Josh Brew is an African and African diasporic music enthusiast. His theoretical and practical approach to research broadly focuses on how music sustains humans and how humans, in turn, sustain music and the natural environment. His research is, thus, located within music sustainability and economic ethnomusicology discourses. His other areas of interest include music industries, popular music fandom, and ecomusicology.

Josh is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. His project, “Gifts from Nature,” is at the nexus of palmwine music, indigenous knowledge, economies, and ecological sustainability in Ghana. His project is a crucial response to the Anthropocene, the current geological epoch characterized by human dominance over the planet and resulting in climate change and other environmental crises. His project aims to critically localize this global problem by examining the intersection of musical and ecological sustainability.

As an applied ethnomusicologist, he is interested in extending his research to benefit the communities with whom he works. He has hosted workshops, worked with young musicians and bands in Ghana to explore music career strategies like contemporary music business models, and assisted in establishing their digital presence. He is currently collaborating with the Legon Palmwine Band In using music as a tool for ecological sustainability in Ghana. Josh is also a composer and performer of Afrobeats, Highlife, Jazz, and classical guitar.