When musician Joshua Panda takes the stage, he’s ready to give an “electrified”
performance.“The unseen connection you get with the audience has the capability
tomake the hair on your arm stand up,” Panda said. “There’s somethingspecial
when you’re playing music that you just can’t duplicate anywhereelse.”Panda, 27,
will get the chance to duplicate his feeling with localaudiences at The Black
Swamp Arts Festival in September. Panda will openthe festival with a 5 p.m. show
on the main stage Sept. 7. He’ll alsoperform setsn the Acoustic Stage and Family
Entertainment Stage onSept. 8.Hailing from Charlotte, N.C., Panda describes his
musical style as heavily influenced by gospel and folk rock.As a writer, Panda
said the works of Paul McCartney, Keith Richards andMick Jagger influenced him
due to their “ability to encompass a broadspectrum of genres and write on
multiple platforms.”When it comes to his delivery, Panda said his gospel roots
come intoplay. “I was in the church choir and my mother was a gospel singer so
Igrew up with it.”Panda started a band in high school and hasn’t stopped making
music since. He has been touring since2008, sharing the stage with Brett
Michaels of Poison and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.While Panda is relatively new to
the Ohio music scene, playing once before in Columbus, he is not new to festival
performances.“In a festival, you have to work harder to keep an audience because
youhave a lot of competition,” he said. “You have to put on your best andknow
how to keep an audience going – I like the challenge.”Panda said his acoustic
set gives him the opportunity to switch up hisset. “I am able to showcase softer
songs and show the audience varietyand range of performance.”Some songs that can
be expected in the acoustic set are “It’s allrelative” and “Are you hurting at
all?” from his self-titled album.On the main stage and on the family stage he’ll
present his full band,Josh Panda and the Hot Damned, a five-piece band that
combines rock n’roll with a mid-60s soul feel.“The authenticity of our show is
very real,” Panda said. “Our musictranslates to the crowd and is very available
— we don’t put ourselvesin some other world or hold ourselves higher to
anyone.”For more information on Joshua Panda, visit his website at joshuapanda.com. To see a list of the
festival’s music performances, visit blackswamparts.org/BSAFmusic.htm.http://www.joshuapanda.com/