Video Recap: In Studio with Josh Xantus

Last Saturday I got to be in studio at WERS 88.9FM Emerson Radio to view the live stream of Josh Xantus better known as Josh X.

I got there about half an hour before he was scheduled to go live, which gave me a chance to see the playful side of this R&B start up. Dispite a full two days of promotional appearances, Josh was still bouncing off the walls with energy; cracking jokes and creating love songs on the spot including one that had a Disney theme “I’ll be you’re Aladdin… you can be my Jasmine, we’ll go on a carpet ride” Eeh still needs some work yet.

Even though he”s opened for greats such as Vivian Green and Boyz II Men; the fame doesn’t seem to be getting to his head. He did his best to engage the nervous student interviewers  and preferred bottle of water over a bowl of only green M&M’s.

But Mr. X is more than just fun and games.  The promotion circuit is to gear audiences up for the release of his album “Can I Live” which will drop early next year. At 6’4 you would think this 23 year-old would be shooting hoops instead courting the keys. You can blame or rather credit his mother for that. She pushed Josh into taking piano lessons at age 6 and wouldn’t let him play basketball for fear he’d ruin his hands. Although resistant in the beginning, Mama’s word held and Josh went onto become classically trained. He went on to recieve a degree in musical performance and business from one of the most prestigious music conservatory’s in the country, Julliard.

Josh has continued in a career in music as vocalist and pianist, showing up on tracks such as “Lets Ride” and “I Don’t Care”, with his popular single “First Time,” in addition to the nod and record deal from EMI, an affiliate of Capitol Records.

Not only does the young man play the piano, he writes; not only does he write; he sings an does all three very well. He’s a part of the movement to bring real singers and musican’s back into the industry and I, for one, can’t wait to see what else he has in store.

Here’s video of the three songs he performed in studio. My favorite of the three is “Mommy I Love You” a wonderful tribute to his ever supportive mother. It even got me a little misty.