Growing Up Performed by Josh Lovelace

Josh Lovelace (of the adult rock group NEEDTOBREATHE) returns with a follow-up to his 2017 debut family album, Young Folk. On Growing Up singer-songwriter Lovelace captures universal life experiences that affect everyone no matter their age like friendship, family, the birth of a baby and saying goodbye to those we love. His solo voice is occasionally joined to great effect by children’s backing vocals on the twelve Americana-tinged rock songs in this collection. While there are plenty of hand-clapping and toe-tapping moments on this album, they are tempered by other tracks such as the gorgeous “You Are Loved,” “Let’s Go Drive” which captures the peaceful moments of unplanned family drives, and the beautiful blending of voices on the Frances England duet, “Butterfly” which encourages listeners to reach your light and follow your dreams.

A couple of unique moments are found toward the beginning of the album. The first is in the classic rock sounding “Traveling Band (When I Grow Up)” which tells the tale of a youngster who wants to be in a traveling band and lists a who’s who of performers – like Elton on the keys who makes the people want to shout – who could be in the band too. The second moment is the song “Calypso.” Unlike anything else on the album, it calls to mind ocean breezes and your toes in the sand as people in the neighborhood are encouraged to dance the calypso.

With Growing Up, Josh Lovelace has created that rare family album that sounds like adult music, has lyrics and melodies with kid appeal, and a production value that makes every song sound like it should be on the radio. A must have for family listening.