Joseph Decosimo explores his “Fiery Gizzard”
By WTJU
Date: 08/15/2025
Time: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Noted folklorist and musician Joseph Decosimo will stop by WTJU Friday afternoon to go track by track through his latest album, “Fiery Gizzard”, being release that very day. You can find out more about Joseph at his website. Sunset Road airs Friday afternoon from 4-6pm (eastern) on the radio (91.1FM) or on our web player.
‘A lifelong champion of the old-time music of Appalachia and the American South, North Carolina’s Joseph Decosimo has made it his life’s work to study, teach, transmit and perform this much storied American folk art form. Digging through archive footage, field recordings, and even learning face-to-face from the older players, his work as a solo musician sees Joseph cherry-picking and breathing new life into this rich repertoire. Based in Durham, North Carolina, his skills as a fiddler and banjo player have also made him a key member within the area’s vibrant folk and indie scene, with performing credits on records by the likes of Jake Xerxes Fussell, Wye Oak, and Hiss Golden Messenger. In fact, a chance encounter with MC Taylor of the latter laid the foundations for what would become his third solo record Fiery Gizzard, with Taylor laying down the prompt: “what would this Old-time fiddle music sound like if it were given an Albion Country Band / Fairport Convention sort of treatment?”. And there lies the crux of Fiery Gizzard. Moving on from a more rigid ‘trad’ instrumentation and pooling from the indie and experimental musicians around him, Fiery Gizzard features a fusion of electrified banjo inspired by Abner Jay, spacious electric guitar, pump organ and hypnotic, shambling percussion. Interweaving old-time ballads and groove-heavy instrumentals, it’s a record that both steeps itself in the voices of history, and loses track of space and time entirely, bound together by the fizzing immediacy of its performance. Each track was recorded live with an illustrious group of musicians, including members of Wye Oak, Fust, Elephant Micah, and Beirut, with the former’s Andy Stack playing a key production role.
Released via cult Philadelphia-based label Dear Life Records (MJ Lenderman, Florry, Fust), Joseph’s latest record comes off the back of press support from Bandcamp Daily, KLOF, and Songlines, as well as from keynote folk tastemaker Broadside Hacks, who hosted him for a show in London earlier this year.’
