From Tulsa to the World Stage: How Josh Fudge’s Oklahoma Roots Keep Him Grounded Amid Global Success

Singer/songwriter Josh Fudge has racked up millions of streams on Spotify. He’s toured all over the world, playing sold-out shows in various countries, performing at festivals like Lollapalooza, and supporting huge acts like Bastille and Big Wild.  

But despite all the success the young artist has had within the past few years, Fudge has kept two feet firmly planted on the ground. His Oklahoma roots, and his community in Tulsa, where he’s made his home, help him remain grounded as his music career soars to new heights.  

“I get pressured all the time to move to Los Angeles or New York City, and people are always surprised when I tell them Tulsa is my home,” Fudge said. “The thing I truly believe, though, is that people matter more than the place. All of my homies are here, and they’re amazing — and irreplaceable. I think that matters so much more.”  

Fudge grew up in Oklahoma City and said he felt called to music from an early age. After a neighbor threw out an old upright piano from the 1920s, Fudge’s father scooped up the instrument, brought it into their family home — “He scratched the shit out of our wood floors,” Fudge said — and set it up in the living room for his son to play.  

“I was four years old when he brought the piano in, and I was drawn to it immediately,” Fudge said. “I wasn’t a musician yet, but being able to sit and make sounds was thrilling to me. I began to play every single day.”  

A musical breakthrough would happen two years later. Fudge, still learning his way around the piano one Sunday night at home, received a piece of advice from his dad that stuck with him forever.  

“He said, ‘Josh, you should just play me about your day today. Just stop thinking about it, and play how you feel,’” Fudge said. “I think that’s the best piece of advice you could give to someone who’s just getting into art. Music is a form of expression; it’s a diary without words; it’s a canvas in which you can paint. Once I realized that, the fire within me only began to grow.”  

That fire would be stoked as Fudge gained confidence and started performing within his local community. Playing on the corner at a local block party, an eight-year-old Fudge found himself with $220 worth of tips in his mom’s sugar jar at the night’s end.  

“I biked all the way home from that gig, and I just remember this core memory of busting through the doors and pouring all the money out on our table,” Fudge said. “Before that, I had been going door-to-door, offering to mow people’s lawns to make money. I remember telling my dad, ‘I will never mow another lawn again!’”  

Playing more gigs and using the money to purchase instruments and equipment, Fudge increased his musical knowledge and continued to develop his sound, drawing inspiration from groups like MGMT, Foster The People, and Passion Pit.  

Enter Logan Bruhn and Tyler Sexton, two of Fudge’s close friends and collaborators, who pushed him to create more music and release it into the world.  

“Logan is like my musical hero: He’s taught me so much about producing, and we still work together all the time,” Fudge said. 

Bruhn and Fudge collaborated on Fudge’s debut record, "Fun Times," released in January 2021. This first body of work made a huge splash with hit songs like "When She’s Gone" and "Second Date," garnering millions of listens after being added to Spotify playlists.  

Soon after, Fudge began fielding calls from record labels, lawyers, and agents. He said he feels grateful for connecting with his current manager and team early on, as they have been instrumental in helping him navigate the unfamiliar waters of the music industry. 

“I can’t tell you how important it is to have the right people around you — No matter how good you are, you can’t do it all on your own,” Fudge said.  

Looking at Fudge’s musical career so far, one clear throughline emerges: His commitment to surrounding himself with good people. Alongside Bruhn and Sexton, Fudge’s drummer, Jhakobi Harkey, is another longtime friend who has toured with him worldwide. 

“This dream is not just about me — it’s for [Harkey], who’s wanted to be a touring musician his whole life, and now we’ve gone on, like, five tours together,” Fudge said. “That shit means more to me than anything else. Being able to share these moments with them, and having such distinct memories … Whenever I’m dying, and I’m having my little ‘end of life flashback,’ those moments will be in there: Looking back at [Sexton] during his guitar solo in Charlotte with everyone chanting his name; hearing [Harkey] rip a brand new fill I’ve never heard before, and me screaming audibly on stage. Those are some of my favorite memories.”  

As Fudge has deepened his relationships with his bandmates and collaborators, he has also deepened his relationship with himself. His latest EP, “Sketchbook,” released April 2024, finds Fudge at his most introspective, exploring subjects like loss, grief, self-doubt, and change.  

“This music came at a very transitory period in my life, where I had a lot of liminal-feeling emotions,” Fudge said. “I’ve never released a set of music that I poured that part of myself into, and I think it was therapeutic for me, being able to sit down and make an organic abstraction of a liminal feeling. I wanted the whole project to feel like an old piece of paper or photograph, or like a personal sketchbook of mine.”  

Fudge’s music has not only resonated with fans stateside but all over the globe. This June, Fudge and his band embarked on a two-week-long tour all over China.  

“It’s so crazy to me to think that my silly little tunes are impacting people who are literally across the globe,” Fudge said.  

Seeing their son perform at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado in 2022 was a pivotal moment for Fudge’s parents. It was there that they fully grasped the extent of his career as an artist. As they sat backstage, Fudge and his parents reminisced about his journey and the steps that led to this significant milestone. 

“My dad was like, ‘Wow, you really did the damn thing!’” Fudge said. “I think they had their healthy skepticism, but they never stopped me from going after my dream, and I’m so grateful for that. And if this all crashed and burned tomorrow, and I had to go back to square one, I would still be so damn happy I tried this — it’s been the greatest adventure of a lifetime … That night, my dad told me: ‘Chase this until the wheels fall off,’ and that’s what I’m going to do.”