JOSEPH WOOTEN, THE “HANDS OF SOUL"

Joseph Wooten comes from a very talented musical family known as the Wooten Brothers. Oldest brother Regi plays guitar. Roy is known as "Futureman" and plays the Synthaxe Drumitar for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Rudy is the middle brother and plays the saxophone and of course the most popular brother is 3 time Bass Player of the Year Award winner, Grammy Award nominee, Victor, who also plays with Bela.

Joseph's early elementary school years were spent with his talented siblings playing nightclubs and larger venues, sharing the stage with Curtis Mayfield, War and other major artists of the time.

In the '70s as the brothers further honed their skills, there were more major artists to share the stage with.....The Temptations, Stephanie Mills, Dexter Wansel, Ramsey Lewis, Maze, Featuring Frankie Beverly and others.

As the '80s arrived the brothers caught the ear of the then popular R&B artist/producer Kashif and recorded an album for Arista Records entitled The Wootens. Joseph also played keyboards and was the band leader for Kashif. During that time with Arista Records, Joseph also sang some backing vocals for Whitney Houston on her debut album and Kenny G on one of his albums. In the ‘80s Joseph was also chosen to play keyboards with the band Scritti Politti for their live tour.

In 1990 Joseph moved to Nashville, Tennessee. In '93 he became the keyboard player/vocalist for the Steve Miller Band, playing large venues across the country and around the world.

Joseph now is the keyboard player for his famous younger brother, Victor and a songwriter who contributed numerous compositions to the Grammy nominated double cd Yin Yang and the live cd, Victor Wooten Live in America.

Joseph leads a band in his hometown of Nashville called “Hands of Soul” titled from a nickname given to him by his oldest brother Regi “the Teacha” Wooten.

		The Missouri Association of Fairs & Festivals