Joshua Starmer, who grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, works as a cellist, composer, and vocalist. His wide-ranging style brings to mind Andrew Bird’s string-focused pop songs as well as the offbeat works of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, two acts he has named among his influences. Having taken up the cello at age seven, Starmer gradually became part of North Carolina’s active music community, collaborating with the Rosebuds, the Love Language, Birds and Arrows, and the Big Star tribute project Big Star’s Third. That ensemble included R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Mike Mills, the dB’s’ Chris Stamey, and original Big Star drummer Jody Stephens. Soundtracks for numerous independent films, television commercials, and modern dance productions have featured his original compositions. In 2013 he equipped himself with cello, ukulele, banjo, guitar, and an assortment of unusual instruments, then set out to write and record one song each month for a full year. Those recordings appeared on his first album, the 2014 collection Postcards from Home, Vol. 1. Encouraged by the experience, he maintained the monthly pace and issued the follow-up album Germany Zulu in 2015.
