Justin Nozuka

Enough is enough. The music of Canadian soloist Justin Nozuka has taken over my iPod for the best part of a month now, and that can mean only one thing – it’s time to share him with others.

Now I know that a lot of Canadians, especially in Justin’s home town of Toronto, will have already heard of him, and if they are lucky enough, have already had the pleasure of listening to his first album release “Holly”. But I have a lot of readers back home in Australia – a country that I can almost guarantee Justin’s music hasn’t penetrated with any kind of fanfare.

So here I am advertising this guy’s talents.

Here’s a little bio info as listed on his website www.justinnozuka.com:

Blending elements of neo-soul, folk, old-time blues and pop, Justin has the guts of Ray LaMontagne and the soul of Lauryn Hill.

This guitar slinging aficionado has the street smarts of an urban swinger and the heart-bending soul of a gospel preacher, and is adept at blending a dark, bluesy Americana vibe with warm, acoustic soul where bits of old folk music and flamenco tunes swirl in and out of earshot.
Half Japanese, half American Justin Nozuka was born in New York and grew up in Toronto, Raised by a single mother, Justin was the sixth of seven children, where all four of his brothers are artists in some form. As a teen, he spun Motown, folk and hip-hop as he fleshed out his music skills learning guitar with his Mexican friends at boarding school.

During his short career, Justin has already snagged stage time with John Cale, Crowded House, Ziggy Marley, Sam Roberts, Jully Black and Xavier Rudd.

The above track is called “Mr Therapy Man” and it’s just one of probably 3 tracks that I’ve pretty much worn out since buying “Holly” about a month ago. I can also highly recommend the tracks “Golden Train” and “After Tonight”. You can sample more of his tracks on his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/justinnozuka.