Music has always been a part of Joe's life. His mother, Winnie, was a country singer and would cover such classics as Blanket on the Ground and Country Roads, singing in and around the local working men's clubs. Joe received his first real guitar at the age of 11 and he promptly formed a band called the Bob Bats, playing in the local youth club and trying to cover such classics as Glad All Over by Dave Clark 5 and Twist & Shout by the Beatles. Joe's music taste and the influences on him were definitely swinging 60s. However, even at this early stage the American music of the time had also started to influence, the Beach Boys, Dylan, Hank Williams and the resurgence in Delta Blues sounds captured his imagination. The early 70s brought a change in direction when Joe and two friends formed a folk/country band called Freeway with the band playing at local folk clubs and open nights etc. Always keen to write and play his own music, Joe decided to leave when two additional members joined the band and the direction moved to a more traditional Scottish Folk style.

Disillusioned with the whole group politics Joe moved from the live music scene and set up a mobile DISCO. Skinny's Disco played a big part in Joe's life as he manoeuvred the business from mobile to residencies. At this time Joe's love of the American folk/ country music scene took a back seat as he built his disco business working four or five nights a week at various venues including hotels, clubs and castles. During this period the big names in the live music scene included Eagles, Springsteen, Dylan, Willie Nelson, The Byrds and Jackson Browne and they would be the influences which would provide the building blocks when he returned to his own live music career. Joe had business responsibilities outside music and even when they grew to be full time commitments he never stopped writing his own material. Joe finally quit the DJ role in the late 90s but the plan was always to return to writing and live performing on his own.

Regular visits to the Southern States of America rekindled and cemented Joe's love of the Country/ folk music associated with the South. Three of the songs on his First Album "The Journey Home" were written on a visit to the USA in Montgomery, Alabama and Madison County, Georgia, both places he finds musically inspirational. More recent influences on his style have come from Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, and a host of others. Life's experiences like the majority of songwriters, litter his songs, the restlessness and constant travelling theme that are prevalent in his writing, in conjunction with his taste for the history of the South makes his style easy to listen to as well as being loaded with a heavy shot of reflection.

After a lifetime of writing songs Joe decided to record an Album in 2011 which reflected his style of writing and story-telling. Using the studios at Good Vibrations and assisted by his friends John Deans, lead guitar and Donnie (the brush) McAvoy, drums, Joe s unique style and sound took shape. In January 2012 the recording of the Album The Journey Home, a collection of 10 songs was started at the LOOP studio. Eight studio tracks and two live tracks later make up Joe's first album due to be launched in September 2012.