Josh Clayton-Felt

Following the dissolution of School of Fish, Josh Clayton-Felt launched a solo career and added keyboards, bass, and drums to his guitar abilities. Across the next several years he self-produced more than 25 songs. His debut album, Inarticulate Nature Boy, appeared on A&M in 1996. He supported the release by touring colleges alongside Tori Amos and earned airplay on college radio. Although the project remained lo-fi throughout, it revealed Clayton-Felt’s deep affection for 1970s AM radio material and classic pop songcraft. Work on a second album, Center of Six, began soon afterward. A&M ended its relationship with him before the record could be issued, yet he stayed committed to completing the project. During the late 1990s he teamed with session drummer Steve Scully. In December 1999, Clayton-Felt was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Less than a month after entering the hospital, the singer died on January 19, 2000, at age 32. Dreamworks later gathered material from the Center of Six sessions and released Spirit Touches Ground two years afterward.