Josh Hodges

This is Josh Hodges’ first interview. He’s nervous, hesitant and more than a little wary. Sometimes, he seems embarrassed for not saying enough; other times, he seems apologetic for saying too much.

The twenty-four year-old Portland, Oregon native certainly understands the protocol – it’s simple, really: Get a question, give an answer – but until this point in his life, he’s been content to sit aside like so much scenery, keeping low and silent and allowing the members of whatever band he happens to be with to field the interlocutor’s queries. Only once, when he was touring as a guitarist with Brassy – a band fronted by Muffin Spencer, younger sister of Jon (of the renowned Blues Explosion) – in Australia, was he asked directly for a comment. Naturally, he froze.

Today, Hodges no longer has the luxury of hiding behind more voluble bandmates. His newest project, Sexton Blake, is entirely a solo effort; and though the notoriously outspoken Muffin pitched in as a violinist on the eponymous debut album, she’s not coming to his rescue at press time.