Honed in the musical melting pot of Melbourne’s thriving music scene, Josh Owen is one of the busiest guitarists on the local scene and 2024 sees no sign of slowing down. Drawing on a wide variety of influences from his own musical journey, Josh is as comfortable as a solo troubadour as he is in a large ensemble, and plays a wide variety of guitars including taking up the ‘Novax’ eight string  over ten years ago. The  urban soundscapes of soul and reggae is where he truly feels at home. 

After years of touring and endless shows and collaborations, 2010 saw the release of his prophetically titled debut studio album ‘The Long Way’. Encapsulating the essential soul, funk, rock, reggae and roots influences that make up the musical chameleon that is the Josh Owen Band. The Long way streams a sonic spread of smoothness from Josh’s vocals and understated guitar prowess through the masterful drumming and percussion of Jason Heerah, the undeniable funky bass of Luke Hodgson fully supported by the virtuoso of all things keyboard Jake Mason and the multi-instrumental genius Dorian West.

Josh Owen has seen his first three independent releases, a live band album, a solo acoustic mini album receive massive critical acclaim and airplay all over Australia, including Triple J, RRR, PBS, FBI, ABC702, 774 & 891, Dig Radio, RTR, ZZZ, EdgeFM and many more. Save Me Save me was voted number 1 on Triple J’s Unearthed Roots chart and came in second in the semi final round of Uncharted, the Tooheys extra dry online band comp, after being nominated as the Australian Community Radio finalist. The first two band CDs were released in Japan and a track has been released on a Brazilian surf compilation.

 Josh and band have played countless numbers of massively successful shows at every major festival around Australia and New Zealand, with tour supports for popular local and international acts from Adrian Belew to Simply Red and The Mick Fleetwood Blues band to name a few. 2009 saw the band hold on to a long and successful residency at the legendary Esplanade hotel in St. Kilda, that lasted four years.

Josh has toured Australia and New Zealand as part of Reggae legend Ernest Ranglin’s band. He was also handpicked to back Third World’s lead singer Bunny Rugs during his Australasian tour and Sydney festival shows. He was also part of the band backing Jamaican artists Junior Kelly and Tanya Stephens on tours of Australia and New Zealand. Josh also backed and supported internationally acclaimed artist Toni Childs on her 33 date Australian tour. 

In 2015 Josh was part of the Gallipoli cruise to commemorate the 100th anniversary of ANZAC, where he played guitar for Daryl Braithwaite among others. This tour went through Sri Lanka, Egypt, Greece, Italy and Sicily and Turkey. 2015 also saw Josh performing locally and internationally with the Room8 productions of ‘Let’s get it On : The Marvin Gaye Story’ as well as the Etta James show featuring the star Australian performers Andrew DeSilva and Vika Bull. 2016- 23  has seen Josh mainly on the road with James Reyne as guitarist and backing vocalist in the band and as an acoustic duo where he remains an active member to this day. In between tours he has backed Pete Murray, Tina Arena, Dannii Minogue, Casey Donovan and Nathalie Imbruglia. Josh has also been the touring guitarist with many legendary Australian artists including Richard Clapton, Ross Wilson, Normie Rowe, Joe Camillerri and Russell Morris. 2024 sees him release his long awaited fifth release out on Reckless Records.