This one’s a bit special. 'The Quiet Voice of God' is the latest solo album by Joshua Britt, better known to Folk & Tumble as one third of our beloved trinity – The Orphan Brigade (the other two thirds being Neilson Hubbard and our own Ben Glover of course).
It’s been a while since we’ve had an offering from the Orphan Brigade – not since ‘To The Edge Of The World’ in 2019, ‘Heart Of The Cave’ in 2017, and ‘Soundtrack to a Ghost Story’ in 2015.
Perhaps the pandemic years left a creative vacuum, but 2025 sees a return to music for Joshua Britt, speaking words of wisdom and providing something of a spiritual lift.
This is hardly surprising given his lifetime steeped in rural Kentucky, immersed in Bluegrass and Old-Time music of the older generation, who had weathered the depression and all the ages of war. He grew up not only steeped in what the ‘father of Bluegrass’ Bill Monroe called the ‘Ancient Tones’ – but as close to nature as it’s possible to get. This, he says, is where he found his passion for the mandolin.
The Boy the Earth Sings To is very much his own creative project, but I can hear distant echoes of the Orphan Brigade. Yet this one is all about originality and creativity. Joshua says:
“I wanted this project to be unlike anything I’ve every created…Originality consists in returning to the origin. I returned to the spirit I have heard singing to my family for generations, and to the ancient tones and the sacred hum of the soul.”
Renowned as a filmmaker and director of music videos for the likes of The Killers, Billy Idol and Lucinda Williams, family is profoundly important to Joshua – and that comes across in the collection of twelve beautiful, deeply spiritual and melodic songs. Clearly, creating this album was a pilgrimage of sorts – bringing together inspired musical minds for the journey – such as Matt The Banjo Player, more often than not to be found working with Mumford & Sons, plus the other worldly, ethereal harmonies of Lady Moon and his steadfast musical brothers, Neilson Hubbard and Good Day Dean. Even his children Quincy and Colter get a look in – adding to the resonant sense of family.
listen to ‘The Quiet Voice of God’, you never know what mysteries abound there.