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Josh Caterer (born April 12, 1972) is an American, Chicago-area musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of pop-punk band Smoking Popes, which he founded in 1991 with his older brother Matt and younger brother Eli. The band has remained active except for a hiatus between 1998 and 2005. Josh has also written and recorded music with different bands and as a solo artist in a variety of genres, including gospel, blues, rock and pop-punk.
Josh Caterer grew up in Carpentersville, Illinois, where he attended Kings Road Elementary School and Carpentersville Middle School. Later, his family moved to Lake In The Hills IL, where he attended nearby H.D. Jacobs High School, graduating in 1990. After graduation, he held several menial jobs such as gas station cashier and machine operator at a plastics company. [1] In 1995, he married Stefanie, his high school sweetheart.
Smoking Popes formed in 1991 and began playing small local venues around the Chicago suburbs. Their first album Get Fired was released in 1993 by Chicago indie label Johann's Face Records. An opening spot for Green Day drew the attention of major labels, and in 1995 they signed to Capitol Records, which released their second album Born to Quit. The single from that album, "Need You Around", was included on the soundtrack to the hit movie Clueless and the band's career took off. They started touring North America and Europe as a headlining act, also opening for such artists as Morrissey, Cheap Trick, Goo Goo Dolls, Violent Femmes, Foo Fighters and Tripping Daisy. During the making of their third album Destination Failure, Josh began struggling with substance abuse and went through a period of personal upheaval and spiritual searching. His songwriting, which until then had focused mostly on romantic love, began to take on a deeper and more profound quality, which is reflected in the lyrics on that album. Destination Failure was released in 1997 to critical acclaim, but achieved only moderate commercial success.
Eventually, after a collapse due to a cocaine overdose at an all-night party [2] his spiritual search intensified, and reading C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity helped lead him to embrace Christianity in 1998. Shortly after his conversion, Josh quit the Smoking Popes and became heavily involved in his church, also working at World Relief, a charitable, nonprofit organization. In 1999, he self-released a five-song EP of acoustic gospel music called Why Me. [3] In 2001, he founded the Christian rock band Duvall with other former members of the Smoking Popes. Duvall released two full-length albums, including Volume & Density in 2003 and a Christmas album called O Holy Night in 2004. [4]
In November 2005, Josh returned to the Smoking Popes, reuniting the band for a sell-out show at the Chicago club The Metro. [5] Inspired by the success of that reunion, they embarked on a U.S. tour in early 2006 with the band Bayside and began work on a new album called Stay Down, which was released in July 2008. [6]
Since then, Smoking Popes have released two more full-length albums, This Is Only A Test in 2011 and Into the Agony in 2018. Josh also started a blues band in 2015 called Jackson Mud Band, which released a full-length album called Stranger Blues in 2019.
In October 2020, Josh played a virtual concert at the Hideout in Chicago, which was released the following year as a live solo album called The Hideout Sessions. [7] This was followed by another performance in early 2021 at SPACE in Evanston, IL, which was released later that year as The SPACE Sessions on Pravda Records.
Today, Josh continues to record and tour with Smoking Popes, performing occasionally as a solo artist.
Since 2001, Josh has worked as a worship leader and music director at several Christian churches in the Chicago suburbs. He has also written and recorded worship and gospel music, including a full-length solo album called O the Love of My Redeemer, which was released in 2019.
Josh lives in Aurora, Illinois, with his wife, Stefanie. They have two children, Elliot and Phoebe.
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively.
Luther Sylvester Allison was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison was interested in music as a child and during the late 1940s he toured in a family gospel group called The Southern Travellers. He moved with his family to Chicago in 1951 and attended Farragut High School where he was classmates with Muddy Waters' son. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he dropped out of school and began hanging around outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. Allison played with the bands of Howlin' Wolf and Freddie King, taking over King's band when King toured nationally. He worked with Jimmy Dawkins, Magic Sam and Otis Rush, and also backed James Cotton. Chicago Reader has called him "the Jimi Hendrix of blues guitar".
The Falcon is an American, Chicago-based punk rock supergroup. The band features The Lawrence Arms members Brendan Kelly and Neil Hennessy on drums, Alkaline Trio's Dan Andriano and The Loved Ones’ Dave Hause.
Smoking Popes is an American pop punk band from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. They are composed of brothers Matt Caterer (bass), Josh Caterer and Eli Caterer and Mike Felumlee (drums).
Mike Felumlee, a native of Crystal Lake, Illinois, is chiefly known as the current drummer for the rock band The Smoking Popes. He is known to a lesser extent for his stint of several years as drummer in the band Alkaline Trio and for his solo music.
Acoustic is an EP by American rock band Bayside, released on February 28, 2006. The release was in memory of John "Beatz" Holohan, the band's drummer who was killed when the band's tour bus crashed on October 31, 2005. By April 2006, the EP had sold over 13,000 copies. By August 2008, the EP had sold 37,000 copies.
Tuesday was a punk and emo band formed by three ex-members of Chicago ska punk band Slapstick after the latter's breakup in 1996. The band's initial line-up consisted of Dan Andriano (bass/vocals), Matt Stamps (guitar), and Rob Kellenberger (drums/vocals). They released a demo on 1133 in 1996, before releasing an EP, titled Early Summer, on Asian Man Records in 1997. Later that same year, they released their first and only album, Freewheelin. While recording this album in California, the members of Tuesday also served as the backing band for Mike Park for the first album by The Chinkees, The Chinkees Are Coming. Also during this time, Rob and Matt were in college, and Dan found himself with extra free time. He started playing with other bands on the side including an instrumental band called Dulcet Tone, and eventually Alkaline Trio, after their original bass player Rob Doran departed. In early 1998, Tyler Wiseman from Dulcet Tone joined as a second guitarist for Tuesday to help expand the band's sound and tour in support of Freewheelin. They toured the U.S. in spring and the summer of 1998. They continued to write songs throughout this period intended for a follow-up album. With other members of the band devoting more time to family and college, and Dan enjoying success with the Alkaline Trio, Tuesday faded away as an active band sometime in 1999.
Get Fired is the debut album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released in 1993 by Johann's Face Records. It was recorded in 1993 at Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette, Indiana with recording engineer Mass Giorgini. The raw production and punk rock sound of the album are in contrast to the higher production values and more pop-leaning sound of the band's later works.
2 is the third EP by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released independently in 1993. It was recorded in 1992 at Solid Sound Studio in Hoffman Estates, Illinois with recording engineer Phil Bonnet, the same location and engineer used for their previous EP Break Up.
Colossal is an American indie rock band from Elgin, Illinois, United States, formed in 2001. They have one EP and one full-length, and have appeared on multiple compilations. Their lyrics and musicianship display a depth much like that found in math rock.
Alkaline Trio / Smoking Popes is a split single by the Chicago-based rock bands Alkaline Trio and Smoking Popes. It was distributed to attendees at a New Year's Eve performance by both bands at the Metro Chicago on December 31, 2006 – January 1, 2007. The single features each band covering one of the other's songs, with Alkaline Trio covering the Smoking Popes' "Off My Mind" and the Smoking Popes covering Alkaline Trio's "Blue Carolina".
White Denim is an American four-piece rock band from Austin, Texas, United States. Their music is influenced by dub, psychedelic rock, blues, punk rock, progressive rock, soul, jazz, experimental rock with home-based recording, jamming approach, intense looping work and unusual song structures.
Chicago, Illinois is a major center for music in the midwestern United States where distinctive forms of blues, and house music, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed.
Smoking Popes, a Chicago-based pop punk band, has released six studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, six EPs, five singles, one video album, and four music videos.
Destination Failure is the third album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released August 26, 1997 by Capitol Records. It was their second, and final, album for Capitol and their last before their nearly seven-year hiatus; their covers album The Party's Over was rejected by Capitol and the Smoking Popes disbanded in December 1998, reuniting in November 2005 to record At Metro. Destination Failure was not as successful as the band's previous album Born to Quit; it failed to chart despite the release a single and music video for "I Know You Love Me". The album was recorded at the Chicago Recording Company and at Conway Studios in Hollywood with producer Jerry Finn and recording engineer Phil Bonnet. Bonnet had worked with the band since early in their career, engineering and producing their EPs Break Up and 2 as well as Born to Quit.
Born to Quit is the second album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, originally released in 1994 by Johann's Face Records and re-released in 1995 through Capitol Records. It became their only release to chart, reaching #37 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, partly on the strength of the single "Need You Around" which reached #35 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Stay Down is the fifth studio album by the American, Chicago-based pop punk group, Smoking Popes. Released on Curb Appeal Records on August 5, 2008, it was the band's first studio album since their 2005 reunion and their first album of original material since 1997's Destination Failure. It's the only Smoking Popes album to feature drummer Ryan Chavez, who joined the band in 2006.
The Smoking Popes Tribute is a tribute album to the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes. It was released March 25, 2003 by Double Zero Records, a label founded by former Smoking Popes drummer Mike Felumlee. Following the Smoking Popes' breakup in 1998, Double Zero had released several albums of previously recorded Smoking Popes material including 1991–1998, Live, and The Party's Over. The Smoking Popes Tribute features contributions from former members of the Smoking Popes themselves: Felumlee performs a cover of "Don't Be Afraid", while Josh and Eli Caterer perform "Do Something" with their post-Smoking Popes act Duvall. Other notable contributors to the album include Bad Astronaut, Grade, and The Ataris.
"Need You Around" is a song by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released as the second single from their 1994 album Born to Quit. The album was originally released by Johann's Face Records in 1994, and "Need You Around" received radio play on Chicago's Q101 and Los Angeles' KROQ. When Born to Quit was re-released in July 1995 by Capitol Records after the band signed to that label, "Need You Around" and "Rubella" were remixed by Thom Wilson for release as singles. A music video for "Need You Around" was filmed, and the song was featured in the soundtrack of the film Clueless. It became the only Smoking Popes song to chart, reaching #35 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks.
This Is Only a Test is the sixth studio album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released March 15, 2011 through Asian Man Records. It was produced by Matt Allison and is their first album with drummer Neil Hennessy, who joined the band in 2008. It is a concept album, with all of the songs written from the perspective of a single teenage boy dealing with the growing pains of adolescence. Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Josh Caterer described it as "kind of a concept album about a teenage life. All of the songs are written from the point of view of a high school student, and they explore aspects of teenage life. This would be [about] a contemporary teenager. It's not specifically autobiographical of my high school experience. Obviously, those things are incorporated into what I write, but I tried to create a character who is the protagonist in these songs."
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