Joshua Heckathorn

A recent graduate of Finger Lakes Community College, Joshua is currently the featured Alumni Bassist in the Craig Snyder Trio, a Jazz/Fusion/Rock & Roll/Blues group playing in the Greater Rochester Area. Craig Snyder is well known in Rochester as a performer and teacher. A legend in his own right, Craig has been described as "the Alan Holdsworth of Upstate NY". He instructs guitar and bass lessons as well as orchestrates guitar dominated ensembles at both Hochstein School of Music and Finger Lakes Community College.

Primarily a Bassist, Joshua Heckathorn also plays Mandolin, Rhythm Guitar and any other instrument he gets his hands on. Throughout his ten years as a Bassist he has studied a wide variety of genres - including country/bluegrass, prog/metal, rock & roll/jam, jazz/blues, and "other genres" - playing with a multitude of bands and musicians. In his early years as a musician, Joshua spent hours on end playing bass guitar while learning to play songs by his favorite artists, not the least of which being Canada's Power Trio, Rush. Through the use of accurate transcriptions and an extensive Rush library, Joshua developed his chops and his ears by learning to play approximately eighty songs from their complex and ranging repertoire. Throughout the years, a greater exposure to various styles of music influenced Joshua's unique-yet-familiar style of playing. Admiring the subtle differences and techniques of a great many Bassists, some of his most distinct personal influences include Geddy Lee, Rick Danko, Jack Casady, Noel Redding, Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Stu Cook, Jim Fielder, John Entwistle, and last but certainly not least, Charles Mingus & Jaco Pastorious.

As a Bassist who also plays rhythm Guitar, Joshua's rhythmic Mandolin technique was founded on inverted Bass & Guitar chords and melodies. This has grown into a firm grasp of Mandolin chords and a strong chopping hand, which has also advanced his rhythm Guitar technique. Playing a more contemporary Mandolin style, he can chop the chords of many songs, quickly learning progressions and interpreting melodies. Recent open jams have begun to extend his Mandolin technique further.

Indeed, one of his greatest abilities (especially as a Bassist) is simply to follow along with another musician - keeping a keen view of a musician's fretting hand and following his ear with an "anticipative lag" if you will. This "jamming" ability can cover a wide range of styles; from simple or even complex songs - original or cover - clear to atonal & oddly phrased "space-jams". An educated musician, Joshua can also read music and sight-read chord charts. He has often said that his favorite artists are those who "make music with integrity." That can mean a multitude of things to many people, but ultimately he describes them as artist which retain "honesty" in their music. Music that is produced by an artist because they wrote or enjoy playing the song, not because it was picked or written for them to sing and sell with sex-appeal-overload. A certain amount of respect has been taken away from the recording industry itself, which is why Joshua has always tended to prefer artists who can perform live.

As a vocalist, Joshua covers a range of songs that includes a few traditionals, classics & "b-sides" from artists such as The Beatles & Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Band, among many others. As well as tunes from more current artists like The Polyjesters & The Devil Makes Three. Joshua also sings backup vocals on several songs with The Craig Snyder Trio, including White Room, After Midnight, Fire, Crosstown Traffic, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Old Time Rock & Roll, and Say What You Will, a Craig Snyder original.