Group Therapy Grows Its Reach While Dressed to the Nines

There’s something special about wearing a dress shirt and tie onstage, insists Josiah Johnson, who fronts Rock Hill’s energetic, uplifting rock quintet Group Therapy.

“When I put that tie on, I feel like a superhero,” Johnson maintains. “I genuinely feel like I’m suiting up and getting ready to save the day.”

That claim might seem overwrought, but Group Therapy, which fuses muscular alt rock with Johnson’s supple vocals and hip-hop-inspired rhythms and wordplay, delivers the goods.

Songs like the blistering “Glass Cannon” unflinchingly contemplate defeat: “If I’m the hero then when do I win?/ It’s the same story again and again and again…”

So when Johnson sings about getting back up after taking a hit in the syncopated, spiraling “Daredevil,” his hard-won victory feels like ours.

“I just wear it on my chin/ Get it out of the mud, do what it takes to get the win…”

On July 11, Group Therapy headlines the Summer Spectacular at Victoria Yards. Though the band has previously sold out at The Milestone, this outdoor set marks its biggest show to date.

It’s a remarkable trajectory for a group that launched under a different name as a school project, and a frontman who sang in church choir and found inspiration in rappers Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino while growing up in Sumter, South Carolina.

“Those Black artists who look like me inspired me to be confident,” Johnson says.

Attending Winthrop University, Johnson met three fellow music majors — bassist-flautist Chris Nichols and guitarists Ian Latham and Hunter Morgan — in 2023. During senior year, the friends launched their band PTSD Radio, taking the name from a popular manga, to record Latham’s Capstone project.

Drummer Owen Smith joined the band in time to play on its debut album How Did I Get Here, which dropped in August 2024.

Johnson had previously suggested the band wear suits but was vetoed by his bandmates. He persisted, and when Group Therapy played its first off-campus gig at Fort Mill thrift store 22Five, he suggested just dress shirts and ties. The band acquiesced and has worn the attire, which signals that the band means business, ever since.

“I don’t think they’ll ever admit it, but they like it,” Johnson maintains.

As the group garnered fans and forged its identity, the bandmates realized a name change from PTSD Radio was needed. In February 2025, the five-piece recorded a video for an NPR Tiny Desk contest.

In the vignette, the quintet gathers in a therapist’s office, then rips into a live version of incisive rocker “Group Therapy,” which would become the title track of the band’s six-song 2026 album: “Every bridge I burn, every heart I break, that’s one for the books/ Every page I turn, every choice I make, now I’m getting weird looks…”

The group had found a hard-hitting replacement moniker for PTSD radio. The band’s name change to Group Therapy became official in December 2025.

“This band is therapy for us and it’s what we want to do,” Johnson offers. “Whenever I’m with the group, that’s when I feel I’m at my best.”

Johnson believes he’s found the most simpatico yet challenging collaborators possible in Group Therapy. He calls guitarist Morgan a genius, a wellspring of ideas and “the quiet backbone” of the band. Drummer Smith gets singled out for his consistency and adaptability.

“Owen knows exactly what the song means,” Johnson says. “It’s like he’s reading our minds.”

Johnson, Morgan, Smith and Latham wanted Nichols, a trained flautist, in the band so much that they taught him to play bass. Johnson praises the hard-working Nichols for putting in long hours to master his instrument.

The band was initially guitarist Latham’s brainchild, but that’s not his biggest contribution.

“Ian keeps us all grounded,” Johnson says. “He’s that pillar of energy we all rely on.”

Latham, in turn, characterizes Johnson as the heart of the band.

“Anytime we talk about an upcoming show, Johnson gets so passionate that it’s inspiring,” Latham says. “If anyone else was our lead singer, Group Therapy wouldn’t exist.”

Together, the five musicians prepare to step onto a bigger stage with their headlining spot at Victoria Yards. They follow that gig with a show at NoDa’s Divine Barrel Brewing on July 16.

Read more: Jordyn Zaino Whips Up a Quiet Storm with Impassioned Ballads

“Being in Group Therapy has given me a place to belong,” Latham maintains. “I hope that when somebody listens to our music, they also feel that sense of community and belonging.”

“If one song can touch one person, I feel like I’ve done my job as a musician,” Johnson says.

Racking up more than 5,100 listens to “Glass Cannon” on Spotify, Group Therapy is reaching a growing number of people.

More importantly, through their aspirational yet pull-no-punches songs, the band conveys and embodies a trenchant point; the best therapy for these harrowing times is finding a group of creative and like-minded friends to share our journey.