- Joel Rakes
Infobox musical artist
Name = Joel Rakes
Img_capt = Rakes at his CD release show in the Bacchus Theater at University of Delaware in 2008.
Landscape = yes
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1986|02|16
Origin =United States
Died =
Instrument = VocalsGuitar Banjo Multi-instrumentalist
Genre =Progressive folk
IndieSinger-songwriter
Occupation =
Years_active = 1999–present
Label = who ganked my gnome? records
Associated_acts = [http://www.jennyandtylermusic.com/ Jenny&Tyler]
URL = [http://www.joelrakes.com/ www.joelrakes.com]
Notable_instruments =Joel Rakes (born
February 16 ,1986 ) is an Americansinger-songwriter andmusician based in and around the state ofDelaware . Rakes first began releasing his music independently on his own "who ganked my gnome? records" label, starting with 2005 release "Third Person Present Tense". His most recent album, "A Sudden Change in the Atmosphere", was released on May 21, 2008. [cite web |title= UD student, Dover native debuts CD with concert |publisher="Dover Post" |url=http://www.doverpost.com/pages/eventsrakes.html|accessdate=2008-05-27]Rakes is very original with his music. This can be seen on "A Sudden Change in the Atmosphere", where he puts to use his full repertoire of instrumentation and his vocal capabilities. Some of his earlier
lo-fi demos featuring just his guitar and vocals speak just as clearly and show his talent just as well as studio recordings. Rakes has released freeChristmas songs on his website in recent years. His musical influences are very broad. The most notable of these would beMartin Sexton ,Mates of State ,Iron & Wine , andSufjan Stevens . [cite web |title= The Internet Has No Feelings |url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2008/01/the_internet_has_no_feelings_2.html| publisher=www.npr.org | accessdate = 2008-05-27]Early life
Rakes was born
16 February 1986 in theUnited States . He grew up inDover, Delaware , and graduated in 2004 from a home school co-op program with Dover High School.The name Joel is of Hebrew origin, and it means "Jehovah is the Lord". The name is shared by actors
Joel McCrea andJoel Grey . [cite web| title= Origin and Meaning of Joel | url = http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Joel | publisher = Think Baby Names | accessdate = 2008-05-27] Joel can also mean "God Is Willing". [cite web| title = What Does the Name Joel Mean? | publisher = Zelo.com | url = http://www.zelo.com/firstnames/findresults.asp?name=JOEL | accessdate = 2008-05-27]A multi-instrumentalist, Rakes is well known for playing Taylor
acoustic guitars , but he also playsbanjo ,piano , and several other instruments. He plays all of these on his albums through the use ofmultitrack recording . In "A Sudden Change in the Atmosphere", Rakes featured strings as well as natural sound effects from rain.While attending the
University of Delaware , Rakes studiedmarketing . He graduated in 2008 and currently lives in the city of Philadelphia.Influences
Rakes cites influences as being
Sufjan Stevens ,Denison Witmer ,Dave Barnes ,Matt Wertz , Andy Davis,Ivan Colon ,Aaron Roche ,David Mead ,David Bazan ,Derek Webb , andEd Cash . [cite web| url=http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joel-Rakes/5706392209 | title=Facebook Fan Page | accessdate=2008-05-27]Quirks
While always a fan of proper grammar, Rakes doesn't favor
capitalization when writing or typing even formal documents. [cite web| url = http://www.joelrakes.com/blog/2007/05/29/this-is-a-blog/| title=this is a blog | accessdate=2008-05-27] Among his friends, Joel is known by the nickname Nancy Pants.Career
Rakes began his musical career early in life. His father is Pastor of Worship at [http://www.gracedover.com/ Grace Church] in
Dover, Delaware ; [cite web| url=http://gracedover.com/mod/church-staff/| title= Grace Church Staff|accessdate=2008-05-28] he composes and performs contemporaryChristian worship music. Rakes' sister is a private voice teacher. Music has always been an important part of Rakes' life, and in 1999 he started to play guitar.While in school at
University of Delaware , Rakes wrote and recorded many songs. He frequently performed live shows atcoffeehouse s, festivals, and local bars. His time at UD culminated with the release of his album, "A Sudden Change in the Atmosphere", which was released independently. He collaborated with [http://www.jennyandtylermusic.com/ Jenny&Tyler] for some of the lyrics on this album. While performing CD release shows in May 2008, Rakes performed a cover ofMiley Cyrus ' popular song, "See You Again".In 2008, he moved to
Philadelphia .Guitars
Rakes currently records and performs with his Taylor 310ce and 614ce models. He also owns a
Fender Stratocaster .Festive Mood Inducing Music
For the past two years, Rakes has given away free recordings of Christmas music in December. A week or so before Christmas in 2006, he posted some simple recordings of himself playing Christmas carols. He posted a song a day for 5 days, leading up to Christmas day. These five songs were "festive.mood.inducing.songs.volume.1" In 2007, Rakes posted a new song once each week before Christmas, starting on Sunday, November 25th. "festive.mood.inducing.songs.volume.2" featured better quality recordings along with more tracks being added to each song. [cite web|url=http://www.joelrakes.com/free-christmas-music/|title=Free Christmas Music|accessdate=2008-05-28]
A Sudden Change
Producer [http://mikeodmark.com/ Mike Odmark] of
Nashville, Tennessee worked with Rakes through February 2008 to create this album. It began as an EP, but Rakes reconsidered and turned it into an album. The album demonstrates Rakes' ever-increasing sense of musical composition. It features banjo, piano, guitar, bass, drums, and a wealth of other instruments and effects. The album was released on May 21, 2008 in Newark, Delaware at the first of five CD release shows/tour dates with his one-tour band, "The Dreamwreckers".piritual Themes
Rakes' faith has been ever present in his song writing process. While his songs are not always specifically about Christian things, his works have an underlying theme of hope, grace, and love.
Discography
Third Person Present Tense
Release Date: July 18, 2005
Label: who ganked my gnome? records
Length: 56:20
Recorded with friends in Rakes' bedroom. These songs aren't often performed live anymore.ingles
* "This Girl", 2007 - music video won a video contest hosted by the
University Of Delaware [http://www.udel.edu/smdc/ media design center] [cite web| url=http://www.joelrakes.com|title=Rakes wins Media Design Contest|accessdate=2008-05-28]
* "No Mo' Ho Ho Ho", Christmas 2007 - was chosen bySufjan Stevens as one of the top 36 songs out of 650 song entries in a original Christmas song contest [cite web|url=http://asthmatickitty.com/akradio/players/akradio_xmas.php|title=Asthmatic Kitty Radio|accessdate=2008-05-28]Collaborations
* Rakes played shows and recorded with roommate/bandmate "Tyler Somers" between 2006 and 2007.
References
External links
* [http://www.joelrakes.com/ Joel Rakes] - official site
* [http://www.myspace.com/joelrakes www.myspace.com/joelrakes] -myspace page
* [http://www.virb.com/joelrakes www.virb.com/joelrakes] - virb page
* [http://www.joelrakes.com/blog/ www.joelrakes.com/blog/] - official blogPersondata
NAME= Rakes, Joel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH=February 16 ,1986
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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