Jody Joseph harbors an instinct bred from the historical significance of her own backyard, and has the passion and intensity to back it up. From the very first day on the planet, she was granted a musical heritage (one of her famous relatives was opera singer Mario Lanza, another one a cousin named Jon Bon Jovi), and during her early years she began forming a style drawn from various eras of rock, pop and soul. Inspired by the reflections of her life, Joseph says, "I have always believed that music is a universal language that has the ability to comfort and heal through some pretty dark moments in our lives.

Says Jody: “I always knew that I wanted to be a writer of my own songs, and knew that in some respects I would fight for their existences as if they were my own children. Because, in a very real way, thats what songs are for me. Theyre part of me.”
Joseph and her band “The Average Joes,” have had the opportunity to open for some impressive national Headliners in showcases in New York City and Atlantic City over the past 3 years. Her band’s schedule is extensive, including community concerts, fundraisers and private events. Joseph and the band were nominated for the 2004 & 2005 Asbury Music Awards for both Best Female Vocalist, and the band itself for Best Rock Band. They were also “runner-up” in the 2004 Stone Pony House Band search, a yearly event put on by the House that “Bruce” Built.
Joseph's generosity goes beyond just teaching by constantly encouraging her talented students to share the stage with her and the band. Her brainchild is a yearly concert to raise awareness of and funds for Teen Suicide Prevention. The LIVE-Rock For Life Concert, held at the Stone Pony, have included rock memorabilia auctions and ad journals, which raised thousands. The concept of the LIVE concert was born out of the tragic suicide of one of her young teen students in 2003. The acronym "LIVE" stands for LIVE-INSPIRE-VIBE-ENERGY and was coined by her daughter, Gina. Joseph and the Average Joes have also volunteered their time for Sid Bernstein's Kamala Benefit at the Stone Pony to raise money for a school in Thailand destroyed by the 2005 Tsunami, The Long Branch Schools Wave Of Hope Concert for the Biloxi MS school district that was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, the yearly Light of Day concerts, the American Cancer Society's Rock for Life, and the list goes on and on. On Saturday afternoons, Joseph can usually be found assisting at a musical service, called Connections, at the Tinton Falls Lutheran Church. She encourages her students to participate in the service by playing or singing. Her students have taken over the service many times and have performed their own originals, written during Writers' Workshop sessions in her own studio. Jody Joseph and The Average Joes have had the pleasure of performing her fabulous renditions of Janis Joplin songs with Janis' original band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, on their Northeast tour, in May 2006. She plans to play throughout the US & Europe during the coming year.
Joseph and the band is about to release their third CD, and she is very excited about the twists and turns that this road has taken. Now signed to “AJA,” and working under the close scrutiny of Darrell (DL) Lawrence as Producer, her songs are bluesy ballads, cranked-up, soulful rockers, and spiritual songs with attitude and devilishly clever lyrics.
By day, she likes to hang out at home in Monmouth County, New Jersey while teaching vocal lessons from her home studio. By night she writes under a candle’s glow like a vampire lost in the magic. PASSIONATE.
AJA Music and Film Productions, NY, are in the midst of planning tours and look forward to releasing many great CDs with Jody 7& the “Joes.”
Read more about Jody in the book Beyond The Palace (Antic Hay, 2003), a revealing look at the history of the Asbury Park music scene, written by Gary Wien.