Rising Singer/Songwriter Joe Firstman Releases His Atlantic Debut Album, The War of Women

By Jayne Moore

For singer/songwriter Joe Firstman, who has just finished a tour opening for Sheryl Crow, released his first album on Atlantic Records, and co-written songs with his idol, Bernie Taupin, the decision to buy a one-way bus ticket from his home in North Carolina to Los Angeles has proven to be the right one.

Joe Firstman

With his music being compared to early Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Neil Young and the Black Crowes, Firstman (who is 23) laughs and says, “that doesn’t hurt my feelings a bit. If I’m going to be compared to someone, I think I’m in pretty good company.”

Raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, Firstman’s first musical influence was his mother, a professional opera singer. “I was never into opera,” he said. “I was too busy with baseball at that time, but it was pretty cool being dragged to those four-hour operas and seeing everyone stand up and applaud for my mom.”

Although Firstman never had any formal musical training, his mother was an accomplished pianist and attempted to pass this talent onto her son, who, at the time, “was more interested in playing in the dirt.” Later, Firstman taught himself to play a few songs to please his mother. “Luckily, I figured out the ivories pretty quickly,” he said. He picked up the guitar while in college, and while he says he’s not the best guitar player, “I seem to make it work.”

Firstman (who has signed a co-publishing deal with BMG Songs) found his songwriting inspiration in singer-songwriters of the ‘60s and ‘70s such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne and others. “I grew up in an era where there just wasn’t that much good music. It all just seemed like noise,” said Firstman. “I would go to the record stores and ask the cool guys working there what they would suggest as the top five best records to buy, and they would tell me stuff like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and it was like, amazing to hear that record for the first time. I think it’s up to the kids of this generation to seek out the really great, timeless music and discover it for themselves. I’m hoping I can help influence people to look beyond the flavor of the month.”

At age 20, after playing in a number of bands in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas, Firstman decided to take a great leap of faith and made his way to Los Angeles. “It was time to change scenes,” he said. “It was definitely delusion. It was like, you wake up one day and say, ‘I know, I’m going to go to L.A. and get a record deal.’ Give me a break. You have to be out of your mind. It was the same thing that every prom queen in America thinks about moving out here and becoming an actress. Those are the same people who end up working in restaurants. They have the same delusion as I did. Luckily for me, it’s worked out so far. This time next year I may be a bartender.”

Joe Firstman

Firstman dove headfirst into the L.A. music scene and received a huge dose of culture shock. “Everything seemed so strange because I didn’t understand how to play the game,” he recalled. “You sort of have to sink or swim and make it up as you go. It’s a tough town for an outsider who doesn’t know anybody or have a lot of money, who’s just trying to make it as a stranger in a strange land.”

But Firstman said he got lucky. “I caught some breaks, I wrote some good songs, people came out to see me play the piano and it ended up working.”  He put together a band and went from playing piano bars to larger venues like the Whisky, the Troubadour and the Mint, where he regularly packed the clubs.

A tireless self-promoter, Firstman spent seven nights a week going to clubs to meet girls and invite them to his next show. “I’d invite the girls, they would tell their friends, and where there’s going to be girls, the guys will show up. Where there’s guys, there’s going to be drinking, so the club owners love you because they’re selling drinks. So every time we played, the clubs were packed, then we won them over with the music. I learned that you come to LA, it doesn’t come to you”

 Firstman’s music quickly became popular around Los Angeles, and in 2001 he was named Singer-Songwriter of the Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards. As Firstman’s popularity increased, he signed on with manager Michael Lippman, who also represents lyricist Bernie Taupin. Taupin became a fan, and offered to collaborate with Firstman on a few songs. Together, they wrote a song called “Tin Cans and Teardrops” for Willie Nelson’s upcoming album.

Firstman had the opportunity to open for Nelson recently and remembers his grandmother singing “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” to him as a child. Nelson welcomed Firstman onto his tour bus, where Firstman introduced his grandmother to Nelson. “He is such a cool person,” said Firstman. “He seemed so pleased to meet me, and when my grandmother asked him for a hug, Willie gave her a kiss. I thought it was so wonderful to give my grandma such a great gift at that time in her life. It taught me a lot about humility. He acted like I was the superstar and he was the fan. Here’s this musical genius and he doesn’t seem the least bit jaded, and I long to be just like that someday.”

Joe Firstman signs publishing agreement with BMG Songs (pictured l-r): Monti Olson, Vice President of A&R, BMG Songs, Joe Firstman, Scott Francis, President of BMG Songs North America, and Michael Lippman, Firstman's manager.

In early 2002, Firstman was signed to Atlantic Records and soon went to work with producer Rick Parker recording his debut album The War of Women, which was released August 12. Firstman describes the album as a relationship-based piece of work. “I had consumed myself with destroying myself by way of girls. It’s what I was living through and I was dealing with leaving a girlfriend and being a hopeless romantic. My favorite question to be asked is, how do I know so much about relationships at my age, but I’m in about seven of them right now. And if that’s not the war of women, I don’t know what is.” The first single to be released from the album is titled “Breaking All the Ground.”

Firstman got his first taste of a major rock and roll tour when he opened for Sheryl Crow’s 2003 summer tour. “Sheryl was awesome. She was one of the sweetest ladies and one of the most hard-core rock & roll babes at the same time. She somehow put up with our antics and invited us back out this fall. We got along. It was a cool rock show.”

According to reviews from many of the cities on the tour, Firstman and his band more than held their own, playing a variety of styles, from roots-rock to piano driven ballads and covering songs from a five part a capella version of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” to Jackson Browne’s “Rosie.” Firstman received standing ovations and was mobbed by fans ranging from young teens to their somewhat older parents. “That’s what was really cool,” said Firstman, “to see kids loving my music and their moms even coming up and asking for my autograph. That tells me that there is a definite need for my kind of music and I’m happy to be the guy to fill that generation gap.”

A unique aspect of Firstman’s show is the fact that he performs barefoot. “It started out as no big thing,” said Firstman. “I can just feel the pedals on the piano better with bare feet, but then the women noticed it and thought it was really sexy, so I guess it’s kind of become my trademark. As long as the ladies love it, I’ll keep doing it. How can my fans be wrong?”

Joe Firstman's debut Atlantic album, The War of Women, was released in August 2003.

While making “The War of Women,” Firstman recorded approximately 80 songs and has since recorded another 40. One of the songs he recently recorded is titled “The Last Days of Warren Zevon,” which is a tribute to the recently deceased artist. “I really liked Warren a lot,” said Firstman. “He did things on his own terms.”

Firstman has high hopes for The War of Women. “I want to win with this record. I have a lot of material and I continue to write. I don’t want to be known as someone who’s really cool and gets a lot of press. I want to sell a load of records. Songwriting is a joy and a job and if I do my job well, it makes it so much easier for everyone else to do theirs.”

Firstman was recently featured in a Sundance Channel original documentary series, Keeping Time: New Music From American Roots, in which Firstman is showcased in the episode entitled “Art of Song,” where he shares his creative process with viewers. “I was really touched that they asked me to participate,” said Firstman. “Out of the miles of videotape they shot, I’m hoping they captured some really good stuff.”

“I’m no genius songwriter,” said Firstman, when asked what advice he might offer to aspiring songwriters. “I’ll never be Paul McCartney. You have to have a little bit of delusion, but don’t be fooled into thinking you’re a genius and don’t overreach. I’d love to write a song that sounds like ‘The Long and Winding Road,’ but I never will and I understand that. It’s a craft and you have to perfect your craft. Listen to the great ones. Continue to dig in and search and learn new instruments and try new things and try new mediums from which to write. It’s like a sickness and you have to be prepared to endure the disease that is wanting to be a great songwriter.”

Jayne Moore is a freelance music/entertainment journalist. She has launched a new service, writing bios, articles and press releases. Moore can be contacted at musicgerm@hotmail.com. You can also visit her website: www.musicgerm.com.

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