INTERVIEW | Joseph Wooten: Music is One of Our Most Effective Tools for Peace
Joseph Wooten’s NFT is now available on both Mozik NFT App and Treasureland. Joseph Wooten fans, this is your chance to access backstage passes, get to know Joseph better and even listen to some unheard music!
Visit https://sj10.net/#howto for information on how to purchase the new NFT from Joseph Wooten, Hands of Soul!
Tell us a bit about your family’s musical background and how you got started in music?
I am the youngest of 5 musician brothers. My oldest brother, Elijah (we call him “Regi”) taught me and my little brother, Victor, to play our instruments when we were 5 and two years old…and he was only 10! We were living in Hawaii at the time. We had a family band called “The Wooten Brothers”. We have played music all of our lives. After moving to California in 1970, we opened for WAR when Victor and I were 5 and 8 years old. We opened for Curtis Mayfield on more than one occasion in 1972 when Victor and I were 7 and 10. We grew up playing nightclubs and big concerts that came to town in California and later when we moved to Virginia in 1972. In the mid-80s we signed a recording contract with Arista Records at the same time as Whitney Houston with the same producer, Kashif. I sang on Whitney’s first album, “Whitney” on a song called “Thinking About You”. My brother, Roy, played on Whitney’s debut single, “You Give Good Love”. My brothers are multi-Grammy Award winners and incredible musicians. More importantly, my brothers are incredible people. Roy aka “Futureman” and Victor has won five Grammy Awards apiece as part of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. My oldest brother, Regi still has many music students and still makes a living as a guitarist. Our middle brother Rudy used to blow two saxophones at once and passed away 11 years ago. There is a music venue, “Rudy’s Jazz Room” named after him in our hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. I joined the Steve Miller Band in 1993. Steve is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
My mother always taught me that “we have enough good musicians. What we need are more good people.” I and my brothers have always strived to do both.
2. What do you enjoy most about making music?
What I enjoy the most about making music is making people happy. I enjoy inspiring people with ideas. I enjoy the feeling that the world is a little better because someone heard my music and was moved. I enjoy travelling and seeing new places, but mostly, I enjoy impacting people positively. Music is the most powerful tool for change known to man.
3. What are some of your most memorable experiences in music?
There are a lot of memorable moments. I have so many happy memories of making music with my brothers. Priceless! Singing on Whitney Houston’s debut album was another. I played at the Royal Albert Hall with the Steve Miller Band in London. Playing Red Rocks in Colorado is always memorable. Every time I get a chance to play for Vets is memorable. A concert that I did at the Field of Dreams in Iowa comes to mind. Every time that someone is inspired by my music it is memorable to me.
4. Who is on your playlist right now?
My playlist? Sly & the Family Stone. James Brown. Stevie Wonder. Ohio Players. Prince. Bruno Mars. Charlie Puth. Tower of Power. Mickey Guyton.
5. Why did you decide to put on a concert as part of an NFT?
I wanted to create an exclusive live performance especially for those willing to be a part of my NFT. COVID kept us from live music for a year. What better way to say THANK YOU than to play live music at Rudy’s Jazz Room, the venue in Music City named after my brother who passed away?
6. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind “Everything’s gon be alright”?
I wanted to write a song to inspire and give us hope. One of the things that music does best is to help us endure the tough times until the good times arrive. If we can feel that “everything is going to be alright” we will be more willing to do what it takes to make it so. My goal for this song was to inspire the peace that is worth striving for.
7. What is your wish for the world today?
My goal is always peace. Peace through respect for one other. If we respect each other, we have more of a chance to understand each other. If we respect and understand each other, we are more likely to be peaceful toward one another. We are less likely to hurt those that we respect.
Music is one of our most effective tools for peace.
About Mozik
Mozik is a decentralized music NFT platform aiming to build a healthier and fairer music ecosystem. Through the decentralized NFT platform, Mozik adopts blockchain technology to register earnings through music copyright, super-star IP, and IP derivatives on-chain. All the participants in the music ecosystem, including creators, publishers, customers, and fans can fairly participate. Through Mozik’s platform, artists will be incentivized to create more and better quality music. With lowered publishing costs and higher engagement from music fans, all participants can share in the rewards, and create a healthier and fairer music ecosystem.
