Joshua Bartholomew, known mononymously as Bartholomew, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. A member of the songwriting and production team JoLi, Bartholomew is a co-writer and producer of the Grammy and Oscar nominated song "Everything Is Awesome" from The Lego Movie.
Early life
Bartholomew was born in Pembroke, Ontario, and raised on military bases throughout Canada including CFB Petawawa, CFB Valcartier and CFB Borden. Bartholomew began singing at the age of three and cites his parent’s extensive record collection as an early influence. While attending Banting Memorial High School he was given permission to take co-op classes in his home studio where he began recording demos of his songs for school credit, playing all instruments himself. This role remains on most of Bartholomew’s studio recordings.
Music career
Bartholomew’s self-titled debut EP was released in 2005. Two songs "What Happened To Our Love" and "IT" gained nationwide radio play on CBC Radio One. CBC Radio One producer Kai Black, CBC host Brent Bambury, singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith and Relient K's Matt Thiessen were among early supporters. In 2006, Bartholomew won the songwriting contest held by Toronto's #1 Pop/AC radio station MIX 99.9 FM and toured with Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings. Several labels responded favourably to his debut, but Bartholomew opted to forego a major label deal. Bartholomew travelled extensively throughout 2006 to 2008 spending extended periods of time in New York City, Los Angeles and Nashville. Most of 2009 and 2010 was spent living in his Airstream trailer in Nashville, writing songs with pop and country artists including Grammy nominated country band Emerson Drive. In 2008 Bartholomew self-released his first full length record, And So It Begins, a double album with 20 songs to critical acclaim, followed by Heart Headed, a 4 song EP released as a digital download in 2009. In January 2011, in a video posted on his official website, Bartholomew stated his new record "is a little heavier than what you're used to hearing" and that he had begun working on his new album with several collaborators including: Dave Kushner, Chris Thorn, Warren Huart and Billy Mohler. He also announced he was shortening his name from Joshua Bartholomew to Bartholomew. On January 25, 2011, the Joshua Bartholomew Facebook fan page changed to Bartholomew.
Bartholomew is a self-professed Beatles and Led Zeppelin fanatic and has cited Magical Mystery Tour and Led Zeppelin as his favorite albums. In 2006, Bartholomew opened for two of his musical heroes Ron Sexsmith and Bachman-Cummings. Bartholomew states that The Beatles played a major part in his childhood and considers them to be "the greatest band of all time." Bartholomew has also named producer, Dave Sardy as his most important modern production influence.
