Rising Stars: Meet Josey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josey.

Hi Josey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I’ve been performing since I was a little girl. I started off with dance at four years old and then got into music, singing and theatre. I got involved in church musicals and church choir as well as school choir and theatre. I started playing guitar and writing songs at 11 or 12 years old. In high school, I got more involved in community theatre as well to develop my skills. I went to school for music at Columbia College Chicago and got a degree in contemporary, urban & popular music. Which I like to call the pop star major, haha. While I was in school, I did an internship at Walt Disney World and lived in Orlando and worked at Disney World for half a year. Even though I was not selected to be a performer, I still learned a lot and never gave up.

In my last year of college, I studied abroad. I was one of two students chosen each year to represent our program in Germany at Pop Akademie. This experience changed my life and I am forever grateful for it. I worked with so many amazing writers and musicians and really got to discover myself as a person and an artist. Once I finished my program, I came back to Chicago and graduated that spring. The day after graduation, I visited Nashville for the first time to attend the Music Biz conference. There I met someone from Atlantic records and they said if you’re not a country artist now is the time to move to Nashville because they are looking for the next big pop act, the next “Meghan Trainor” etc. So I took that advice and moved to Nashville fall of 2017. Moving to Nashville made me such a better and more consistent writer and musician. The community here is so helpful and inspiring. I feel like I had no choice but to grow.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Haha, it has not been a smooth road but I am glad I have stuck it out. Moving to a new city always has its challenges especially when you are chasing a dream in entertainment or music and moving by yourself. For me being a female in the industry has had its challenges especially being a plus black female in Nashville a predominantly white city mostly known for country music. I found some people were fair with booking or paying me compared to other acts in town. Also, I feel some have not really taken me seriously as a writer or artist.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a soul pop r&b artist. I also do modeling and micro influencing. I play guitar and piano, I write music for all genres and I write all my own songs. I specialize in lyrics and melody and creative producing but since moving to Nashville, I’ve gotten much better at chords and instrumentation. I would say I am known for my voice and personality. I am most proud of getting to perform with Diane Warren at my college graduation ceremonies. I think what sets me apart from others is I’m not trying to fit into any mold or change myself and I am not the mainstream beauty standard for who gets attention or spotlight, yet I’m still out here doing the damn thing. I have a lot of grit and really want to make a difference and uplift people. People always comment on my confidence and I’m like, I’m just living my life.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Never give up on yourself and what you truly want and deserve because you are worth it! That goes for every aspect of life! Please stay in touch and follow me for more music releases and news about touring and live shows! If you live in Nashville, you can catch me live July 12th at Listening room cafe. It’s my first time playing there so I’m very excited!

September 19th, I will be playing Nashville pride festival on the RNBW stage at 1:30 pm! I am working on getting merch and releasing new music! Check out all my songs on Spotify, Apple Music, or where you listen to music!

Contact Info:

• Email: joseyomokheyeke@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.joseyofficial.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josey_omo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Joseyofficial/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/josey_omo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperJozell
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Y7M85DT5ghRcwtZTwcgH8

Image Credits
All photos with pink hair – Madalyn Martin Live photos with blue hair and red dress – Eden Lauren Photos with black long hair in blue dress – Jake Matthews Photo with afro and me playing guitar – Ware Media (My artist name is Josey)