Joe May

At the core of musical creativity is the simple, unending urge for exploration and discovery. It’s being able to hold onto your childlike wonder and eternal curiosity, all of which lies at the start of any new chapter of melodic space to inhabit. For singer/keyboardist Joe May, it’s being able to balance a deep passion for record producing and live music improvisation, both encompassing the magic of one’s own natural talents and fearlessness to experiment — onstage and in the studio.

Though most folks recognize May from his work behind the keys for rising Charlotte, North Carolina, jam/funk outfit Pluto Gang, May’s debut solo album, “No Party By That Name,” conjures the deep, fundamental influences he regards with such awe and perspective. Bridging pop, soul, rock and R&B elements “with vintage keyboard sounds and old-school techniques” for recording and microphone placement, “No Party By That Name” is a collage of sonic textures — seamlessly floating between two-part vocal harmonies, sharp guitar riffs, and earworm keyboard soundscapes blending a multitude of genres.

With “No Party By That Name” soon to be released, May is already hard at work on the follow up, this well of inspiration currently overflowing from his heart and soul, through his fingertips and onto the keyboard.

- Garret K Woodward, Rolling Stone contributing Writer