it, still learning, and I think that sense of discovery is what keeps Sound Hand Massage exciting for me.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Sound Hand Massage is really the meeting point between massage, music, art, and sensory experience. After spending more than 20 years as a professional artist and photographer, I went back to school for massage therapy and became fascinated with the idea that I could approach bodywork with the same creativity I had always brought to my artwork.
I specialize in vibroacoustic massage. My massage table is equipped with transducers that allow low-frequency sound and vibration to travel through the table and into the body while music plays throughout the session. I combine that with hands-on therapeutic massage, stretching, hot stones, hot towels, aromatherapy, and other techniques I’ve learned along the way. The music isn’t simply background noise. I think of it as part of the massage itself. Rhythm, vibration, touch, breath, and sound all become part of one experience.
I think what I’m becoming known for is creating a massage that feels less like a traditional appointment and more like an immersive journey. I’m not trying to reinvent massage therapy as much as explore what else it can become when you bring other art forms into the room.
What I’m most proud of is that Sound Hand Massage genuinely feels like something that came from me. It combines so many pieces of my life: being an artist, my love of music, my curiosity, my travels, and now my work as a massage therapist. I’ve spent much of my life creating visual experiences for people, and now I’m creating experiences they can actually feel.
Taking Sound Hand Massage on the road has made me even prouder of it. I’m traveling from city to city, collaborating with wellness spaces and introducing vibroacoustic massage to people who may have never heard of it before. Every stop gives me new ideas and influences how the work continues to evolve.
Ultimately, what sets me apart is that I don’t really see myself as leaving art to become a massage therapist. I just found a completely new medium. Instead of only creating something for people to look at, I’m creating something they can hear, feel, and experience with their whole body.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think risk has been a pretty consistent part of my life, especially creatively. As an artist, I’ve learned that some of the most interesting things happen when you don’t completely know what the outcome is going to be.
One of the biggest risks I’ve taken recently was going back to school for massage therapy after more than 20 years of working as a professional artist and photographer. I wasn’t abandoning that part of my life, but I was willing to become a beginner again. Then, instead of simply opening a traditional massage practice, I started building Sound Hand Massage and experimenting with how music, vibration, art, and bodywork could exist together.
Taking it on the road has probably been the biggest leap. I packed a van with a massage table, audio equipment, hot stones, supplies, artwork, and basically everything I need to recreate the experience, and started traveling from city to city. In many of these places, I don’t know exactly how many people will book, who I’ll meet, or what opportunities will come from being there. There’s a financial risk, a physical risk in the amount of work involved, and definitely the risk of something simply not working.
But I’ve learned that I would rather try something and adjust along the way than spend years wondering what would have happened if I had tried it.
I don’t think taking risks means being reckless. For me, it’s about trusting yourself enough to move forward without having every answer. Some ideas work beautifully and some don’t. Either way, you learn something.
At this point in my life, I’m much more afraid of becoming too comfortable than I am of occasionally failing. Almost every major creative chapter of my life started with me saying, “I have no idea if this is going to work, but let’s see what happens.” And that’s still one of my favorite places to begin.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.soundhandmassage.com
- Instagram: soundhandmassage
