Josh Krevsky has been singing for as long as he can remember. In fact, some of his earliest memories are singing along with his parents’ records.
“Props to my parents for having an incredible record collection,” the Harrisburg-based singer-songwriter said. “Very eclectic.”
He credits them for laying the foundation for a solid appreciation of music: The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Sinatra, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen.
“Then I heard Green Day and R.E.M. and No Doubt,” Krevsky recalled. “And then Nirvana and The Counting Crows, these last two were game changers.”
When he was 15, Krevsky got his first guitar and almost immediately began writing his own music. He didn’t add lyrics at that point, just worked through melodies and chords. He still writes songs in that same order: melody, then lyrics.
“As I played more guitar and put together more melodies, I began to experiment with adding some verses and chorus,” he explained. “Slowly but surely, I started to find a structure from which decent songs were emerging…at least I thought so.”
Krevsky began playing those songs for his friends and family, then at open mic nights, then started booking solo shows.
“The more I wrote, the more I played, and a repertoire soon developed,” he said.
But, like most musicians starting out, Krevsky played a lot of covers in addition to his original tunes, an experience that he retrospectively values.
“When you’re getting started playing live shows, cover songs are part of the deal,” he explained. “When I was learning how to play guitar and sing, covers were the vehicle in helping me eventually find my own style and sound.”
He’s been honing those songwriting skills over the past several years and now is putting the finishing touches on his first solo EP.
“This collection of songs has great meaning to me and chronicles some of the greatest and worst experiences in life thus far,” Krevsky said. “The therapeutic power of that has been profound. Plus, no one else can ever say they wrote those exact same melodies with those exact same lyrics.”
In recent months, he’s shared the results of some of his musical journey at local venues like HMAC Stage on Herr, Midtown Scholar Bookstore and Little Amps, all in Harrisburg, and Battlefield Brew Works in Gettysburg.
“Even if no one else in the world liked a single song I wrote, there’s still something amazing about that accomplishment,” he continued. “The joy and fulfillment that brings me is more than any cover song performance can ever deliver. And it just makes me hungry to write more and more and more.”
When I asked Krevsky what sorts of things inspire his music, he gave me a one-word answer: “Love.”
Then he elaborated.
“I could give you some long, drawn-out answer, but all other answers eventually lead there anyway,” he said. “Whether it’s family, friends, women, work, God…anything. Love is the key to it all.”
You can hear samples of Josh Krevsky’s music on his ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/joshkrevsky. Keep an eye his Facebook page, Josh Krevsky Music, for information on his EP release.
