ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC
J
osh Epstein had “a myriad” of rea-
sons for releasing his latest album
under a name — PJ Western —
other than his own.
“Well, for starters Jeffrey Epstein was in
the news around that time. I thought that
was a weird connotation to put something
out for the first time with my actual name
on it,
” the Bloomfield Hills-raised Epstein,
42, a cofounder of the alternative rock
band JR JR (formerly Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr)
explains. Here I Go, his first release under
the PJ Western moniker — and look, com-
plete with wig and sunglasses — came out
during August on New West Records, fea-
turing 11 songs recorded in Los Angeles,
where he now resides.
Beyond his disparaged surname, Epstein
adds that he wanted the music “to be able
to stand on its own. So when we first
released everything there was no mention
of me or of JR JR. Music has become so
much about the identity of the musicians,
and to me it should be about the identity
of the music. I was hoping that through
this artist (PJ Western) kind of having no
identity that people would talk about the
music more.
”
Epstein has certainly given people a lot
of music to talk about over the years.
After attending the University of North
Carolina-Asheville briefly on a soccer
scholarship, he was a member of the
Detroit band the Silent Years, before join-
ing forces with Daniel Zott during late
2009 in Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr (the auto
racing star ultimately checked off on the
name). The group — which described itself
as “a neurotic Jew and a wild-haired gentile
from Detroit” — came out of the box to
critical acclaim with its 2010 Horsepower
EP and spent a few years signed to Warner
Bros. Records, blending a slavish devo-
tion to melody with quirky arrangement
sensibilities over the course of its four full-
length albums and several EPs.
JR JR has never been a top-seller, but it’s
always been hip.
But Epstein, like his JR JR co-founder
Zott, had more music in him than one
band can contain. “Josh has the gift of
always moving on to the next thing,
” Zott
notes. “He’s got a million ideas in his head.
”
AFTER THE LOCKDOWN
Like so many other performers, the pan-
demic lockdown took Epstein and his wife,
Jena Friedman, a comedian, out of com-
AARON FARLEY
“JR JR” cofounder reinvents himself as “PJ Western.”
‘A Gentleman
Outlaw’
GARY GRAFF CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PJ
Western
50 | SEPTEMBER 28 • 2023
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