The MSUFCU Backyard Bash Concert Series was created by the Share the Music Foundation to bring world-class talent to the Greater Lansing area for intimate and inspiring concerts.
Children age 12 and under are free as long as they are accompanied by an adult ticket holder.
This concert is held outdoors (weather permitting, may be moved inside due to rain as a last resort). Bring your own chairs or blankets - seating is on grass.
Seating is general admission — first come, first serve. Doors open at 6 p.m. Show starts at 7 p.m.
Food will be available for purchase from several local food trucks starting at 6 p.m. Drinks will also be available for purchase: pop, water, and beer and wine (for those 21 and older). You will need a valid ID to purchase alcohol.
No outside food or drinks are allowed.
All proceeds from the concert series will be donated to the MSU Community Music School to support their financial aid and tuition assistance programs.
Josh creates most of his music in a barn on his property that he’s converted into a studio. He produced and engineered the entirety of his new project himself; he’s been self-producing music since he was 15-years-old, and really dug into engineering and mixing when he moved to Los Angeles in 2002. He also plays 15 different instruments.
“My recording process has changed over the years,” he says. “I used to start a song and then begin the production process before the song was even finished. Now that I’m older I’ve changed my ways, and I make sure all of the structure, tempo, and lyrics are perfect. Then I drive over to my studio and try to wrap my head around how the song should live in people’s ears. It’s better for me to finish the song musically and lyrically before ever turning anything else on.”
Growing up in Augusta, Georgia, Josh absorbed R&B, soul, and vintage country, while also developing an affinity for classic rock. His musical family would often sit around their piano creating songs. When he was 12, his older brother accidentally left his guitar at home when he headed back to college -- a month later, he was covering Led Zeppelin songs. The rest is history.
“My sister’s husband, Kris, taught me different scales on the guitar and introduced me to Stevie Ray Vaughan,” he says. “I lost my mind on playing the blues for many years because of him. I learned from many of these songs that simple musical progressions lent room for more complicated and beautiful melodies.”
During their early teens, Josh and his younger brother Charles (now one-third of Lady Antebellum) formed a band, Inside Blue, whose self-released album gained local radio airplay and caught the attention of soul legend James Brown. Josh released his solo debut, Changing Faces, while attending the University of Mississippi. He then signed a record deal with Hollywood Records, which released his 2003 mainstream debut For the Ride Home. He found a Top Five single with “Amazing,” and his second album Almost Honest, included the Top Ten single “Only You.”
Josh later released four independent albums — Just Say the Word, Special Company, Backwoodsand To Remember — between 2006 and 2008. He released Georgia Clay in 2011 with MCA Nashville, and 2015’s New Lane Road with Sugar Hill Records. In 2017 he independently released an album of covers, titled Under the Covers, Vol. 1, and a holiday album, Christmas Traditions.
He has appeared on “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” “Good Morning America,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Live with Regis & Kelly” and “Last Call with Carson Daly,” and his songs have been featured on such shows as “Smallville,” “Scrubs,” “Brothers and Sisters” and MTV’s “The Hills.” Joshalso wrote and performed the theme song for the TV sitcom “Mike and Molly,” scored the feature film Home Sweet Hell, and created the theme song for TV’s Golf Channel.
“I will never stop creating music – it is in my blood and it is what I was put on this earth to do,” he says.
Josh Kelley launched his artist career in 2001 out of his college dorm room that propelled him into the industry with his hit song “Amazing”. It was the most played song of the year on pop radio and topped the charts at number 5. Since then Josh has toured with some of music’s biggest names including Taylor Swift, Dave Matthews Band, and Lady Antebellum. Josh has been in his studio for the past two years developing new music and his new record. All of the songs to be released on the project were written by Josh. The next chapter of Josh Kelley will be a further testament of the artist and songwriter he truly is.
