I remember in 2017 sitting in a Kentucky hotel room with my friend Belinda looking over the lineup for Louder Than Life. We were making our schedule for the weekend of what bands we would be photographing. She looked over at me asking, “Have you ever heard of Joyous Wolf?” The answer to that question was “No, why do you ask?” She proceeded to pull up YouTube and show me a video for a song titled “Mountain Man”. And I was floored. Who were these guys? Why hadn’t I heard of them sooner? We made the decision at that time to put them on our photo list of bands to catch that weekend. And it was the right decision to make. Joyous Wolf put on a spectacular performance for the crowd and immediately made me a fan. And I’ve been one ever since. You can check out that video that caught my attention below.
Joyous Wolf is from Southern California and formed in 2014. The band is Nick Reese (vocals), Blake Allard (guitar), Greg Braccio (bass), and Robert Sodaro (drums). Nick and Robert met on the first day of the 6th grade orientation. Robert would eventually meet and befriend Greg. And one day in a Guitar Center in their acoustic room, Nick came across Blake and the two held an impromptu jam session to CCR’s “Born on the Bayou”. The dynamic between them was something special and the two stayed in touch. Months later when Nick was ready to start a new band, he reached out to Blake and Robert who were immediately onboard. Greg would also be brought into the fold.
Their sound a wonderful blend of rock, metal, and blues and Nick‘s tremendous vocals would play small venues to handfuls of people and worked their way up to playing at places such as Whisky a Go Go and The Viper Room. Their hard work and effort did not go unnoticed either. The band worked hard to get onto the Danny Wimmer Presents festival lineup for Louder Than Life and Aftershock. They worked the media rooms getting in front of anyone and everyone willing to interview the band (and they’re absolutely worth the interview). They also caught the attention of Dave Rath, Senior VP of A&R at Roadrunner Records who saw their performance at Aftershock. The band toured some more after the festivals. On March 5, 2018, Joyous Wolf signed with Roadrunner Records. Suddenly everyone wanted to know who was Joyous Wolf including the Los Angeles Times who did a piece on them soon after their signing. You can read that piece, with one of my photos of them, HERE.
The band toured as they worked on their upcoming EP Place In Time they released an amazing cover of “Mississippi Queen” by the rock band Mountain back in 1970.
They also released an original song titled “Slow Hand”.
Danny Wimmer Presents brought back Joyous Wolf for Welcome To Rockville 2018, which is when I finally got to meet and interview them. On April 19, 2019, Place In Time was released to solid reviews. The 7 track EP resonated positively with the media and the fans. The band went on tour with legendary Deep Purple which was a great blend of music for fans. Blake and his father even appeared in a Verizon Wireless ad campaign. And the band would appear once again at Louder Than Life in 2019. Joyous Wolf is showing no signs of slowing down.
What I truly love about this band outside of their amazing sound and energetic live performances is their personality. All of them are friendly, funny, and absolutely love their fans. I also love how that they worked so hard to become so successful and this is only the beginning for them. I see great things coming for Joyous Wolf.
Joyous Wolf will be performing at both Epicenter on Friday, May 1st and at Welcome To Rockville on Saturday, May 9th. If you are attending either festival, don’t miss them!
Joyous Wolf
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