Growing up in the small northwest Ohio town of Van Buren and living for a short time in Bowling Green, Josh Woodward has not always been a local boy. 

Spending a part of his life out in California, you would expect that is where he picked up the liberal and free sound of his music. 

"Believe it or not, it was the exact opposite…I ended up moving out to California and I was so busy out there that I wasn't able to do anything," he said.  "I don't even think I was able to write a single song out there, maybe one or two."

It wasn't until he got back around here, that he was able to find the relative peace and tranquility of the greater Findlay area amendable to working on his music again.

Woodward's mixture of acoustic and electric rock, sarcastic and ingenious lyrics, serious and moving topics, makes for an amazing journey through his soul and beliefs. 

Woodward's music truly captures not only the feelings and emotions of home town life, but the sights and sounds as well.  Asked if growing up around the Findlay area really had an affect on his music, Josh said.  "Sometimes I'd like to say it's not, I don't really think of my music being totally Findlay centric.  But when I get people listening to my music from around the nation, they say they hear a country influence in my music…at first it baffles me, but living and growing up around here, it's something that is hard to not let it seep into your blood just a little bit."

Now boasting seven albums in his library, Josh is not the typical "rock artist" you hear about, nor the typical Findlay artist/citizen you would hear from. 

The first reason is the noticeable liberalesque views that come out in his music.  Off one of his earlier albums to be released, Not Quite Connected, his song "Home Improvement" is all about the crazy additions and subtractions to small town living. 

"It's just bizarre, and I think a lot of people interpret that as a kind of 'all development is bad kind of song, but it really isn't," he said. 

"It's more of a reflection on how that used to be somebody's land 20 years ago, and now there is another home improvement store being built." 

The same can be said for his hit "Rogue Nation" off of his latest album, The Simple Life, which is about people realizing there world has gone wrong, splitting off and forming another society where things will be done right for a change.

The second feature that sets Josh Woodward apart from the more traditional artist is that all of his 150 or so songs are free for download on his website. 

"I figure that since all of my songs I had wrote were online for free, why not just do that for the rest of my songs as well…my music is also released under creative commons, which lets you use any of my material for videos you're making, as long as you give attributions" Woodward said.

Woodward has been out of the touring scene for a couple of months now, but is planning to get back into his favorite venues and coffee shops and start performing his music again. 

"I basically needed sometime sit down and recharge my battery…I wanted to really be able to focus on my music for the latest album" He said.

You can find Josh at Café Amici, Springs of Life Café, and many other "laid back" venues in Findlay.  To listen and download all of Josh Woodward's hits, along with viewing his virtual CD release party for his latest album, check out www.joshwoodward.com.