Joshua Tyra was born and bred in Indiana, where he was raised on a steady diet of music: Broadway, operetta, classical, classic rock, folk, gospel and church hymns. He began writing music and lyrics at age 12, and his first musical was produced by his high school drama club in 1997. He attended the University of Chicago (BA, 2001, French Language and Literature) where he remained active in theater and songwriting. His lifelong interests in French language/literature and musical theater coincided in his second musical, The Romance of the Rose, which had a staged reading at the U of C in 2001. During a nearly two-year stint in the US Army, where he trained as an Arabic linguist, Josh made time to keep working on the Rose. Josh currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee, where he works in full-time Christian ministry and is in demand at parties for his parody songs. His other interests include linguistics, foreign languages, and ancient/medieval history; and he is currently working on a musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility in collaboration with playwright/director Gemma Cooper-Novack.