Josh Mitcham – Ex-Jericho Woods Singer on Solo Barn Album
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There's a particular kind of honesty that comes when you stop asking permission. Josh Mitcham figured that out the hard way, and it's rewoven itself through everything he does now—from his music to his podcasts to the way he shows up for other artists just starting out. When a Kentucky musician tells you he's "fiercely independent and horny," with a grin that reaches through the podcast speakers, you know something's shifted in how he approaches his craft.
Mitcham spent years as the frontman of Jericho Woods, a band he formed in 2014 that built a genuine following across the Southeast. But when that chapter closed and the pandemic locked the world in place, he found himself in an unexpected position: completely free to figure out who he was as a solo artist, without the gravitational pull of a group dynamic or industry expectations. What emerged was his barn album, "Little Fires," a project that feels less like a calculated statement and more like a diary written in real time.
When I started playing music there were all these gatekeepers to how you could make contact with people, but with social media you can just say hey, I'm an independent artist, will you listen to this?
— Josh Mitcham
The story behind "Little Fires" is refreshingly unglamorous. Mitcham set up in his shop—the same studio space he runs out of in Webster, Kentucky—once summer ended and his other obligations loosened their grip. His kids were involved. There was no grand concept, no predetermined sonic direction. Just a man with some songs, streaming consciousness turned into arrangements, the kind of creative urgency that can only happen when you're not overthinking it. His wife was asking when he'd get around to the yard work. He was too busy making music. The title is part confession, part joke at his own expense: here's someone juggling multiple creative projects, always running toward the next thing, perpetually finding reasons to avoid the practical responsibilities waiting back at the house.
What's striking about Mitcham's approach isn't just the prolific output—though he's certainly that, dropping multiple tracks across each album rather than a token few—but the deliberate avoidance of easy categorisation. Here's a Kentucky artist in an era when Appalachian music is having a genuine cultural moment, when the weight of regional authenticity can feel like a commercial opportunity. Mitcham looked at that lane and politely declined. As he put it in the conversation, he lives a whole lot closer to John Mellencamp than to Lawrence County. It's a small statement that carries real weight. He's not leaning into the trend because it's trendy. He's chasing the actual music that moves him.
I'm in a neat place now where I can go out to my shop and just play around with songs—I'm a fiercely independent and honorary person.
— Josh Mitcham
That spirit of independence runs deeper than genre positioning. Mitcham hosts the Every Damn Friday podcast and the Ramble at the Randall, platforms he's built from the ground up to amplify other independent artists. When he reaches out to someone—whether it's a UK journalist or a fellow musician—he's doing it the old-fashioned way now, through direct messages and genuine connection. He remembers when there were gatekeepers, when you needed an email address and industry credentials just to be heard. Now he just sends a message, asks for a listen, invites people to play in his barn. Mostly, people say yes. Because there's something magnetic about someone operating entirely on his own terms.
The pandemic and its aftermath cleared space for Mitcham to become the artist he actually wanted to be. Not the version that fits into predetermined boxes. Not the safe commercial calculation. Just a Kentucky father and educator and artist who runs a state summer camp, hosts podcasts, builds things with his hands, and fills his nights in the shop because his brain needs the outlet. He's simultaneously the worst at avoiding his responsibilities and the most honest about why he can't stop making music.
If you've ever wondered what truly independent music looks like in 2024—not independent in the contractual sense, but in the philosophical one—Josh Mitcham's "Little Fires" is a living answer. The full conversation goes deeper into his journey from Jericho Woods to now, the specific choices that shaped his sound, and how he's building community with other artists operating outside the system. He's the kind of guest who makes you want to grab your own instrument and stop waiting for permission.
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