WHO IS JOEY DOLAN

Joey was born south of Boston, MA where music was really all you had in life. From a town with a single crossroad and less people living in it than you see walking around an average grocery store, Joey was introduced to music from his older siblings. The age gap between them afforded Joe to hear the likes of the Beatles, John Fogerty, the Outlaws, Simon and Garfunkel, Stevie Knicks and the Band, right on through Ozzy and Black Sabbath and the Ramones. All great stuff to be spoon-fed as a child.

Born to two distinctly different parents, the Mother figure in Joey’s life impressed classical music on him, while his Dad introduced him to pop, R & B and a lot of big band jazz. It was the discovery of Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry album when he was 13 years old that made the bass guitar take a bite out of Joey’s ass. He was hooked. Straight forward rock and roll that brought him into a world of artists that were taking over FM radio and would ultimately guide Joey’s destiny.

Joey’s Dad got him his first bass guitar and a small amplifier to make noise with. This led to long hours from the moment school let out until he fell asleep in the chair, playing to every record he had and trying to figure out how to make the same sounds he heard. It didn’t take long to get moving, by age 15, Joey was performing illegally (under aged) in venues around Central Massachusetts with local 20-somethings.

Sought after? Well, kind of. There were like 3 people who owned a bass within a 50 mile radius, it wasn’t necessarily the skillset, it was the fact that he could provide some kind of 4 chord bottom end, but those nights taught Joey a lot.

With time, Joey was a regular performing musician throughout New England. His bands varied in style and genre, from rock and punk to blues and country, wherever the shows were, he adapted to the sound, the look and the want from attendees. This rounded out Joey as a bassist, learning every style he could to be part of any music event that would have him.

Joey’s bands scored regional airplay and performances in venues throughout the Boston and New York City landscape and he had the opportunity to share the stage with numerous major label artists playing through.

In 2001, Joey founded Retrospect Records and brought a number of longstanding underground rock acts back into the spotlight while helping a number of new artists get heard. In 2006, he sold the label and moved to Los Angeles to enjoy performing on a new club circuit.

In 2020, when Covid fears shuttered the music industry, Joey took to recording and producing for artists around the globe by way of the internet from his home studio. This has led to co-writing and producing more than 1000 demo tracks and new songs in a variety of genres; some of which you can hear on this website.

Joey is available for tour and performance work, session work and recording. To reach out for discussion of opportunities, please use the information on the CONTACT PAGE.