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 
J
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