Joel Rafael / Citrus Sisters

The best writing comes from writing what you know – and based on Joel Rafael’s life experiences and over 50 years of making music, he has a deep well from which to draw.  He has chronicled his life and the world around him with passionate songwriting rooted in the folk tradition.

Rafael began performing in showcases and small clubs around Southern California in the early 70s.  In 1981, he toured with Jesse Colin Young, and released his debut album, Dharma Bums.  Rafael won Kerrville’s new folk award in 1995 and gained national airplay with the seminal Joel Rafael Band.  He composed and performed all original music for the LA Theatre Works production of The Grapes of Wrath in 2002 and toured the southwest with Joan Baez in 2003.  No influence is more obvious in his work than that of Woody Guthrie, with whom he shares five co-writes, and Joel has been a featured performer at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival for 27 years.   Joel Rafael’s music career archives have recently found a permanent home in the California State University of San Marcos Kellogg Library, SpecialCollections.  Joel’s daughter Jamaica Rafael (violin/fiddle) and his grandson, Ashton Dieter (bass) will be joining him.

“Joel Rafael’s songs are filled with passion and compassion; passion for social justice and compassion for those among us who have to struggle for a place at the table of American prosperity. His voice is unmistakably his own, big, warm, and strong, and a conductor for the human emotions that connect us all.”

-Jackson Browne.

“In the society of illusion, reality must manifest itself. The story songs of Joel Rafael are that manifestation… the essence of minstrel.”
– John Trudell

 

The Citrus Sisters have been playing music together in a variety of formats for many years. Recently they formed their own band: The Citrus Sisters and have been playing events in the LA/Inland Empire area, including: creating a studio recording of the Civil Rights song: If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus, for the documentary My Life with Rosie by Angela Sadler Williamson. Their beautiful and haunting three-part harmonies are used to weave original, traditional and contemporary material into a compelling musical evening.

Ellen Harper is a singer, songwriter, musician, author and co-owner of the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California. Her memoir, Always a Song covers a transformational time in American culture. Ellen and her son Ben Harper collaborated on the album Childhood Home and went on tour together. Danny Clinch filmed the documentary A House is a Home about Ellen and Ben’s musical journey.

Elizabeth Hangan is a singer, songwriter, bass player, and music educator who has been performing around Southern California for many years. As a live performer and recording artist she enjoys working with a large and musically diverse group of musicians, who perform folk to funk and some world music as well. Her single release: “Notorious Woman” is on Spotify.

Marguerite Millard began her musical career as a child standing on chairs in her house singing along with musicals. Her career took a musical turn when she was introduced to folk music and learned to play guitar from Dorothy Chase. Since then she’s played with a variety of musical groups in the Bay Area and in Southern California. Her former group Squeakin’ Wheels released two acclaimed albums, Devil’s Racetrack, and Things have Changed.