Joel Rakes

Joel Rakes (born February 16, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and musician based in and around the state of Delaware. 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.

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 free Christmas songs on his website in recent years. His MusicAL influences are very broad. The most notable of these would be Martin Sexton, Mates of State, Iron & Wine, and Sufjan Stevens.

Early life

Rakes was born 16 February 1986 in the United States. He grew up in Dover, 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 and Joel Grey. Joel can also mean "God Is Willing".

A multi-instrumentalist, Rakes is well known for playing Taylor acoustic guitars, but he also plays banjo, piano, and several other INSTRUMENTS. He plays all of these on his albums through the use of multitrack 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 studied marketing. 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, Sarah Maclachlan, David Mead, David Bazan, Gloria Estefan, P.O.D., Derek Webb, and Ed Cash. Rakes is also very influenced by his fantastic friend Molly & Carolyn.

Quirks

While always a fan of proper grammar, Rakes doesn't favor capitalization when writing or typing even formal documents. Late at night, and early in the morning, Joel can be found using the finest flagon of nasal spray. Among his friends, Joel is known by the nickname Sweet Sweet Angel. In addition, he is known to prefer the 'Thin Mint' variety of Girl Scout cookies.

Career

Rakes began his musical career early in life. His father is Pastor of Worship at Grace Church in Dover, Delaware; he composes and performs contemporary Christian 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 at coffeehouses, 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 Jenny&Tyler for some of the lyrics on this album. While performing CD release shows in May 2008, Rakes performed a cover of Miley 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.

A Sudden Change

Producer 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.

Spiritual 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

A Sudden Change in the Atmosphere

Mike Odmark Productions
Release Date: May 21, 2008
Length: 30:02
Recorded with up-and-coming producer Mike Odmark at Winter Beard Studios in Nashville, TN. Session musicians included Gabe Ruschival (bass) and Jeremy Lutito (drums) of Disappointed by Candy and Jars of Clay. The album was mastered by Matt Odmark (Jars of Clay).

t.w.i.p.ep

Release Date: August 10, 2007
Label: who ganked my gnome? records
Length: 28:40
t.w.i.p.ep = the works in ProgresS ep
This is a homemade ep with some of Rakes' demos from the Fall of 2007

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.

Singles

• "This Girl", 2007 - music video won a video contest hosted by the University Of Delaware media design center
• "No Mo' Ho Ho Ho", Christmas 2007 - was chosen by Sufjan Stevens as one of the top 36 songs out of 650 song entries in a original Christmas song contest

Collaborations

• Rakes played shows and recorded with roommate/bandmate Tyler Somers between 2006 and 2007.

External links

• Joel Rakes - official site
• www.myspace.com/joelrakes - myspace page
• www.virb.com/joelrakes - virb page
• www.joelrakes.com/blog/ - official blog