Josh Taerk (pronounced Terk) is a Billboard Top 40 charting singer/songwriter and official Recording Academy/Grammy member signed with AMG/Sony Music. His gift lies in is his ability to tell stories that feel like a shared experience. His soul- stirring lyrics, emotive melodies, and electrifying live shows continue to inspire fans across the globe.

Josh’s latest single “I’m Here” has over 1,200,000 streams and counting on Spotify, his song “Hold On Virginia” has over 1,000,000 streams as well, and DJ/Producer StoneBridge’s remix of “Hold On Virginia” was added onto SIRIUS XM BPM’s channel the weekend of its release.

 

Live, Josh puts on the most engaging, awe inspiring, high-energy performances that make him fans wherever he plays. Lyrically Speaking Magazine wrote, “the audience could feel the passion and enthusiasm Josh puts into his music...you can instantly tell that he has a large and confident presence onstage”. 

 

“One of my favorite things to do is play live. When the room is with you, resonating with the stories you’re telling and you can feel that energy from the crowd coming back at you on stage. There’s no feeling like it.” – Josh Taerk  

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Over the past 13 years, Josh has toured in North America throughout his home province of Ontario Canada, as well as New York, New Jersey, California, Tennessee, Texas, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maine. Josh has also toured Colleges and Universities in Ontario, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Illinois, Indiana, and Florida. Overseas, Josh has toured throughout the U.K. in cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Some of his more notable performances include: a headline show at the El Mocambo and The Dakota Tavern in Toronto, two headline university tours throughout the U.K., and three key support theatre tours throughout England, Scotland, and Wales. Josh has also opened for and performed onstage with Max Weinberg (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band), Kevin Costner & Modern West, Jon McLaughlin, Robin Trower, and The Weeks.

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In 2022, Josh created and continues to organize and perform in a multi-day international telethon-style live stream fundraiser for Variety the Children’s Charity called ShowHeart. In their first year Josh, the ShowHeart team, and the 50+ artists/musicians donating their time and talent to the cause raised over USD$50,000 for the cause. In 2023, the ShowHeart stream-a-thon was a 4-day event and gained the added support of corporate sponsor Dolby. Now in it’s 4th year, Josh and Variety International are currently planning ShowHeart 2025.

 

Max Weinberg (drummer for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band) has called Josh, “the most exciting new talent I have come across in years.” Josh and Max have worked together since 2010 with Josh opening and playing onstage with Max at several shows. 

 

Beginning 4 years ago, Josh and his brothers, Ryan, and Matt Taerk, have streamed various fundraising concerts/simulcast radio broadcasts for organizations including Canadian Red Cross, Food Banks Canada, NHS Charities, Nordoff Robbins, and Feeding America. This initiative began during the COVID pandemic as Josh saw a growing need for fundraising and community. In June of 2020, Josh also started streaming his live music on Twitch. In just over a year on the platform, he became a Twitch Affiliate and has gained a fiercely loyal and continuously growing fanbase. Josh continues to stream live music and has also added regularly scheduled Facebook Live and Instagram Live shows partnering with Get Ready To ROCK! Radio, Essentially Pop Magazine, SCENES Media, Teen Music Insider, and Music.Com on some of these live stream performances.

 

Josh’s album Beautiful Tragedy, released September 28th, 2018, has been streamed over 210,000 times on Spotify and the title track was added onto over 100 radio stations across the U.K. before entering the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream Indicator chart at #38. Fireworks Magazine wrote that Josh Taerk, “Continues to make waves on a global scale,” and “continues to beat the standard [with his music]”.

 

After returning from his U.K. tour in January of 2018, Josh released the first single off of his EP Stages, “Learning To Let Go,” to national and regional radio in the U.K. The single was added onto 68 stations across the country.

 

Taerk’s EP, Stages was released in the U.S. on October 20th, 2017, and received airplay on 80 Triple A Radio stations across North America. The second single off the EP, “Anywhere Love Took Us,” has been streamed over 120,000 on Spotify and has received rave reviews from media outlets such as No Depression, Paste Magazine, and AXS.

 

With the high energy of his live shows, Josh was named one of the “Top 5 Live Acts” of 2015 by acclaimed music writer Jason Richie and Josh’s album, Here’s To Change, was chosen as one of the top 25 albums of the year. In 2015, the title track off of Here’s To Change was added onto over 40 radio stations throughout the U.K.