A native of New Orleans and stylistic heir to that city's rich cultural history, Joycelyn Owens goes by the professional name "Joy," which is not just a simplification but a pure distillation of the effect her voice has on an audience. And she's sung before enough audiences to know, backing up boogie and funk legend Dr.John and touring as the resident featured backup vocalist with NOLA soul-blues legend Walter "Wolfman" Washington and his Roadmasters. Stages she's graced include the New Orleans House of Blues and its legendary and uncompromising Maple Leaf Bar. In 2016, she released her debut EP, "Just Like That, "which made a big stir on the city's music scene with its expert blend of classic Southern Soul, modern gospel, and pop smarts. Joy comes by her gospel chops naturally, having grown up singing in the Faithful Stars of Joy, directed by her father, Rev. Herbert Owens, but her instincts are solid in almost any style of music, whether she's taking on songs as diverse as Sheena Easton's hit "For Your Eyes Only" or Ruth Brown's R&B classic "5-10-15 Hours," which so transfixed discerning NOLA Jazz Fest audiences it made it to the official 2016 fest compilation. As a devotee of both Aretha Franklin and her goddaughter Whitney Houston, Joy is an expert at delivering pop professionalism with spiritual fervor. "Joy Owens is as approachable a blues-soul diva as Irma Thomas, with less pathos but more range, as warm yet uncompromising a voice as any of Malaco's '70s and '80s females.”
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