Feb 1 2026 - 4:00 PM
In a career that spans six decades, 28 albums and three Grammy awards, Hudson Valley troubadour Tom Chapin has covered an incredible amount of creative ground. In addition to his work as a recording artist, concert performer, storyteller, and activist, he has performed on Broadway and worked extensively in television, radio, and film. The younger brother of the late Harry Chapin, he gained prominence as a solo artist, a children’s entertainer, and through his early work with his brothers as “The Chapin Brothers.”
The best writing comes from writing what you know, and based on Joel Rafael’s life experiences and over fifty 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. Joel began performing in showcases and small clubs around Southern California in the early 1970s. In 1981, he toured with Jesse Colin Young, and released his debut album, Dharma Bums. Joel 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 all twenty-seven years.