Joshua Micah

At just the age of 8, Joshua Micah picked up a guitar and taught himself to play and began to compose songs. "It felt like a natural progression from teaching myself to play drums at the age of 5," he jokes, noting his parents encouraged him to pursue his natural gift by replacing the pots and pans he practiced on with a drum set. "Looking back, I believe in my heart that I was born to make music."

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Joshua's need to perform eventually broke him out of his solitary music self-education. He started a band called, "Light the City" and also joined his local Manchester, Connecticut church band. Both created a balance between the carefree energy of jamming with his band and maintaining ties to his family's long-held spiritual faith. "It was truly the best of both worlds," Joshua says.

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Eventually, momentum built and his band took to the stage for over 200 shows on an East Coast tour. "We grew a steady following of fans in and around the New England area", Joshua recalls, adding that they won several local 'battle of the bands' competitions. This led them to their biggest show, in front of an audience of over 1500. As will happen with young musicians heading to the end of their high-school lives, Micah's band eventually grew apart. "But I couldn't stop," Joshua says with a smile, "I kept writing and pursuing music."