Arthur greeted the crowd and commented that it was kind of bright out for a concert as he picked pretty patterns from his electric guitar. Combining string thumps and keyboard effects, Joseph crafted a foundation to compliment his leads and earthy vocals on the first song of his set. Besides adding rhythms to his muse, Arthur also used a pedal that gave the guitar an acoustic sound adding to the diversity of his presentations. The piece progressed through more blends of instrumentation and storytelling before moving into a gripping and gritty tune mentioning the many people living in his head - a rather spooky sentiment. A fan handed Arthur a poem and he read it to the structure of a previous song.

Joseph Arthur's latest CD and his scary skull painting that served as the show's backdrop.

"Any requests?," Joseph inquired and someone asked for "I Donated Myself to the Mexican Army". The song about battle blended bold guitar licks reinforced by effects and effective storytelling. The approach of playing guitar and adding loops and different sounds to songs was used throughout the evening. "Honey and the Moon" was also "demanded".

It was a pretty yet pensive piece. His song about a girl who made him unhappy was slower with a touch of sorrow. Joseph also played harmonica and utilized different guitar playing techniques with the loops to enhance his one man band. Arthur employed a talk vocal approach for another poem in which fret work flowed over a series of words.

The encore included more musical blends including dark, deep notes and observations and closing with a reflective track with the hook "may God's love be with you", which was left on as a loop as Joseph departed. After the concert, Arthur was available to mingle with fans and enjoy the food that folks had brought to Drew's.

Arthur was using this early evening house concert as a warm-up and launching pad for three months of international touring. Soon after the show Joseph was on a plane heading to a solid week's worth of work in China of all places - to be followed up with a brief stint down under in Australia and New Zealand. May finds the man making the rounds in Europe with stops in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Germany before arriving back in the States in June for a week of homecoming shows at the Living Room in New York City.

When Arthur isn't touring and recording as a solo act you can find him in the critically-acclaimed "Fistful of Mercy" - a band he formed with Grammy-Award winning Ben Harper and talented Beatle progeny Dhani Harrison. Their debut album As I Call You Down was released on October 5, 2010.

Musician, artist, guitarist, performer, entertainer -- Joseph Arthur.

Related Links: For more information on JOSEPH ARTHUR and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -- Joseph Arthur | Live at Drew's | Fistful of Mercy

(Originally Published on March 31, 2011)