I was born and raised in Chillicothe, Illinois- a small town in the rural midwest. Since that wasn’t exactly a hotbed of live music, I got exposed to blues and jazz by listening to records and reading magazines, before the internet became popular. I learned on the gig from veteran musicians how to play and sing blues, jazz, funk, modern rock and even Western swing and country. I went on to study jazz at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. (I also played football at Knox and managed to be recognized as a small school All-American for 3 seasons. I even played 2 seasons of indoor football after school but I’ve always been a musician first and foremost.) I’ve played and sung on every kind of session under the sun and I’ve had the opportunity to play as a sideman in every conceivable genre of music. I do still take sideman work but I now function mostly with my own 2 groups: “Joe Metzka and Friends” performs originals as well as blues classics. We play with anywhere from 4 to 7 musicians, depending on venue. “Joe Metzka Trio” performs classic standards in the tradition of the Nat “King” Cole Trio, John Pizzarelli, Diana Krall, et al. We often add drums and winds where venue and setting allow. I seem to operate in 2 completely different music scenes with these groups but I love all the music so I continue to stay active in both genres. Over the years, I’ve gotten to play with quite an eclectic group of musicians, including: Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Matt Wilson, Tim Hagans, The Ohio Players, Three Dog Night, the Shirelles and many others.