The 1995 winner of the Kerrville Folk Festival 'New Folk Emerging Songwriter' award, Joel Rafael and his band make folk music for the 21st century. Considered to be San Diego's premier acoustic band, they have successfully blended contemporary folk [+]The 1995 winner of the Kerrville Folk Festival 'New Folk Emerging Songwriter' award, Joel Rafael and his band make folk music for the 21st century. Considered to be San Diego's premier acoustic band, they have successfully blended contemporary folk music with heartfelt songwriting and a world beat. With Rafael's daughter, Jamaica, on violin and viola, Carl Johnson on acoustic lead guitar, and Jeff Berkley on ethno-percussion, the band's collective musical energy builds bridges across generations.
Rafael was born in Chicago, Ill., and raised in the San Gabriel Valley suburbs of Los Angeles. He was exposed to and loved music from the time he was a child, but it was the folk music of the early 60s that began to stir his interest in writing as he studied the writing and performing styles of Woody Guthrie, The Limelighters, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Ian and Sylvia, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and dozens of others.
Disillusioned by the Vietnam War and his impending draft, Rafael moved to the Northwest in the late 60s. He continued to write and perform, but the folk scene was giving way to the pop music wave, and venues for acoustic performers soon became few and far between. In 1970, Rafael and his wife Lauren moved to the western Cascades and lived in a small cabin along a river in the rainy northwest woods. As the increasingly unpopular war wound down and the draft ended, the Rafaels returned to California, settling in the rural foothills of North San Diego County. There, while raising a family, Rafael continued to chronicle his life and times in song.
During the 70s, 80s and early 90s, Rafael performed around southern California in various groups including as a duo with Rosie Flores. As a solo performer and with his band, he opened shows throughout the southwestern United States for artists including Crosby, Stills and Nash, Sheryl Crow, Laura Nyro, Taj Mahal, Iris Dement, Emmylou Harris and the legendary John Lee Hooker.
In 1994, the Joel Rafael Band, in their current form, released their first, eponymous CD on Rafael's own Reluctant Angel Records. The album won the San Diego CCMA award that year. In 1996, the band released a second CD, Old Wood Barn, which was an 'Americana Hot Pick' in GAVIN. Their third and newest release, Hopper, is the m
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