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My Response to The Forward
Howdy, friends.
I want to thank The Forward for opening this conversation. I’m genuinely grateful to have it. I’m honored that they took the time to explore what I’m doing musically, blending the sounds I grew up with in Texas and the Jewish prayers and heritage I embraced later in my life.
When I converted to Judaism about 11 years ago, it felt like coming home. There was so much healing and so much goodness, and I needed a way to process that. Music is the way I made sense of that journey.
I grew up with country music. The storytelling, the big sound, and the honesty really spoke to me as a young man. When I found Judaism, I found that same heart in Hebrew prayer: longing, gratitude, and connection. My songs aren’t trying to sound “Jewish” or “Christian.” They’re just trying to sound honest. Honest to who I am. I’m a Jew AND I was born and raised in Texas . Yes, I wear a cowboy hat, boots and a big belt buckle (that has a star of David on it). Yes, I love going to the rodeo and yes, smoked brisket is my blood type. I like honky tonks and backroads.
I understand the questions being asked, but let’s be clear: country music isn’t a Christian genre. It’s a musical language that comes from the shared stories and struggles of America: gospel, blues, folk, Tejano, Black string bands, and more. To label it “Christian” pushes away the many cultures that shaped it. When I bring Hebrew text into that space, I’m not borrowing from someone else’s faith. I’m adding my voice to a sound that’s always been about honesty, home, and belonging.
To my Jewish listeners: thank you. To the Jews of the South, to Jews by choice, to anyone who ever felt like they had to sound or look a certain way to belong, you are not alone. Judaism has never been one color, one melody, or one accent. The Diaspora is vast, and every corner of it hums with a different tune.
And to those from Christian backgrounds who find something in my music: you’re welcome here too and not because you fit a label, but because you came with an open heart. I’m not a Messianic Jew. I don’t believe in what Christianity teaches. But I do believe in the power of music to bring people together and help us understand one another.
If a Hebrew prayer or a song about our values and experiences, sung over a pedal steel guitar, helps someone feel a little more connected to memory, to meaning, to something bigger than themselves, then I know I’m walking the right path.
So thank you to The Forward and to Mira Fox for writing about this. Thank you to everyone who’s listened, shared, commented, or reached out. Y’all have been so incredibly encouraging and I deeply appreciate it. Let’s keep talking about what it means to sound Jewish, to be Jewish wherever we are.
Take care, be well, tread gently in the lives of others, and remember to sing.
Joe
