Josh Scott of JHS Pedals is planning the event of the century — for us pedal aficionados, that is. Streaming as a live YouTube event, Pedals: The Musical will be the world’s first historically accurate guitar-pedal-themed stage musical. This electrifying event will showcase the history, inventors, and musicians behind the stompbox phenomenon, exploring how these marvelous innovations shaped popular music as well as popular culture. Even though he keeps an insane schedule, Josh was kind enough to chat with us for a few minutes about this exciting project.
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It All Started with a Fun Family Conversation
The seed for Pedals: The Musical was planted while Josh was discussing guitar-related stuff with his 13-year-old daughter, Emma. “We’re a very goofy group of people,” he begins. “Even at home, there are always spontaneous, ridiculous songs,” he continues. During the conversation, Emma exclaimed, “It would be funny if you wrote a song about this stuff.” Josh’s wife — who has directed, produced, written, and acted for decades — provided the final push. “She’s theater all the way,” says Josh.
Josh sat down that night to flesh out the idea. He had already been working on a book about the 1960s, so he decided to start there. After all, the research had already been done. He envisioned six characters who are guitar stompboxes. “They’d walk onstage and sing songs about their origins,” Josh clarifies. “I was thinking Animaniacs, or maybe Monty Python — like a junior high school play.”
By the end of the night, Josh had developed the characters, started writing their lines, and sketched out some music. After a week, he had a finished script — song lyrics and all. He, then, enlisted the aid of Kansas City–based composer Judah Earl, who created full compositions out of Josh’s rough melodies. The composition process took about two weeks, and, in less than two months, the entire production had been written, cast, and rehearsed.
Tailor-Made for the Theater Stage
From its very conception, Pedals: The Musical was envisioned as a live stage production. Why do a live event rather than a previously recorded (and edited) show? After all, with hundreds of successful episodes of The JHS Show under his belt, Josh is clearly adept at the television-style format. Josh’s explanation is simple: “Because that’s theater; it’s live — the actors feel like they’re doing it for real.”
Josh notes that he’s already been doing live broadcasts to supplement the typical weekly episodes of The JHS Show. The live episodes boast a late-night talk-show vibe that Josh describes as, “What if David Letterman talked about pedals?” Thanks to these livestreams, Josh was confident that he could pull off a live production. “We’ve got the system, we’ve tweaked it, and it’s been successful,” he explains.
Pedals: The Musical will be a true live event, just like any other musical theater performance. The show opens on Saturday, March 13, at 7:00PM CST and will last for 25 to 30 minutes. There will be a second performance on Sunday, March 14, at 7:00PM CST. The performances won’t be immediately available online — if you want to watch it, then you need to watch it in real time. Josh indicates that they’ll take their favorite performance and post it online at a later date.
Performing During a Pandemic
The ongoing COVID pandemic creates restrictions for Josh and his crew. For example, the show will be performed in a black box theater — a blacked-out, minimalistic room — with no live audience present. “Keeping the crowd out minimizes contact,” he proclaims. The entire production — actors, theater staff, and technical staff — involves a limited crew of 25–30 people.
Josh hopes that the production will benefit the local Kansas City theater community, as the pandemic has made it difficult for actors and production crews to earn a living. “Actors don’t have a ton of stuff to do right now,” he laments.
“Kansas City has a pretty big theater community,” Josh states proudly. The city is home to a plethora of talented actors, producers, and writers, and its many theaters are often jam-packed with patrons. “There are a lot of people here who love theater,” he says.
A Well-Laid-Out Production
Pedals: The Musical is a fully realized, well-laid-out production. Set in the 1960s, its plot follows the invention and development of the guitar effects pedal. In addition to actors playing pedals, historical figures will also make appearances. Josh indicates that the show will illustrate how the Uni-Vibe helped Jimi Hendrix protest the Vietnam War at Woodstock. “It’s a fairly moving scene,” he says.
Josh and The JHS Show director and editor Nick Loux will portray inventors. There will also be a pre-recorded narration from a voice-over artist. The production will include a live band, which is composed of local Kansas City musicians along with YouTube personality Rhett Shull on guitar. “It’s like a Broadway play meets The Roots on Jimmy Fallon,” explains Josh.
Josh hopes that Pedals: The Musical will appeal to viewers outside of his usual YouTube audience. “We want to go beyond that audience and do something fun for everybody — like a family event that’s the length of a sitcom,” he says. “It’s perfect for a world that can’t go out in public,” he continues.
This Is Only the Beginning
Pedals: The Musical is meant to be a pilot for future productions. “We want to do every decade,” Josh explains. “This is Pedals: The Musical, Part 1,” he clarifies. Josh notes that he wants to cover the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, and today. He also expresses that he would love to do a Tolkien-esque prequel that delves into the invention of the electric guitar. “We could go for a few years here,” he laughs, “which is very fun!”
Josh further explains that he would love to see other groups perform the play — especially students. “It would be fun for music programs,” he notes.
Pedals: The Musical will open on Saturday, March 13, at 7:00PM CST. There will be a second performance on Sunday, March 14, at 7:00PM CST. The production will stream live on YouTube as a The JHS Show special event. Tune in here to watch it live.