FORWARD Concert featuring Nathan Graham w/Mark Joseph & the American Soul

Nathan Graham is a Chicago-born singer-songwriter merging South Side blues with Nashville Americana to create a soulful, introspective sound. After a decade spent backing blues singers at legendary spots like Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines, he took the mic to share his own stories - Graham’s soulful, steady sound emerged—a blend of poignant lyrics, heartfelt guitar, and a warm, reassuring vocal style that captures both heartbreak and healing. Challenging traditional assumptions of what a singer-songwriter should look like, Graham has toured internationally with major label and indie acts alike. His music revolves around universal themes of connection and inclusivity; as he puts it, “I’m writing music to connect my story to yours…and maybe help both of us feel less alone.”

American Soul is a fitting brand for Mark Joseph; since his 2017 album by that title, he has charted a relentless and soulful course through America, and Americana, from blues to country to psychedelic rock and everything in between. On his newest offering, Palisade Peach, Joseph’s fourth full-length album, he continues this journey, from his soul, straight to your heart. It is a “blues” album in the truest sense of the word, with familiar 12-bar strains that echo the march of American music from the rural southern US up the Mississippi, to cities like Minneapolis and Chicago where it found a wider urban audience; it is the blues that has given rise to “rhythm and blues,” to “soul” and to “rock and roll.” 2025 will see the release of his 5th full-length LP, Baddest Man in Georgia.  

  Mark has also been a full-time member of legendary MN Jam act The Big WU for 14 years and is a founding member of The Dire Wolves and Momentary Lapse of Floyd.