Biography

Joseph Decosimo reminds us that the old stuff can still do work in our world: It can still sustain us and fill us. Over the last decade, Joseph Decosimo has emerged as one of the most compelling interpreters of the older banjo, fiddle, and song traditions from the Appalachian South, especially from his native Cumberland Plateau. A national old-time banjo champion and blue-ribbon winner at the South’s most prestigious fiddlers’ conventions, he’s one of the last to have studied under the region’s older artists. But that’s only part of the story: Living in the bustling indie hub of Durham, Decosimo has become a go-to collaborator for ethereal fiddle and banjo sounds, collaborating with Hiss Golden Messenger, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Wye Oak, and Elephant Micah. On While You Were Slumbering, Joseph reconciles the disparate creative worlds of his musical life, conjuring panoramic sounds from rare old ballads and snaking instrumentals. Joseph’s engagement with the archive, decades spent befriending the region’s older players, and his embrace of the small gestures and gritty angularity of the music translates into captivating performances. In his hands, the old pieces hit hard, striking a delicious balance between lonesomeness and hopefulness—dissonance and consonance. His new album While You Were Slumbering seamlessly melds the regional and universal, yielding a shining, inventive blend of the familiar and new—a kind of Cosmic Appalachia.