It was growing up in St. Paul, MN where Joe Carey realized, at the age of 10, his love for making music. He had just gotten his first guitar, an Eddie Van Halen replica from Sears, and was starting to hash out three-chord rock songs with a friend who had just picked up the drums. Eventually Joe’s brother Jim jammed along on the keys and before they knew it, they had their first official band.
Following a brief stint of playing the local garage circuit, the band broke up and the brothers moved to Rochester, MN with their family. There, Joe began to develop his guitar playing technique and dabble in musical styles other than rock, such as folk, classical, and some jazz. After playing in a few bands throughout high school, he continued to study music at Rochester Community College, all the while playing acoustic shows at local bars with Jim. He then spent some time in Colorado exploring musical avenues and honing his songwriting skills.
When Joe returned to Minnesota, he was asked by his brother Jim to join a new band called Loft as an acoustic guitarist/vocalist. Joe accepted and Loft went on to become one of the hardest working bands of the twin cities continually writing, recording, and gigging throughout the region. After three successful years and two albums Loft disbanded while Joe kept on composing new songs.
Once again living in his hometown of St. Paul, Joe released his first solo album Wondervibe in summer of 2003. While supporting the well-received album he went on to perform extensively with a number of artists/bands including Minnesota Gold, the Porn Thieves, the Careys, and Love Songs For Angry Men. During that time Joe also began playing as a solo act and developed a knack for producing and engineering.
In the fall of 2008, after acquiring some used recording gear off of ebay and Craigslist, Joe pieced together a small recording studio in his garage and started work on a new album. This time, in addition to taking on the roles of writer, producer, and engineer, Joe added “drummer” and “bassist” to his list of credentials. In fact, he played nearly all of the parts on the album with the exception of some back-up vocals and a few guitar and keyboard solos. After wrapping up tracking in early 2009, Joe enlisted the help of former Loft band mate Steve Digre for the mixing/mastering phase. The new album Sunflower Soul was released in May of 2009 and since has been heavily supported with both solo and full band shows.
Joe currently lives in St. Paul with his wife Jenny and their two kids Sophia and Jack.