Mourning the loss of a close companion is certainly never a pleasant experience. But with his latest recording, one of Northern Ireland’s most compelling artists has turned his agony into heartbreaking songs that pay gorgeous tribute to his late best friend.
Joshua Burnside is a heralded singer-songwriter and guitarist from just outside of Belfast, who back in March released his sixth full-length studio album, It’s Not Going To Be Okay. The deeply reflective, somber record hears the 37-year-old grappling with the loss of his longtime pal Dean Jendoubi, and the 10 tracks are said to represent his most affecting work to date.
Burnside is currently touring stateside, and he brought his three-piece band to the DMV last week for what was a stunning and intimate performance at Jammin’ Java the night of Oct. 6.
Sharing most of the songs from the new album, Burnside moved those on hand during the seated Tuesday-evening show. His lyrics were painful and introspective; his voice was delicate and sorrowful.
“It’s so wonderful to be back in the United States,” he said. “We’ve all been looking forward to it for months and months. We’ve got a lot of friends here. … It’s just lovely to get to come over here and play some songs.”
Listen to the latest studio album from Joshua Burnside, It’s Not Going to Be Okay:
The night was split into two sets, and across the first the soft-spoken Burnside kept his banter playful, pitting morning folks versus nighttime people, talking “beer” after the intermission. But his powerful songs spoke great volume about his spirit, his vision and his talents.
Those there at the NoVa pizza venue heard the placating “You and Me” to start the first set, followed by the new album’s blaring title track, a potent demonstration of the differing styles — and the emotion — he’s infused into the latest record.
Burnside is a member of the Eastern Belfast-based Vault Artist Studios, and he’s undoubtedly grown a wide network after earning major accolades, like the Northern Ireland Music Prize Best Album award he won for his first full-length record, Ephrata.
At Jammin’ Java, he was accompanied by Zarah Byrne-McCullough on cello and Dan Byrne-McCullough on electric guitar. His two friends joined him in soothing harmony on tracks like “The Last Armchair,” another glimpse into Burnside’s longing for his fallen friend, who died of an overdose in August 2025.
As he revealed more about the new album, it became clear just how profoundly such a loss had impacted him.
“As you get older, you have this idea that the more you learn about the world, the more you’ll understand it, and things will make sense,” he said before performing “The Nicer Part of Town” to close the first set.
“And, of course, the opposite is true. As you get older, life becomes more and more mysterious and bewildering.”
Into the second set last Tuesday, Burnside and his colleagues showcased the bandleader’s older recordings with tracks like “Holllllogram” from Ephrata and “The Only Thing I Fear” from 2021’s Higher Places.
He revealed his inspiration at different points. To introduce a new song in the works — possible named “It’s All Over” — he told of learning about Russian spies meddling in the Troubles, the ethno-nationalist and sectarian conflict that gripped Northern Ireland for nearly 30 years from the late 1960 to the late 1990s.
Sharing the backstory to “Far Away the Hills Are Green” from his 2021 EP In the Half-light, Burnside grinned and shook his head as he recalled the weather in his home country.
“Growing up in Ireland, it was raining pretty much … all the time. You’d wake up and put your school uniform on in the morning, and it would be wet still from the day before. I’d come home from school, put the TV on and watch American TV shows where all the kids live on the beach, and it’s just always sunny and beautiful. I remember when I was 14, 15, thinking, ‘why on earth did I have the luck to be born on this terrible, miserable, wet island?’”
For as light-hearted as he made the second half of the night in Vienna, there was no denying the collective weight of the first. The context of his latest offering is heavy, the grief it depicts very real — yet it somehow invites listeners to these tunes. Live and in person, Burnside’s music proves to be that much more comforting.
Setlist
Set 1
You and Me
It’s Not Going to be Okay
Moon High
Nighttime Person
The Last Armchair
Something Else
Nicer Part of Town
Set 2
Holllllogram
New/unreleased song (maybe called It’s All Over)
The Only Thing I Fear
Far Away The Hills Are Green
Her Eyes Dart Around (The Felice Brothers cover)
The Good Life
Up and Down
Encore
Marching Round The Ladies
Below are digital images of Joshua Burnside and his band performing at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia, the night of Oct. 6, 2026. All photos copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.
