JOSHUA POWELL is the tender wizard at the helm of Indiana’s most persistent indie rock band. From his hardcore roots in the Floridian swamp through his troubadour folk era, Powell has morphed genres but maintained a DIY work ethic and a vision for spiritually charged songwriting that digs for enlightenment in surrealist muck. 

Over ONE THOUSAND SHOWS in 45 states have cemented Joshua Powell as a true road dog. The first show was in a basement in Anderson IN on Halloween 2011, later touring as Joshua Powell & the Great Train Robbery (JP&GTR) before dropping the moniker and rebooting simply as JOSHUA POWELL. 

In 2021 the band signed to Indiana label ROMANUS RECORDS and pushed their sound from psych-infused folk rock into a heavier, more abrasive space. AUDIOTREE wrote: “the midwestern road dog’s ever-evolving, transcendent style embraces hallucinatory metal and grimy psychedelia.” Romanus issued the new LP SKELETON PARTY and later re-issued the 2019 LP PSYCHO/TROPIC on vinyl. The accompanying  7” singles for “Bliss Is a Flak Jacket” were a world first: square-cut lathe-cuts filled with spent shotgun shells, now a cult favorite artifact among fans.

Powell’s music has been featured on ABC, Freeform, AMC, and MTV and Spotify’s The Wilds with placements in queer and horror films like Cannibal Mukbang, Full Moon Glory Hole, Retake, and Just Like Being There and he composed the score for the horror short film Drone Shot. The band has recorded sessions with PBS, Audiotree, NPR, Daytrotter, WISH-TV 8, and the Emmy-award winning Music in Transit. 

They’ve performed everywhere from a Pacers Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and the famous Lucas Oil Indianapolis Motor Speedway to festivals like Mile of Music, Nebraska Folk and Roots Festival, Midpoint Music Fest, Holler on the Hill, Audiofeed, Harvest Gathering, and All IN. They have shared stages with bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Silent Planet, The Cactus Blossoms, As Cities Burn, Spitalfield, Dawes, White Denim, and The Forecast. Joshua is a US endorsed artist for Vola Guitars. 

Powell’s power trio features born drummer BROTHER JACOB and virtuosic low end architect BASS MOUNTAIN. In 2026 they launched a new side project called SKELETON PARTY (the band) with Greg Hojnacki (formerly of Annapurna) which cites post-hardcore and metalcore influences from bands like Underoath and Saosin to scratch their millennial itch. 

With that outlet installed, Powell returned to his regularly scheduled programming: indie rock that leans psychedelic, heavy, emotionally unfiltered, and now therapized. LP3 from Joshua Powell is slated for Winter 2026.