“Josh Fortenbery draws wisdom and courage from everyday life in isolation like a Nordic John Prine.”
-Rolling Stone Germany
SHORT BIO
Alaska-based Josh Fortenbery writes like a poet and moves between genres with ease, creating an inviting combination of country, folk, and bluegrass. His songs offer honest, self-deprecating observations about the world around him and put a magnifying glass on relatable anxieties—tied together, it's what Fortenbery calls neurotic folk or existential country. His most recent album, Tidy Memorial, has earned stellar reviews and drawn comparisons to John Prine, cracking the top 20 on both the U.S. folk and alt-country charts.
LONG BIO
Alaska-based Josh Fortenbery writes like a poet and moves between genres with ease, creating an inviting combination of country, folk, and bluegrass. His songs offer honest, self-deprecating observations about the world around him and put a magnifying glass on relatable anxieties—tied together, it's what Fortenbery calls neurotic folk or existential country. His most recent album, Tidy Memorial, has earned stellar reviews and drawn comparisons to John Prine, cracking the top 20 on both the U.S. folk and alt-country charts.
“I’m just trying to be honest about my grief, anxiety, and carelessness, and hope that resonates with people,” Fortenbery says of his approach to songwriting. "I think a lot of folks feel disconnected from the world, not only because of the physical isolation we all experienced at the start of the decade, but also this increasing digital and cultural isolation. I’m trying to remember what ties me to the folks I love and folks I’ve never met.”
Music
"The impact of the album comes in part from Fortenbery’s clever lyrics, with rich imagery and creative rhyme, delivered with his sometimes unexpected phrasing and unique vocal timbre...A pure Alaskan project, No Such Thing as Forever achieves a universal musical and lyrical appeal."
— No Depression
"Juneau’s Josh Fortenbery has evolved into one of the state’s most formidable songwriters, as evidenced in his newly released album “No Such Thing as Forever.” The album delivers a lush country-bluegrass sound and sharp lyricism, from the starkly reflective ”Heirlooms” to “Sewing the Same Seam,” a toe-tapper that thematically threads inertia and aspiration.”
— Anchorage Daily News
"Deceptively philosophical and sneaking shafts of light between the curtains of darkness, there may be no such thing as forever, but for now, this album promises Josh Fortenbery a bright future."
— KLOF Magazine
Press
“Based in Juneau, Alaska, Josh Fortenbery draws wisdom and courage from everyday life in isolation like a Nordic John Prine. His singing voice may not be as soft as Prine's in his early years, a little harsher, but the songs move in similar territory, between closeness to nature, social criticism and laconicism. And the same burlesque, grim sense of humor shines through these songs.”
— Rolling Stone Germany (May 2024)
“Recorded in Fortenbery’s adopted hometown of Juneau, Alaska, the album feels sonically intimate, which only enhances the mood of the lyrics, which are self-reflective and framed by the isolation, uncertainty, and frustration of life in our pandemic times. It’s like the guy is spilling his guts just to you.”
— Bandcamp
“No Such Thing as Forever is a string-band record with sharp, no-nonsense songwriting that humanizes isolation and tedium and draws a line between Fortenbery’s everyday life in Alaska and our own pandemic experiences..”
— Americana Highways
Photo by Annie Bartholomew
Photo by Annie Bartholomew
Press Photos
Photo by Annie Bartholomew
Photo by Annie Bartholomew
Photo by Annie Bartholomew
Photo by Colin Gould