Joel Rafael

Over four decades, Joel Rafael has chronicled his life and the world around him with songwriting rooted in folk tradition. No influence is more obvious in his work than that of Woody Guthrie. Joel composed music for five sets of Guthrie lyrics given to him by Woody’s daughter Nora. Two of his co-writes with Guthrie appear in Every 100 Years - The Woody Guthrie Songbook, published this year by the Woody Guthrie Archives. In 1981, Joel released his debut album, Dharma Bums. His seventh album, Thirteen Stories High, was released in 2008. Rafael’s newest album, America Come Home (Inside Recordings) will hit the streets this July.