AMES, Iowa – Joshua Vorvick has completed a remarkable musical story arc.
Once too shy to perform in his high school’s choir, Vorvick overcame the nerves to spend years as a professionally touring vocalist. Then, last spring, he performed an award-winning original song for the discerning audience at Nashville’s storied Bluebird Café – all without a hint of stage fright.
Vorvick will bring his blend of Americana, blues and folk music with polished vocal melodies to the Goldfinch Room, the singer-songwriter showcase concert series at Stephens Auditorium, on Aug. 16. Tables and general admission seats for event, which Vorvick will co-headline with Minnesota songwriter Kellie Lin Knott, can be reserved online at https://www.center.iastate.edu/events/goldfinch-room-vorvick-and-knott/.
Vorvick grew up in northeastern Oregon in a musical family in which his older siblings introduced him to music at an early age.
“Music got into my bones early on, even though I didn’t really know it was happening,” he recalls.
But it took some time before he felt comfortable performing in front of an audience. In fact, Vorvick recalls how he was too scared to join his high school choir, even though the choir director was a family friend. It wasn’t until he enrolled in a junior college after high school that he started performing regularly in vocal ensembles. He discovered he loved performing and quickly joined several vocal groups, everything from jazz choirs to quartets.
He soon abandoned plans for a communications degree and made music the center of his studies. He enrolled at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he earned a music degree. After graduating from Luther, Vorvick worked as a touring musician in an acapella octet called Pieces of 8 based in St. Louis. He spent around five years as a professional vocalist until members of the octet decided to move to New York to pursue new opportunities. Vorvick didn’t want to make the move, so he stepped away from the vocal group.
That’s when he started devoting more time to songwriting, a skill with which he’d only dabbled previously, and playing open mics in the St. Louis area. He and his wife moved back to Decorah in 2015, where he’s lived ever since, expanding his catalog of original songs and ramping up his gig schedule.
Vorvick began submitting his original compositions to the Bluebird Golden Pick Contest, a monthly online competition organized by Taylor Guitars and the Bluebird Café. Vorvick’s song “Waitin’ On the Rain” won the April edition of the competition, and Vorvick was invited to Nashville to perform at the Bluebird. He also received a brand-new Taylor acoustic guitar, which has become his preferred instrument.
“Waitin’ On the Rain” is a shuffling blues with lyrics about perseverance and overcoming hard times.
“And when the sky splits open I know, I’ll see the hard ground break and a new garden grow/I’m gonna pray through the pain, sit here waitin’ on the rain,” Vorvick sings. (Watch a video of Vorvick playing the prize-winning song on YouTube)
Vorvick said the trip to Nashville felt like a whirlwind, but he felt comfortable on the Bluebird stage.
“I used to be really nervous about performing places, but they wanted me there so I just trusted that,” he said. “I felt well supported by people who were there to see that kind of music. Folks want to meet me through my music, and those are the kinds of people I need in my life to remind me that it isn’t just for me, it’s for other people too.”
Vorvick said he views his music as a means of bringing people together.
“For me, I’ve attached this whole songwriting process to connecting with people and building relationships,” he said.
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