Joshua Zarbo is a bass player living in Austin, Texas. He is a freelance musician, music educator and clinician as well as the bass player for the critically acclaimed Austin band, Future Clouds & Radar.
Born and raised in Virginia, Joshua began studying music and playing bass at a young age. In 1993 he moved to Denton, Texas to attend the University of North Texas and take advantage of the burgeoning local music scene. In late 1996, while playing in the Denton local rock-oriented psychedelic freak-out band Maxine's Radiator, Joshua met Britt Daniel and Jim Eno of Spoon when both bands shared a bill at a local Denton venue. An opportunity to audition for Spoon presented itself and Joshua was brought on board as the new bassist in time for a west coast tour in early 1997. For nearly ten years he recorded and toured with the band as its bassist. After leaving Spoon, Joshua began playing bass for Future Clouds & Radar in late 2007. Future Clouds & Radar’s eponymous 2007 debut appeared on many critics’ year-end top-ten lists. The band was also listed as Best New Artist of 2007 by HARP magazine. Future Clouds & Radar released their second album "Peoria" in November 2008 to increased critical attention and praise.
Joshua's studio work includes record releases by Spoon, Future Clouds & Radar, Bob Schneider, Kat Edmonson, Annabella, Jon Simons and Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves. Spoon's 2005 release "Gimme Fiction" was reviewed and placed on Best of 2005 lists by Rolling Stone, Spin and Magnet. Both 2002's "Kill The Moonlight" and 2000's "Girls Can Tell" garnered similar critical praise. Recently, Joshua recorded bass for new record releases by Clay Berkes, Andrew Rosas and Maggie Walters.
Outside of his tenure with Spoon and then Future Clouds & Radar, Joshua's live performance and touring work includes artists ranging across musical genres, such as John Vanderslice, The Soul Stirrers, Fastball, Dale Watson, Larry Gatlin, Carolyn Wonderland, Jon Dee Graham, Kat Edmonson, Cory Morrow, Andy Davis, and Clay Berkes. His work both on stage and in the studio has been featured and reviewed in the Austin American Statesman, Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Times, London Times, New York Times, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Texas Monthly, TIME, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post and many other national and international publications.
Along the way, Joshua has performed on various local, national and international radio and television programs. Nationally this includes performances on various network television late-night programs as well as multiple appearances on the PBS music show "Austin City Limits". Internationally, he has performed and taped broadcasts for Canada’s CBC Radio 3 Concert Series, Australia’s “Live at the Wireless†on Triple J Radio, Germany's historic music television show "Rockpalast,†and Britain's famed BBC Radio1.
Joshua is an Adjunct Faculty member in Austin Community College’s Commercial Music Management department, teaching both bass guitar and a rock/blues ensemble.
www.austincc.edu/cmusic/
He also maintains a roster of private bass guitar students whom he teaches out of his home studio. Private lesson rates and scheduling available through this page or at
www.joshuazarbo.com.
