Joel Rafael to Host Radio Show Celebrating Woody Guthrie's 99th Birthday Airing on Sirius XM Folk Channel "The Village" on July 12 and 14

LOS ANGELES, July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of Woody Guthrie's 99th birthday, singer-songwriter Joel Rafael will guest-host a special satellite radio broadcast spotlighting the legendary musician on Sirius XM's folk channel The Village (channel 62).  The hour-long program is scheduled to air on Tuesday, July 12 at 6PM ET, and on Thursday, July 14—Guthrie's birthdate—at 11AM ET.  On Friday, July 15, Rafael—who is renowned for his interpretations of Guthrie's songs—will perform at the 14th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival (July 13-17) in Okemah, OK.

Rafael's radio salute to the American icon will feature a selection of Woody Guthrie's original music recordings, as well as excerpts of Guthrie talking about his life pulled from the historic 1940 Library of Congress tapes (on which Guthrie is interviewed by Alan Lomax).  Rafael will read passages from Guthrie's classic book Bound For Glory, and include tracks from his own two Guthrie tribute albums, Woodeye and Woodyboye (The Songs of Woody Guthrie, Volumes 1 and 2, respectively, on Inside Recordings).  Also featured will be Woody Guthrie covers by artists including Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, and Terri Hendrix.

At the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, Rafael's July 15 set on the Pastures of Plenty main stage is scheduled for 9:30PM.  Rafael has appeared at the Festival, also known as WoodyFest, every year since its inception in 1998.  This year WoodyFest also includes "An Evening with David Crosby & Graham Nash" as a special opening night event.  Next year's festival will celebrate the 2012 centennial of Guthrie's birth.

Joel Rafael's lifetime journey as a performing songwriter began in showcases and small clubs around Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Inland Empire in California.  He performed as a duo with Rosie Flores in the late 1970s, and opened for artists including Rick Danko, Emmylou Harris, John Lee Hooker, John Stewart, Laura Nyro, and Taj Majal, and toured the southwest with Jesse Colin Young in the 1980s.  In 1994, with the seminal Joel Rafael Band, he gained national airplay, and in 2003, toured with Joan Baez.  Rafael won the Kerrville Folk Festival's "New Folk Emerging Songwriter Award" in 1995.

Several of the selections on The Songs of Woody Guthrie (Vol. 1 and 2) feature new original music by Rafael composed specifically for previously unpublished lyrics by Guthrie.  Nora Guthrie entrusted the lyrics to Rafael as part of her vision for building the legacy of her father's written and illustrated works. Rafael has also released five albums of original songs.  His most recent, Thirteen Stories High (2008), features the protest anthem "This Is My Country," with friends David Crosby and Graham Nash contributing background vocals.  Rafael currently serves on the Board of Directors of Folk Alliance International.

The GRAMMY Museum, in conjunction with Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. and the Woody Guthrie Archives, will celebrate Guthrie's extraordinary body of work and impact on American music with a centennial celebration that will kick off in February 2012. The yearlong celebration will include tribute concerts, educational curricula, lectures, conferences, a touring exhibition, grassroots hootenannies and more. These and other centennial events will be tracked on a special anniversary website, www.woody100.com, which launches on July 14, 2011.

For more information:   www.joelrafael.com

SOURCE Inside Recordings