Who's the Guy with the Funny Name? "Lively and emotive, Joe Hickey has a sound that is genuine and compelling. Casual listeners beware, when Joe takes center stage, you're in the front row anywhere you stand." -- Sep V, Bright Antenna Entertainment Berkeley singer/songwriter Joe Hickey spent five years pleasantly surprising audiences throughout the Bay Area with his emotional, adventurous tenor voice, his powerful acoustic guitar grooves and a songwriting style full of passion, questions and unexpected turns. An unassuming presence off the stage, this "chemistry-teacher-by-day/superhero-by-night" transforms in front of an audience with a guitar in his hands. As host of the "Songwriters' Symposium" and, later, "Thirsty Artists Open Mic" at Blakes on Telegraph, Joe commanded the Berkeley stage every week from 2005 until May 2011, while encouraging an impressive roster of other artists to find their own voices. While Joe's music owes its origins to his primary influences (Jeff Buckley, Ani DiFranco, Brian Vander Ark and Jethro Tull to name a few), this regular gig allowed him to find a style all his own. As a songwriter, he delights in leading listeners to new places through his songs with gradual evolutions, sudden shifts, or jarring musical or lyrical juxtaposition. As a performer, he simply shares his love for the simple act of exploring one's mind, soul and voice. Joe has captured this very exploration on two quite distinct time scales in his two full-length albums. In 2006, he released Salvaging Monday, a live album documenting his evolution on the Blakes stage over a six-month span. More recently, he put out a second disc earlier this year entitled Did We Get the Calculations Wrong?, an album of songs written and recorded during a 20-day "stay-cation". Along with his solo work, you can find Joe lending his other musical talents (bass, flute and beatbox) to the music of his Symposium co-conspirator, Jacob Wolkenhauer, who featured him on several tracks of his 2009 debut album, Flux.