by Christina Clark

When Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few take the stage, fans often greet them wearing neon-colored headbands and loud clothes to match lead vocalist Baughman’s eccentric vibe. He almost always wears some remarkable outfit—like a bright green headband combined with a retro red track suit—while he plays keyboard, guitar or melodica (a harmonica-keyboard hybrid).

A friend of Baughman’s describes the band’s sound as “variety-show folk-rock,” and Baughman says that’s definitely an accurate description of his energetic band, which also features saxophone, drums, guitar and bass.

Right now, Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few aren’t playing many live shows, because of covid, and because they are busy recording an album that will release in the spring. Baughman wrote many of the songs nearly four years ago but had to take a break when he was injured working on a stop-motion animation project. Then the pandemic threw another wrench in the wheels.

But now the project is back on track, and all hands are on deck.

“I usually do a lot of [the mixing and recording] on my own and play the instruments myself, but I wanted to get the experience of collaborating with a lot of people on it,” he says.

“The album, not yet titled, has lyrical themes that take inspiration from Baughman’s religious background and his own philosophy on life, which he says has really evolved over time. In [a song titled] ‘Antichrist Complex,’ I talk about the banality of evil,” says Baughman. “I think that song specifically is kind of about how uninteresting actual evil people are. They are more dunces and selfish than masterminds.”

Baughman’s interest in music began in childhood when he learned how to play the family piano. He was trained by various teachers throughout his youth, and his music was supported and celebrated by his church community. He later learned guitar and started singing in college.

Baughman’s career in stop-motion animation was also sparked in childhood.

“When I was a kid, I would animate with LEGOs,” he says. “I got this Steven Spielberg stop-motion LEGO set. That was the first kind of experience I had with it.”

The initial LEGO Studios Movie Maker released in 2000 included a web camera, LEGO set and editing software. Baughman also experimented with his grandfather’s camcorders and other video equipment. In college Baughman studied film and continued to focus his work on stop-motion animation because actors and crews were hard to come by.

“I didn’t have a ton of people to work with,” he says. “Especially after school I got really into the stop-motion stuff. Living in Indiana, there are a lot of people doing video stuff, but it is harder to get full crews. There are not as many actors floating around.”

After graduating, he began making music videos for friends and acquaintances. He also made animated flannelgraph Bible stories for children. His work then was inspired by his various interests and connections, and he would post many of his videos on YouTube.

“I would make these silly, violent videos and put them on YouTube,” he says. “I had one video that only had 3 or 5 views. Somehow, one of the views was Sufjan Stephens.”

The musician ended up commissioning Baughman to create a music video for a Christmas song in the style of the video that he’d liked on Baughman’s YouTube channel. To really commit

Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few

Joe Baughman – vocals, songwriting, keyboard, guitars, banjo, harmonica and melodica

Michael Baughman – drums, percussion

Martin Ufkin – bass guitar

Michael Cunningham – saxophone

Sam Lima - guitar, mandolin, vocals

Bryan Lewis – synths, noise

Aaron Charles – manager

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This time and energy to creating the project for Sufjan Stephens, Baughman left a steady studio job. “It was a huge connection. It got me started,” says Baughman. “It has pretty much been my main thing ever since.”

That project helped launch him into his career. Since then, he’s created beautiful and intricate stop-motion music videos for artists including Julien Baker, Bailey Williams, Wilco, The Roots, Matisyahu, Ingrid Michaelson, STRFKR, Exit Kid and more. Baughman uses clay, fabric, yarn, pipe cleaners, paper, metal, lights, food (even chocolate cake!)— whatever he needs to tell the story.

The result is always a detailed and vibrant visual feast. And it’s a ton of work. Baughman spent 600 hours on Julien Baker’s 4-minute-and-9-second “Hardline” music video that was released early last year. Some 12 to 24 photos goes into each second of a stop-motion animation, not to mention all the planning and execution that goes into creating each elaborate set. “Building everything takes forever,” says Baughman. And he loves it. He loves bringing a colorful story to life, on screen and on stage.

Joe Baughman - Variety-Show Folk-Rock

Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few