2020-09-14

Joshua Asante

Joshua Asante (Little Rock, Arkansas)

Joshua Asante is a musician, writer, and photographer. He is the lead vocalist and guitarist/keyboardist for the Little Rock, Arkansas-based indie bands Amasa Hines and Velvet Kente. Asante has also toured extensively as a solo performer, sharing what he calls “astral soul,” a blend of electronic and soul music. Onstage, Joshua sings lyrics inspired by travel through space, the paintings of Hughie Lee Smith, and the literary work of Black speculative fiction giants Henry Dumas and Octavia Butler. For his live iterations of these ideas, Asante positions himself alone surrounded by synthesizers, drum machines, guitars, and a saxophone. 

Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 09/14/2020.

Holly Hobbs

Music; United States; Covid-19 Pandemic

Little Rock, Arkansas

Musicians in America during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Society for Ethnomusicology