The Band
Joshua - Fiddle & BGV
Josh is a fiddler, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, specializing in Celtic, folk and rock n’ roll styles. He’s best known for his contributions to Nebraska country/rock bands Cactus Hill, Nashville Reject and the Emmett Bower Band, as well as the Irish music act Ellis Island. He is also a member of the Americana/Folk band Jack Hotel, which has won the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards in the Album of the Year, and Best Americana/Folk Band categories. He Teaches violin and guitar at Nissa’s String Studio in Lincoln, NE where he focuses on improvisational techniques and alternative styles. An active member of the DJ Bridwell band since 2019, Joshua combines over a decade of experience in country music with a variety of eccentric influences in order to create an engaging and unforgettable experience for the audience.
Rex - Drums
Rex grew up on a family farm in North Central, KS. raising cattle riding horses, working in the fields and turning wrenches in the shop. Country music was always playing in the background. Rex started playing when he was about 7 years old on a toy box he made into a drum set. His first real set came when he was 9 and it drove his folks crazy.
Rex’s first band was a classic rock band and was started at the age of 14. A year later Rex switched to a country band and played until he was about 25 years old but, then life took over for several years. Instead of being on stage playing drums Rex hauled cattle and team roped. Then a little over a decade later the drums came out of the closet when a great friend called and asked Rex to come check out a project he was working on. A year later DJ Bridwell’s parents contacted him and said that DJ needed a solid drummer with show experience. Seven years later the two are close as brothers and doing thier best to rock the stage every show.
Austin - Bass
Highly influenced by his neighbor, Austin started learning to play the bass guitar at age 13. He continued to grow his musical ability throughout middle and high school, and earned the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award during his senior year.
In addition to Austin’s passion in music, Austin works in IT and has worked as a help desk technician, server administrator, network engineer, and more. Austin also served 7 years in the National Guard as a satellite communication systems operator.
Austin currently resides in Kearney, NE and is a software developer at The University of Nebraska at Kearney. In addition to writing code, Austin enjoys candle light dinners, long walks on the beach, and the color green. Austin likes playing everything from classic rock to country to jazz. He has played the bass in bands such as The Hacks, The Jessy Karr Band, and now The DJ Bridwell Band.
Mark - Guitars
Mark is a Native Colorado farm kid who has been playing and performing since the age of 12. Mark missed 2 years of school due to illness and an accident. He practiced guitar during that time and turned professional at age 17. He has since toured the United States and Canada extensively during his career, as both a front man/lead vocalist, and a side man and collaborator.
Among the places he has lived as a pro musician, Southern California, Denver, Sacremento, Miami, and Las Vegas, where he had a foothold as house guitar player and producer at SIN CITY Recording studios. He has worked extensively in television and broadcast soundtracks, and studio time as an arranger, session leader, vocalist, musician, writer, producer, and technician.
He moved to Nebraska from Las Vegas Nevada, because as he says, “The big city is great as a pro musician, but my heart wasn’t there at all. I found out you could make a living as a pro player being based out of Nebraska, and I made the move!”
Mark has played extensively in many touring and regional bands since the move and was extremely happy the audition and land the gig with The DJ BRIDWELL BAND. Mark says, “DJ is everything I look for in a front man. There’s an art to it that he just gets.”