On “Waiting...,” la poema’s latest release, Bures performs a mix of melodic, electronic and acoustic tunes that reflect his influences from Jack Johnson to cutting edge ambient/electronic work. “Waiting...” is an exciting mix of reflection and innovation, full of smooth songs with a real message.
Faithful 1 explores new avenues of folk, rock, and tribal music while still staying true to the creative side of music and solid content. A refreshing breath in the world of common themes, you'll find the lyrics on Faithful 1 searching for truth in both English and Spanish, food for thought in both languages.
The name la poema is a a transliteration of a Greek word that means "a work of art". la poema is driven by the inspiration and dreams of Joey Bures. Bures takes his folk, pop and rock roots and blends them with acoustic, jazz and electronic flavors. mmm...
Come get to know us more. Email us. Facebook us. Call us. Come on over to our house. We'd love to get to know you. We'd love to play for your group, church, house, or park. We hope to see you soon.
About Joey
Joey has grown up surrounded by music most of his life. Joey is a full-time engineer, a part-time musician and proud to be a dork (well, as proud as you can be). He’s interested in many things, from rock-skipping to travel, from learning languages to building machines, from tech news to renaissance and surreal art, and many more things (probably). He loves meeting new people and going new places, but he’s really an introvert, albeit outgoing…
He’s usually got a few things going on. Besides design engineering and music, Joey’s involved with making music for Living Water’s Bible Camp (www.lwbc.org), and that’s where most of the inspiration for his albums comes from. He’s been leading music in various forms for Grace and Truth Chapel since 2005, from the main services with contemporary and traditional music, to kids songs that the church sings in Sunday School and Bible Club. Speaking of kids, Ana and he just had 2 kids (yep twins), a boy and a girl, so his hands are kind of full and his wife is his hero…
Joey grew up in a very musical house. His parents both played and taught music in some form or fashion for most of his life. They also supported his growth and development as a musician, getting him involved in all sorts of musical endeavors. He took piano lessons, joined the orchestra, choir and jazz band. He even played in a hand bell choir and an Indonesian style of music called Gamelan. On his own, he picked up the guitar and drums, and started making music. Joey's mom wrote children's music that he grew up with. This, along side being involved in church music, insprired Joey to start writing music around 15 years of age. Looking back, it may have been a little excessive, but it was cheap therapy…
In 2000, he decided to buy a computer, ProTools, a few mics and figure out how to record music. What an expensive mistake. But a it was good one. Joey didn’t really know what he was getting into, but headstrong and driven, he carried on with his dream. He began recording the things he’d written, hoping to encourage many people with his songs…
Meanwhile, he studied at a few universities, lived in Japan and the Domincan Republic, and he met a girl (this is where you say “aw”). She was great. She lead music for Intervarsity, played both guitar and music, plus a singer. But more than that, she loved Jesus, had a sweet family and great parents. Ana and her family have made a big impact on his life. Ana and Joey got married in 2004. Being that they both had the idea to before they had met, they had their ‘rings’ tattooed on their fingers, believing in the permanence of this commitment. For Joey, this was a defining moment. You’ll find the theme of faithfulness and commitment in his music as he sees God always being faithful and loving to us, even when his people are faithless…
Joey really wants to use his music to encourage people to live good lives. You will hear different styles and flavors woven through his music, reflecting all the influences that he has in his life. He often is trying out different instruments and styles, push the bounds of himself as well as his music.
About Ana
Ana (ah-na) is awesome. Ana likes to play the drum when she and Joey play together. She has a rhythm all her own. She's also learning the cello, so they get to put that to use every now and again. Besides, Ana is just plain sweet (beside being one of the coolest people you'll meet)
She is the oldest of 11 kids now (now because 3 were born into the family years after they were babes). Her family loves music, so it was an easy thing for her to start playing the piano. As many pianists do, she found that the guitar is much more portable, so she started playing around with it. Ana loved to play music with people, especially around the campfire with all the kids at the camp where she grew up. Music for Ana is a time to hang out. That is why at some of their concerts la poema passes out instruments so that the audience can play along.
Ana continued to play guitar in college with some student groups. That is where Joey found Ana. Through a series of events, unbeknownst to both, they found themselves at a get-together where neither one knew many other people. Ana had a drum that was out for public use. Joey, gravitating to the music, found that the head was very loose. He knew a place where it could be fixed, so he offered to take care of it. She said “sure”, and let him borrow her drum. This sly guy then had to get her number. (sweet!) He ended up calling her a few times to find out when they could get together again. She could never have guessed that he was so captured by her. Soon the sparks were flying, so they decided that if they were going to be something, they'd better be serious about marriage.
Now, Ana has two kids to take care of, so she doesn’t play out as much as she did, but she lets Joey continue to make music (thankfully).