Josh Martin is an artist from the coalfields of Eastern Kentucky whose musical works live somewhere beyond the outskirts of mainstream country music but comfortably on this side of the ancient bluegrass tones of his Appalachian heritage. Josh’s independently released 2019 album, Nothing Holding Me, displays a balancing act of timbral accessibility and lyrical credibility, replete with honest songwriting and extraordinary musicianship, while more current releases, like 2020’s “Cold Again”, “Strange Times”, and 2022’s “The Burden of the Mountains”, exude an untamed energy seldom found in popular music of the day. Moving to Nashville in 2013, Josh’s singing, songwriting and guitar playing helped him make quick friends with the legendary songwriting community on Music Row and in 2016 he inked his first publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music. Shortly thereafter, the team at Sony’s Treehouse Records released a tandem of pop country tunes in “How’d You Know” and “Just My Luck”, giving Martin some industry recognition, all the while leaving him with the feeling that there was much more to his artistry than what was commercially expected. Eventually parting ways, Josh stepped into the freedom to create and put on display his authentic take on American music, with traces of Guy Clark and Darrell Scott in his lyric, the echoes of Tony Rice in his guitar licks, and a hint of old-time spirituality in his brawny yet smooth baritone voice. In the summer of 2022, Josh and a few of his amazingly talented friends (Jenee Fleenor, Barry Bales, Seth Taylor, Matt Menefee) joined forces to record a project of original bluegrass songs which later led to the formation of the Wood Box Heroes. Since, the crew released their self-titled EP in April 2023 and their music has been featured on SiriusXM, Spotify, and Apple Music all the while making several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry among other stages across the country. Josh’s guitar playing was also featured front and center on the 2023 Grammy nominated Willie Nelson album, Bluegrass.