Under the banner of Josiah & the Bonnevilles, singer/songwriter Josiah Lemingmakes yearning folk and Americana, often rooted in travel. Following a colorful solo career that took him from touring cross-country as a teenage dropout to national recognition as an American Idol contestant, Leming turned his attention to roots music and formed the indie folk act Josiah & the Bonnevilles. Early on, the Bonnevilles functioned as a proper band, releasing their debut EP Cold Blood in 2016, followed in 2018 by the full-length On Trial. Over time, the name stood for all of Leming’s solo and band activity and he remained prolific with albums like 2022 and Endurance, as well as a series of cover albums. 2026 singles like “Hell Without the Flames” and “Going Gone” preceded his next full-length.

Following a lengthy solo tour in 2013, the Tennessee native found himself convalescing in Las Vegas, where he got turned on to the music of Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt. Around that same time, his brother gave him a copy of Leonard Cohen’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony, spurring him to change tack and develop a new songwriting approach more aligned with American folk and roots music. By his mid-twenties Leming had already crisscrossed the country more than most, and this wayfaring life, combined with his Tennessee roots, lent itself easily to this more rustic style. With guitarist Stephen Johnson and bassist/percussionist Josh Nyback, he formed Josiah & the Bonnevilles, quickly landing a residency gig in Los Angeles, where they developed the set of tunes that would make up their debut. After landing a deal with Vagrant Records, the Bonnevilles hit the studio with producer Dave Way (Paul McCartney, Fiona Apple) and completed work on their first EP, Cold Blood, which arrived in the spring of 2016.

Cold Blood kicked off a period of intense work for Leming who continued recording under the Josiah & the Bonnevilles moniker both with and without a backing band. Two singles, “Lie with Me” and “London,” arrived in 2017, both were featured on On Trial, the Bonnevilles’ 2018 full-length debut. By this point, he had switched to the Yucatan label, which released his cover of George Strait’s “Amarillo by Morning.” Two versions of “Oh No!” — one the standard single, one bearing the designation “On the Back Porch” — arrived in 2019; he followed this pattern for “The Best” in 2020. Motel Mayday, the second Bonnevilles album, arrived in May 2021, followed by a succession of singles throughout 2022, nearly all of which appeared on the aptly titled 2022 at the end of the year. Among those singles was a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” a recording that anchored Leming’s January 2023 album Country Covers. Later that year, he released the more introspective and acoustic-leaning Endurance, which, despite bearing the Bonnevilles name, was a more stripped-down solo effort. He expanded it into a deluxe version in 2024 and also released Country Covers II, this time offering Americana-style renditions of songs by Billie Eilish, Wilco, and the National. A themed EP, Winter, appeared in time for the 2025 holiday season, after which Leming began building up to his next full-length with singles like “Hell Without the Flames” and “Going Gone.” – Biography by Timothy Monger