Joel Correa

Joel Correa was born in Philadelphia, PA on March 20th. Born to Damaris Thillet and Diego Correa. He was raised in a very musical environment, going choir to choir, instrument to instrument, until he finally at age 18, conquered the guitar and found his voice. His mother Damaris tought him from a very early age to sing. Constantly pushing him to better his craft artistically, and supported him in many artstic endeavors. Joel describes his music as “Simply Acoustic, just me and my voice, words, and my guitars…there may be some percusion or other sounds here or there…but in the end all my songs were simply acoustic…"

Joel pulls from many musical influences to develop his unique sound, fusing folk styles with latin undertones, all accompanied by smooth R&B vocals, all driven by lyric and poetry stemming from both the personal and political. "I listen to everything and anything that catches my ear...I immerse and drench myself with music so I can soak it all in. Listening to different genres and feels of music allows me to fuse different aspects of them together, you might have hip hop percussion over over latin chord progressions, all blended to create a sound that reaches and resonates...thats what sums up my music...music for the soul"

Joel released his first EP “Up 4 Grabs” on February 12, 2008. When asked he refers to is as: “It’s a super duper, lo-fi, amateur concoction of my attic and impatience, just laying the guitar, then the voice, then maybe a harmony…quick to get people to just listen to what it was that was in my mind at the time.”

His second release “Testimony” was released in late 2008.

When asked about the “Testimony:”

“I was definitely trying to take my time that time around - to really create the songs, and think out each line more naturally…as oppose to maybe forcing them out…or settling for any random line that popped into my head. So you can definately hear the transition - which is a great one - between the two…’Up 4 Grabs’ was more like the beginning of beginnings for me…’Testimony’ is more precious in a few aspects…but it’s difficult to compare the two…cause they are both me…and they are both true to either who I was or who I am or who I am becoming…”

Joel has since decided to move his music forward. He has officially released a third compilation titled “Just the Same - EP” - which serves as a sampler/prelude for his first official album “Tales from Distant Bells.” The new album will include “Let you Go” as well as a newly recorded version of “This Night” - which are both found on “Just the Same.”

Tales from Distant Bells is scheduled for release on 12/07/10. It will include 9 all-new and never before heard tracks as well as the 2 tracks from his "Just the Same - EP" ("Let You Go" & "This Night") which will also be making their appearance on the record. Joel describes his creative process as "Very daunting and exhausting sometimes...I create all of my songs from scratch, and find the right sounds to add to it, the right percussion, the right melody, harmony, setup the mic, the levels, and on and on...when you are the writer, producer, engineer, and overall musician - it can get very exhausting...thrilling and fulfilling nonetheless."