Joel Rafael
Escondido, California, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
‘America Come Home’
Joel Rafael (Inside Recordings)
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A respected folk artist in the vein of Woody Guthrie, Joel Rafael has crafted another winning album in “America Come Home.” Whether co-writing a tune with the late Guthrie (“Dance Around My Atom Fire”) or being joined by icons David Crosby and Graham Nash (title track), Rafael has delivered a thought-provoking — yet always entertaining — collection of 12 tunes.
There aren’t any real missteps to be found here, and Rafael is especially effective on “Dharma Bums,” “Indian Summer,” “I Can’t Feel Your Love,” “Within Your Graces” and “Racing and Chasing
the Sun.” “America Come Home” is Rafael’s eighth album. It’s also his best.
— Jeffrey Sisk
- Daily News
Discography
Albums:
America Come Home / Inside Recordings 2012
The Songs of Woody Guthrie Vol 1 & 2 / Inside Recordings 2009
Thirteen Stories High / Inside Recordings 2008
Woodyboye / 2004
Woodeye / 2002
Hopper / 2000
Old Wood Barn / 1996
Joel Rafael Band / 1994
Compilations:
Border Songs: A Collection of Music and Spoken Word to Benefit No More Deaths / 2012
Spain in My Heart: Songs of the Spanish Civil War / 2003
Folkscene Collection, Vol III / 2001
Photos
Bio
On six original albums, Joel Rafael chronicles his life and the world around him with songwriting rooted in the folk tradition. “Dance Around My Atom Fire” (Guthrie/Rafael) from his newest release, America Come Home was selected IAMA “Best Folk Song” 2012. His two-CD collection, The Songs of Woody Guthrie, Volumes 1 and 2 (Inside Recordings 2009) features five previously unpublished Guthrie lyrics for which Rafael composed music.
Rafael’s lifetime as a performing songwriter began in showcases and small clubs around Los Angeles, San Diego and the Inland Empire in California. In 1981, Rafael toured the southwest with Jesse Colin Young, and released his debut album, Dharma Bums. After the emergence of the seminal Joel Rafael Band in 1994, and resulting national airplay, he toured with Joan Baez and regularly co-booked with John Trudell.
In 1995, Rafael won Kerrville Folk Festival’s “New Folk Emerging Songwriter Award” and he has been a featured performer at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival every year since its inception in 1998. Festival appearances in 2012 include Newport, Clearwater, and Sarzana, Italy.
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