Joe Wilkinson was born in Poughkeepsie NY on June 16 1968. His musical life began in his elementary school band playing the drums and cello. He also played the mellophone in a marching band, and for three years between 1975-1978, marched in a drum corp., in parades all over upstate NY. Having been bitten by rock music during this time as well, he picked up the guitar at the age of twelve. Joe’s main rock influences are the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Cream, Allman Brothers, The Who, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. These artist have led Joe down the rabbit hole to the blues, folk music, country, bluegrass and reggae music to name a few genre’s. Artist’s such as Son House and Magic Sam, Peter Green, Freddie King to Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, as well as the Everly Brothers, Otis Redding, Doc Watson and countless others have inspired Joe to become a well rounded musician. Also, singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, James Taylor, Jackson C Frank and Townes Van Zandt have been an inspiration for Joe and his songwriting.

Joe spent high school playing in a rock band that was popular, going on to play numerous battle of the bands, and in his senior year, playing the senior follies, which was held in the high school auditorium. This was his first taste of playing in front of a large audience, and the power of rock n roll music.

After high school, Joe lived in NYC, playing in numerous rock n roll bands, playing many gigs and honing his songwriting skills. Writing songs came natural to Joe and he pursued other musicians to play his original songs. The result was his original band The Bleeding Hearts from 1996-1998. The band gained a loyal following throughout New York and New Jersey.

The next five years brought many different styles of bands and many gigs with a lot of great musicians and also a move to Austin, TX in 2005, as well as a move to San Diego, CA in late 2005. During this time Joe continued to write original music and work on finding his singing voice.

In 2012, Joe moved to Los Angeles, CA where he currently resides, meeting and playing with a lot of great musicians around town, while working on original music. In July 2022, Joe started to record his debut solo album at Watson House Studios in Pasadena , CA with Steve Watson engineering and producing. To date, Watson House Studios have released three tracks with accompanying video. The first in early 2023 titled “Last Breath Of Life” and two new songs and videos in 2024. The second being “Where The Wait Isn’t Long” with accompanying video by video maker Deren Ney, in San Francisco. This video was a tribute to the late Neal Casal and was exclusively premiered by Relix Magazine in September of 2024. Also “Lost Until I’m Found”, produced by Steve Watson for Watson House Studios, was released in November of 2024.

Exciting news! Joe will be releasing his debut record “Fences” which will be released on June 10, 2025 via Watson House Studios. The album consists of 10 original songs performed by Joe and his friends including Leland Sklar on Bass, Fredo Ortiz on Drums, John Ginty on Keyboards, Buck Reid on Pedal Steel and Steve Watson on Strings.