Musician, Citizen Artist, Educator, Teaching Artist, Composer. Joe has dedicated his music journey to roof blasting wall shaking original music making and socially equitable music programming. He performs, teaches, records, and writes music for rock, indie, and jazz groups and is always up to something! Joe currently plays drums for singer songwriters Jonah Ross, Jacob Vanko, and in his jazz band Graviton. Joe teaches collective music composition at Soundscapes and is a jazz professor as Artist in Residence at CNU.
Looking back in 2008, Joe's career skyrocketed with the MTV Woodie Award nomination and appearance on the nationally televised show with his band Chasing Arrows at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. That experience lead to a Bronx based management deal with Nicon Entertainment Group and subsequent recording releases. While the major label deal didn't close during the historic music industry transition to the digital music industry amidst the Great Recession.
Following the disbandment of Chasing Arrows, Joe produced, co-wrote, performed, and recorded with Lux Nova, Jake Hull, Junto, performed with interdisciplinary ensembles in conjunction with glass artists, DJs, visual artists, and dancers. Keep reading
 JUNTO Jazz Band |  YogaDrums- |  Instrumental Conduction |
|---|---|---|
 IMG_4639 |  Trading with Victor Wooten |  35th Street Stage |
 JUNTO |  Chasing Arrows @ the NorVa |  Back Stage |
Joe proudly launched a new studio in 2020 in celebration of 20 years of drumming. The Be Plus Studio is a a generative songwriting hotbed. We write, record, collaborate, and guide musicians to write great music. We're dedicated to the creative music writing process, and growing songs from theme of the imagination to reality.
From in house creations and workshops to collaborations with partner organizations and recording studios, the Be Plus Studio is dedicated to making something new.
Go to www.BePlusStudio.com.
Educational Philosophy
People of all ages, colors, and cultures, deserve the resources and opportunity to develop musical skills and apply them to both interpretive and expressive outlets. Musicians at any stage of growth can learn resilience in the face of failure, and the freedom of experimentation. Intensity, dedication, and fun are major keys to making progress over time. Through the musical practice, students become technically proficient and artistically experienced.
Teaching
Artist
Teaching Artist Mentality
"A teaching artist is a practicing professional artist with the complementary skills, curiosities and sensibilities of an educator, who can effectively engage a wide range of people in learning experiences in, through, and about the arts." -Eric Booth
Joe approaches education from an active and engaged artist perspective. Always studying, and participating in new music projects, Joe offers a professional musicians perspective to the classroom environment. is It is both a pleasure and my duty to pass on the musical tradition that was passed on to me by my musical mentors. Musicians are a global community, and when we share knowledge and support each other, we all succeed.
Citizen Artists’ initiatives place both aspects at the forefront: they are artistically excellent and impact driven, employing artistic innovation to create social or civic impact. Joe has worked to create opportunity for thousands of students Coastal Virginia, and impacted over students throughout the United States through his work with El Sistema USA.
