Artists:Joe Crookston

JOE CROOKSTON ... goodhearted, artful and intense ... His music is imaginative, and extremely engaging. If you love a moving, inspiring song or the kind of magical madness of creative funk, Joe delivers it all--the music, the lyrics, the energy, and the fun.

Last summer, Joe was chosen as a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Top 3 Most-Wanted Artist. He'll be featured on the Annual Falcon Ridge Preview Tour in May 2008. Look for these shows on the tour page.

He performed at Joe's Pub in NYC as a finalist in the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, was a finalist in the Great American Song Contest, and in 2007 received a year-long songwriting grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to travel throughout New York State, interview locals, and write songs based on his experiences ... It's been a good year!

His Brand New CD, "Able Baker Charlie and Dog," will be released on Feb 15th, 2008, and is an amazing follow up to his 2004 release "Fall Down as the Rain." Wait till you hear this CD. It was worth the wait.

Sing Out! magazine says: ”With all the performers out there, an artist has to go beyond good ... and Joe does.”

"Top-12-Do-It-Yourself Recording"--Performing Songwriter Magazine

"I've watched audiences glued to their seats at the end of Joe's shows simply not wanting the evening to end. There is a spirit in his music that is simultaneously sacred, celebratory, artful and solidly grounded in tradition. ... Go see this man perform, and don't be surprised if you drive home singing his songs with a renewed sense of what's possible."--Seattle Folklore Society

Joe Crookston ... Born and raised in rural Ohio, with Hungarian musical roots, polkas ... and eastern European food. A little bit of Gypsy soul in this guy. Whether it’s his hypnotic guitar sound, bubbling banjo, or short story lyrics, his music draws from his rural Ohio roots, and his urban adventures, exuding a remarkable universal, and timeless quality. Haven't seen him perform? You'll be glad you did.

In 1987, the Kent State Folk Festival changed his life. After hearing Harvey Reid and the Horseflies at the festival, Joe sold his electric guitar, bought a steel string and never looked back. He's a fiddler and a pretty darn good percolating clawhammer banjo player to boot.

He has performed throughout the US, at folk festivals, coffeehouses, venues. There is not a navel-gazing break-up song to be found anywhere. "Go see this man perform" ... his audience rapport, musicianship and playful stage presence is intense, mesmerizing, and refreshingly dynamic.

Inspired by Woody Guthrie, Joe was recently awarded a year-long grant (2006-2007) from the Rockefeller Foundation to travel around the state of New York, to interview local residents, gather stories and write songs based on his experiences. His project is called, “Songs of the Finger Lakes.”

His keen musicianship as guitarist, clawhammer banjo player, fiddler, singer and songwriter fuse contemporary and traditional styles, and his writing simply and beautifully paints pictures with words.

"Fall Down as the Rain," not surprisingly, was chosen by Performing Songwriter magazine as a 2004 "TOP-12-Do-It-Yourself" independent recording, and was featured on National Public Radio's “All Songs Considered,” as well as Syndicated Minnesota Public Radio, The Midnight Special and Folkscene. He has shared festival stages with the likes of Livingston Taylor, John McCutcheon, Arlo Guthrie, Tim Reynolds, John Gorka and many others.

Victory Music Review says: "Joe's songs are powerful, simple, distilled lyrical paintings weaving together cycles of life and decay, cycles of joy and pain, and eventually they thread the needle through all of us..." He is a commanding, charismatic performer. Be glad Joe's one of the good guys, because otherwise he'd be dangerous.

"Oh, my heavens! This CD is wonderful. WUMB (Boston) is playing it a great deal. Congratulations on a terrific-sounding recording of well-written songs."--Marilyn Rea Beyer, Music Director WUMB Public Radio Network, Boston

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