Music Biography

Read interview from Kathy Parsons at mainly piano.com.

Listen to a live interview from MTSU on the Record.

Short Bio

For many years, Dr. Joseph Akins (pronounced "Ache-ins") has lived a parallel life between being a college professor and a performing and recording artist.

Beginning at age twelve, Joseph played with his father’s band for many years at a wild honky-tonk nightclub in Tennessee. Joseph says they played both kinds of music “Country and Western”! However, wanting to be a rock star like most teenagers, Joseph hit the road with the rock band Blaze at high school graduation. But after two years, he enrolled in college to study composition and jazz piano. He studied with the legendary Jerry Coker at University of the Tennessee for five years and then received a Masters degree from Radford University in Virginia.

Following, Joseph had a turning point in life and began to explore the spiritual side of music. He began to record and perform “heartfelt music” for the piano. Since, Joseph has released three solo albums with the most recent album reaching #7 on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart.

For the last several years, Joseph has been touring the country performing his heartfelt music in churches, homes and performance halls often sharing the stage with David Lanz, Liz Story and David Nevue of Whisperings solo piano radio. In addition, he is an award-winning associate professor at the prestigious Department of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University. He completed a doctorate of education in 2006.

Long Bio

Dr. Joseph Akins has always lived a parallel life between academia and music. Today, he is an award-winning professor at Middle Tennessee State University AND a touring musician with three successful solo albums under his belt.

Joseph was raised in a musical family. Starting at one decade old, he played saxophone in the school band, studied private piano and played in his father’s country-rock band throughout his young teenage years. “I remember standing on stage when I was about twelve years old and decided that music would always be a part of my life”. Drawn to rock n' roll, like most teenages, Joseph began playing with rock bands and toured with Blaze after high school graduation. His solo record (an actual vinyl record) called All Your Dreams is a culmination of his rock influences during this time.

But instead of continuing with the rock star lifestyle, he turned his attention to higher education and enrolled in college. During the next several years, he studied electronic music composition and acquired a passion for jazz. He studied and performed with many notary jazz musicians, such as Jerry Coker. Inspired to become a teacher like his mentor, he followed his reciepient of a Bachelor's degree with advanced graduate studies - all the while, writing, recording and performing as much as possible.

Once Joseph recieved his Master's degree, he was ready to focus on his professional career as a jazz musician and did so for about a year. But then, life happened. His father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and died in only two years. This changed Joseph’s perspective on life and his music. “Music became more about feeling emotions and healing the human spirit".

Soon after, Joseph began teaching at a local community college and released his next solo album, Keys to the Heart, dedicated to the life of his father. Featuring Joseph on piano and keyboards, the album included several instrumental numbers and a few tracks featuring the ethereal voice of Unita. Several songs were played numerously on Music Choice Soundscapes.

The partnership between Joseph and Unita led to the release of another album, Through the Veils, a breakthrough debut featuring Unita. Unita and Joseph toured to promote their albums and since the couple worked so well together, they decided to tie the knot! "I proposed on the kitchen floor".

Now a married man, Joseph gladly accepted an invitation to teach at the prestigious Department of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University, the largest music recording program in the world! Relocating to Murfreesboro, TN (close to Nashville), he plunged into teaching and began working on a doctorate too. "It took five years to complete the doctorate!". Finally the doctorate was completed and Joseph earned tenure as a professor at MTSU.

"It was time to release a new album!" Compiling all the solo piano pieces that he had composed over the past five years, he recorded and released Masterpeace. Recorded on a remarkable grand piano at the MTSU studio B, the album showed a remarkable marturity in Joseph. It was good enough to get some serious airplay with stations such as Whisperings Solo Piano Radio. "I drove to Atlanta to hear David Lanz play in a Whisperings concert and fell in love with the whole concept". Joseph handed his CD to David Nevue, the founder of Whisperings, and was soon setting up Whisperings solo piano concerts across the country himself. At these concerts, Joseph has performed with many great pianists such as Liz Story, David Lanz, David Nevue, Stanton Lanier and many more.

Joseph's career as a professor and musician has come to full maturity. In fall of 2009, he released another solo album titled Spirit Touch, which peaked at #7 on the Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for Zone Music Reporter. It has been selected for Kathy's Top 20 for 2009 and Kathy's Top 40 for the Decade. RJ Lannan of ZMR said "Spirit Touch is technically correct in every way with just the right amount of feeling. It has an appealing mix of solo and instrumental works that beckons to your heart with every listen."

Currently, Joseph is actively touring, writing and recording. He is about to reach the 10 year mark for teaching at MTSU and is writing textbooks for his students.