The forums are growing!

Wow! In the past two days or so, the forums have been filling up with lots of new members! I can really feel the excitement growing surrounding Josh as we get nearer and nearer to the release of his first single. As well, I've been getting tons of email from fans who would like me to give Josh a message for them. Unfortunately, I cannot send everyone's messages to him. However, I have set up a section in the forums where you can write messages to him. He does visit this site often, so it's a good possiblity he will read your post! Click here to leave Josh a message!

Posted by Cindy on Feb. 19th, '04 @ 10:30 p.m.

News on first video!

The music video for Josh's first single, "I Want To Live," was shot over the past few days in southern California, and several shows will be reporting on it soon (Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, etc). JG.COM will gather up clips and information as it comes our way. So keep your eyes right here for all the latest!

Posted by Cindy on Feb. 17th, '04 @ 9:30 p.m.

JFU Art Contest

If you have not yet entered the new contest at the JFU website, please go here to read the rules. Any artwork is permitted, but only artwork featuring Josh will be entered in the "Showcase." Artwork to be accepted: drawn or digital art, ORIGINAL photos, poetry, and short stories. Visit Josh Fans United for more details.

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 30th, '04 @ 10 p.m.

The singing Marine signs a country deal

Thanks to Jeanee for submitting this article. ---------- The singing Marine signs a country deal Remember that Marine on American Idol 2 who always sounded like a country singer? Guess what: The Marine, Josh Gracin, now has a deal on a Nashville country record label. Josh, always a big fan of Rascal Flatts, will be label mates with that group at Lyric Street Records. Label chief Randy Goodman heard Josh do a Rascal Flatts song, I'm Movin' On, on the show, and Randy was impressed. When Josh eventually came to Nashville to sing for some folks, he ended up in Randy's office. Randy was so impressed with Josh's first song that Randy ordered the Marine to stop singing while he rustled up some more label troops to hear Josh. The first single will be out in March. The label chief thinks Josh, still active in the Marines, will be a smash. "If you can get through Simon (Cowell), everything else is child's play," Randy said. Source: The Tennessean ---------- The extra info about what happened when he sang for Randy Goodman was really neat to find out. Anyone else excited?

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 27th, '04 @ 5:28 p.m.

The man himself leaves a message at JG.COM

Last night, our idol Josh Gracin stopped by the joshBOX to give fans a special message. He thanked what he calls "the best fans" for continuing to have faith in him, and to look out for him this year. Josh, it was very nice of you to leave a message. We know you're a busy guy and it was great that you'd take the time out to post. Thank you so much and congratulations to you, as well as good luck. You have been our idol for over a year now, and that isn't stopping anytime soon!

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 26th, '04 @ 4:57 p.m.

Ann Gracin stops by JG.COM

Josh and Ann regularly visit the site, but do not usually have time to post in the joshBOX. But today, Ann paid a special visit to JG.COM and left messages for the site and Josh's fans in lieu of the one year anniversary and the wonderful news of Josh signing with Lyric Street. This is what she had to say... Thank you to Josh's fans who have supported him since Idol & thanks Cindy for all of the time you have put into keeping this site up for all of Josh's fans! Look forward to some great things coming your way from Josh! And be listening for his new single being released soon! Goodbye everyone, keep watching for Josh - you never know when he will appear on television. Straight from Josh's wife! Thank you Ann for stopping by, your messages were really sweet!

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 25th, '04 @ 12:41 a.m.

A Year Ago Today

Exactly a year ago today, I bought the JoshGracin.com domain. What a wonderful way to celebrate the anniversary with the news of Josh signing with Lyric Street, huh? I suppose I'll write a little speech here. You know, when I first saw Josh audition on AI and randomly decided to make a little fansite for him, I never could've imagined that it would have gone this far. I opened up a little angelfire site two nights after Josh's first audition and it is almost entirely all due to Brenda Gracin, his mother, that I bought the domain. Without her being so kind as to contact me, I never would've gotten the inspiration to open the site as a domain. She is an amazing lady who has been so generous and wonderful towards her son's fans, she truly deserves many thanks. As well, Josh and his wife Ann have both been so friendly and generous with me and have done everything possible to answer my questions, and to keep you all updated on what is going on with him. I sometimes wonder how Ann has had the patience to deal with my emails! lol! Though JG.COM has been through its ups and downs, it has been a mind-blowing experience. I want to thank all of those who have stuck with JoshGracin.com through everything and all of the new fans that Josh will collect in the coming months as a Lyric Street artist and huge country star. Always a Josh Fan, Cindy

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 24th, '04 @ 1:55 p.m.

More on Josh & Lyric Street

Several different places are reporting the news of Josh signing with Lyric Street. As I find more, I will continue to post them in this list. Most are just rehashed from the initial press release, but it's fun to see which sites report it! Thanks to Jeanee for submitting the following news bits! American Idol finalist signs with Nashville label (CMT.COM) -- Josh Gracin, the U.S. Marine who was a finalist on last year's American Idol 2, has signed with Nashville-based Lyric Street Records. During his American Idol 2 appearances, he performed the Rascal Flatts hit, "I'm Movin' On." His debut album is being produced by Marty Williams, who co-produced Rascal Flatts' two albums. Currently on active duty, Gracin is spending his days off in a Nashville recording studio. His first single is expected to be released in late March. [Link] American Idol finalist inks label deal (CountryNation.com) -- Word that �American Idol 2� finalist Josh Gracin, has signed with Lyric Street Records. The U.S. Marine placed fourth during last year's competition. Currently on active duty with the Marines, Gracin is spending all of his few days off, recording his debut country album for Lyric Street. Look for a single as early as March. [Link] Lyric Street signs singing Marine (CountryStars.com) -- Josh Gracin, the country-singing, 4th place American Idol finishing Marine, has signed a deal with Lyric Street Records. Gracin's first single should be at radio in the next few weeks. [Link] DISCUSS THE NEWS HERE!

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 24th, '04 @ 1:55 p.m.

Josh Gracin now a Lyric Street artist

This may spark your interest. ;) JOSH GRACIN SIGNS WITH LYRIC STREET RECORDS Nashville, TN -- Lyric Street Records President, Randy Goodman has announced that the label has signed singer, Josh Gracin. The United States Marine was an �American Idol 2� finalist last year where he won hearts and votes on the popular television show and ultimately captured fourth place. Gracin, who always aspired to be a country singer, is the first contestant to bring country music to �American Idol��one of the songs he performed was now label mates Rascal Flatts smash hit, �I�m Movin� On.� �I�m really excited about signing with Lyric Street, � says Gracin. �It was one of the first labels I was interested in because I am a huge fan of Rascal Flatts. I was thrilled when they decided to sign me and meeting the staff reconfirmed it: they really look out for the artists best interest. I am very impressed by their level of commitment to the artists and the music. I know I�m at the right place to launch my career.� Currently on active duty with the United States Marines, Gracin is spending all of his few days off in the studio recording his debut album for Lyric Street Records. Marty Williams, co-producer of both of Rascal Flatts� albums and one of Nashville�s most in demand recording engineers (Faith Hill, JoDee Messina, Reba, Vince Gill), has been tapped to produce the album. Look for a single from Gracin to hit country radio as early as March. Lyric Street Records is a part of the Buena Vista Music Group. The Buena Vista Music Group is the recorded music and music publishing arm of The Walt Disney Company. DISCUSS THE NEWS HERE!

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 23rd, '04 @ 9:19 p.m.

Ummmm...

I'm sure most of you are watching the premiere of American Idol 3 tonight. And I'm sure many of you saw what I saw - the military members who ripped off the way Josh auditioned last season. I just can't believe it. They just can't pull it off like Josh did. I think I'm going into this season with much cynicism. The contestants are gonna have to do a lot to impress me. Regardless, Josh is and always will be my American Idol.

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 19th, '04 @ 8:36 p.m.

Josh's Demo & A New Forum

I have a few site updates today! After many requests, I've uploaded Josh's demo album to the Music section (which I've also just added). The MP3s are high quality, but I've uploaded them in .zip format so as to eliminate outrageous bandwith issues. So if you haven't heard the demo yet, or if you'd like to hear better quality versions of the songs, then head over to the Music section and enjoy. :) To be quite frank, forums have never been the most popular part of JoshGracin.com. I relentlessly try to get people to join them, and usually it ends up being a worthless effort. However, for those of you who do enjoy forums and would like to chit chat about Josh, please do not hesitate to join the new forums I've added. I noticed that many of you like to talk in the joshBOX, but trust me - the forums are easier, offer more features, etc. Please do check that out.

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 14th, '04 @ 6:16 p.m.

Josh & Ann's Anniversary

I have to go to work in a few minutes but I wanted to make a little update to wish Josh and Ann a Happy Anniversary!

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 5th, '04 @ 8:22 a.m.

New JG.COM in Progress

Wow. Okay, where do I begin? Obviously, this is the beginnings of the new JoshGracin.com. It is still a work in progress, as it has begun to be reconstructed from scratch. You can thank Andy from StealthDesignz.com for this absolutely lovely layout. Andy, who used to be a regular in the old JG.COM chat, was generous enough to offer his skill and make this layout. I did do some of it -- for instance, the header at the top with the three pics of Josh, as well as the text. However, it would be downright wrong of me to take credit. The majority of what you see now was Andy's doing, and I am very grateful. If you get the chance, please show Andy some love in the joshBOX. (Note: the new joshBOX is slighty different -- the most recent posts can be found at the bottom of the box). Over the next few days, you may see things tweaked or changing. That's because Andy and I will be working on completing the site. As it is now, none of the navigational links to the left work. We are focusing on finishing the poll, random picture, and news sections. Then we will be moving on to individual sections of the site. So, right now all you can do is post in the joshBOX or simply drool over the gorgeous layout Andy has done. A little bit of news...Josh and Ann's anniversary is this Monday, January 5th. So along with showing love for Andy, please post anniversary notes for Josh and Ann! I'm looking forward to finishing the new JG.COM for you guys. I really hope you enjoy the new look, and thank you for your patience.

Posted by Cindy on Jan. 3rd, '04 @ 4:46 p.m.

Hacker Attack

On Monday, December 29th, the servers at my hosting company were attacked by hackers. JoshGracin.com happened to be on one of the hacked servers, and was horribly affected. The whole website was deleted. Literally everything was wiped out. I am currently working on reconstructing the site. Thanks to those of you who emailed and IMed me on AOL Instant Messenger with your concerns. I have been very frustrated ever since Monday and I sincerely apologize for JG.COM's downtime. I have some of the website backed up, but not all of it. Since I can't upload everything I lost, tonight I will be working on a new layout and a whole new JoshGracin.com for the New Year. In the spirit of New Year's Eve, I'd like to say thank you to all who have been loyal Josh fans and JoshGracin.com visitors for nearly a year now. I just renewed the domain, so JoshGracin.com is definitely being kept alive. I hope to have some type of one-year celebration for JoshGracin.com at the end of January. As well, we will soon be releasing lots of new info on what's been going on with Josh since we last heard from him. Thank you for your patience, and have a great night tonight ringing in 2004! I truly believe 2004 will have exciting things to offer Josh Gracin and his fans.

Posted by Cindy on Dec. 31st, '03