Meet Howden’s talented musician set for success

Goole and its surrounding area is home to some incredible people, and Our Goole is dedicated to giving them the publicity they deserve. That’s why, when we stumbled across Joe Harkin, 29, an unsigned musician with an undeniable talent from Howden, we just had to take the time to hear his story.

Joe, when did you realise you wanted to be a musician?
I didn’t actually start learning to play the guitar until I was 20 years old. After returning from my first trip to Glastonbury festival in 2007, I realised I wanted to get into music, so I joined a local Goole band, The Modern Souls-although we later changed our name to The Dirty Rogues.
We enjoyed success at a regional level and played a number of big venues including the O2 Academy Liverpool and the famous Cavern Club. Unfortunately, due to members’ work commitments, we split in 2011. For the last eight years I’ve been writing and performing my own songs at local venues, festivals and open mic nights.

What is it you love most about performing?
I actually get really nervous before I perform, but the sense of fulfilment I feel afterwards makes it worth it-I love that feeling.

How supportive are your friends and family?
My friends and family have always been really supportive and, with their help, I’ve managed to gain a modest following over the years.

Who is your musical inspiration?
Bob Dylan was a big inspiration for me to actually start writing my own music. To be honest, I have a pretty eclectic taste in all genres of music so I take any inspiration I can from whatever I listen to. Inspiration for my lyrics comes from anything I can think of really -my surroundings, people in my life, real situations I come across and even sometimes politics.

Who is your biggest fan?
My self-proclaimed biggest fan has to be my friend and Goole’s finest, Adam Taylor. He’s pretty much been attending all of my gigs since I first started performing, so I think it’s only fair that award goes to him.

What can we expect from you in 2017?
I want to continue performing locally, but I’m also currently gathering a good body of songs together, and I hope to get them professionally recorded later on this year. Watch this space!

You can listen to Joe perform on his Facebook page-search Joe Harkin.