Josh Groban
‘It’s a Testament to How Much We Need to Connect’
SINCE HIS 2001 DEBUT, everything about vocalist and actor Josh Groban has been an evolution. The high-lyric baritone moved from covering songwriters’ operatic pop and lofty theater songs to penning his own more intimate, urbane material alongside such earthen contemporaries as Joni Mitchell and Kenny Loggins on his newly released “Harmony.” ¶ Groban, who holds four multiplatinum albums, has also caught the intimacy bug by going from Broadway’s stages (including his Tony-nominated debut in 2017’s “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”) and the smaller screens of Netflix (2018’s “The Good Cop”) to singing in the shower on his socials (#showersongs). He has been on a virtual concert tour throughout the pandemic with interactive livestreamed events.
How did you choose material for “Harmony,” differently than, say, your first album?
As a singer, you’re looking to grow, expand the colors you can put in a song, whether it is kingly or intimate. The greatest growth a singer like me can have is finding ways to shade, to find the quieter moments. That’s almost harder than showing off the big notes. You have to do what is honest within the realm of your voice.
Is there something on “Harmony” you couldn’t have performed a decade ago because you hadn’t experienced its interiors?
When it came to us doing “Both Sides Now,” [duet partner] Sara [Bareilles] had and got over COVID. We both had friends who died from it. I was finishing the album; I just texted her and thought this might be the best time to do it. That’s a great example of holding out for all the right reasons.
Before you got into full-blown livestreaming performance, you began broadcasting from your shower. Discuss.
I moved into a new house, had a keyboard in my bedroom, was asked to be part of an at-home concert series, and, at some point, someone requested songs that were way more anthemic than the reverb in my bedroom was suited [for]. As a joke, I brought the ipad into my bathroom, and told everyone I would sing in my shower if they sang along. When I finished, my manager texted to say how awesome it sounded, and that I should do more.
Out of what … sheer boredom or being a reverb snob, you did more concerts with a camera in your shower?
Yes. From there, I set up real livestreams, upped the sound and visual quality, and gave my crew the opportunity to work. Now, we have to see how winter goes [in regard to the pandemic]. Maybe I’ll be back in the shower.
How comfortable are you with how cold livestreams can be?
Comfort is a learning curve. Not hearing applause after a song is finished? I knew it would be awkward, but you never realize just how many inner demons singers have until there’s crickets at the end of a live number. If you’re doing a 90-minute show, it is a marathon for our energy level to not get validation. What helped, eventually, was interactive Q&AS, which added some spontaneous back-andforth. It’s a testament to how much we need to connect that we’re OK with all this. The livestream experience could have been a failed experiment.