LONG BIO

Juneau, Alaska-based Josh Fortenbery is a gravel-voiced singer and guitarist who writes like a poet and moves between genres with ease, creating an inviting combination of country, folk, and bluegrass. His debut album, No Such Thing as Forever, showcases his attention to lyrical detail while sifting through his ennui and existential dread. The album is steeped in community and place. Fortenbery—who lived in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Mexico, and Oregon before settling in his adopted hometown—recruited fellow Alaskan Justin Smith as his co-producer. Smith loaded his collection of boutique mics and handmade analog studio equipment on a truck and ferried his gear east to Juneau, where the public radio station lent them studio space. As No Depression observed, the album is a “pure Alaskan project . . . [that] achieves a universal musical and lyrical appeal.”

“I’m just trying to be honest about my grief, anxiety, and carelessness, and hope that resonates with people,” Fortenbery says of the album. "I think a lot of folks feel disconnected from the world, not only because of the physical isolation we all experienced at the start of the decade, but also this increasing digital and cultural isolation. I’m trying to remember what ties me to the folks I love and folks I’ve never met.”