Joe was bitten by the "Blues" at a young age. Listening to his fathers albums of Albert King, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolfe and Jimmy Reed, he started emulating those signature licks. Joe worked after school at his father's music store where he met Muddy Waters for the first time. Joe explains: "Muddy once told me, it's not what you play, but how you play it that matters", and Joe lives up to those very words. His playing is full of soul which has led him to meet some of history's greatest blues men, including Muddy Waters, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the "Chief" Eddy Clearwater, Little Charlie, Billy Branch and Rod Piazza among others. In his early teens Joe would drive out to Chicago, to play on local recording sessions, and at gigs with players 2 and 3 times his age.
In the late 80's, Joe Co-founded the Country & Southern Rock band Desperado, which performed hundreds of shows a year for over 13 years. This impressive run included shows with some of the era's biggest Country acts. There was no doubt when Joe played that his roots were tied to the blues though. Every note cried out with soul and emotion.
After playing the last few years for other recording artists and groups, Joe is back fronting his own band once again. He can be found on stages across the Chicagoland area playing his own style of Blues, Swing and Roots Music these days with his band The Uptown Cats.