Joe Crookston is an American

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

from Randolph, Ohio and based in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. As of February 2025, he has released eight albums and four EPs on the Milagrito Records label including these award-winning albums: 2004's "Fall Down as the Rain," 2008's "Able Baker Charlie & Dog," 2011's "Darkling & the BlueBird Jubilee," 2014's "Georgia I'm Here," and the first four of nine EPs (chapters) in a multi-year project titled "Nine Becomes One."

Biography

Crookston's family origins include Hungary, and his website reports that

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

s and Eastern European food figured in his upbringing. Joe Crookston was born and raised in rural Ohio and attended

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

. While at college, he attended the Kent State Folk Festival and his musical interests shifted to focus on folk music, causing him to sell his classical guitar and acquire a steel stringed acoustic. Crookston lived in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

from 1996 until 2004. For a year during this time he worked with detained youth at the King County Correctional Facility on Jackson Street in Seattle Washington. As of 2025 he is based in

and tours extensively around the U.S., Canada and Ireland. Crookston has shared stages with Gordan Lightfoot, Suzanne Vega, Judy Collins, Dar Williams, Mary Gauthier, Shawn Colvin, The Decemberists, and John Gorka 8 acclaimed studio albums of award-winning songs, many of which have been covered by other musicians. Two songs, Blue Tattoo, and Brooklyn in July have been made into feature films available on Amazon Prime. Crookston's recent new music release NINE BECOMES ONE has been met with great acclaim (2023-2025). NINE BECOMES ONE is a collection of 45 songs. Many disparate parts become one. Nominated for Best of Folk Alliance by Folk Alliance International (2025). Crookston had the ''#''1 song on DJ/Folk Radio (October - December, 2024)
"Oh Mercy, Where are You Now?"
''Able Baker Charlie & Dog'' was awarded “Album of the Year” by Folk Alliance International (2009), indicating that it received more radio airplay than any other folk album released the year prior and received the award alongside

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (; born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the band. As a so ...

. Chosen as Folk Alliance International’s “Artist in Residence” (2016) and invited to collaborate and perform “The Letters of Florence Hemphill” as part of the keynote gathering featuring Judy Collins. Invited to play high profile music festivals such as The Goderich Roots Festival, The Kerrville Folk Festival, The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, The Philadelphia Folk Festival, 30A Songwriters Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, Caramoor Music Fest, Fayetteville Roots Festival, The Heartwood Stage Festival Performs in many iconic music venues such as Club Passim, The Hangar Theatre, The Irvington Theater, The Garland Theatre, The Guthrie Center, Heartwood SoundStage, The Chatfield Arts Center, Godfrey Daniels, Evanston SPACE, The Columbus Performing Arts Center, and The Deane Center for the Performing Arts Crookston's first label album, ''Fall Down as the Rain'', was selected by Performing Songwriter Magazine as one of 2004's top 12 self-produced independent recordings, and was featured on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

All Songs Considered ''All Songs Considered'' is a weekly online podcast and radio program hosted by Robin Hilton. It was created in January 2000 by NPR's ''All Things Considered'' then-director Bob Boilen and produced by Robin Hilton beginning in 2001. At first, ...

, The Midnight Special and Folkscene. Crookston was a finalist in the

Mountain Stage ''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and curr ...

NewSong contest. In 2007, Crookston received a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

grant for a project called "Songs of the Finger Lakes". Emulating

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

, he spent a year traveling in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York (state), New York, in the United States. This region straddles th ...

region of New York state, collecting stories to turn into songs. Four songs from this project were incorporated into his second album. In the summer of 2007, audiences at the

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music and dance festival currently held at the Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut History The first festival was a two-day event in 1988, held at a ski slope. In 1991, the festiv ...

selected him as one of the artists they most wanted to have perform at the following year's festival. In Spring 2008, Crookston and the other "Most Wanted" award winners ( Anthony da Costa,

Randall Williams Randall Williams may refer to: *Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility, a prison in Arkansas *Randall Williams (showman) (1846–1898), British showman *Randall Williams (politician), South African politician and attorney *Randall W. Williams, p ...

and Lindsay Mac) were sent on a 23 concert promotional tour in the northeastern U.S., with venues including the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

and

Club Passim Club Passim is an American folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina (now Chopra) and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 (based on its then address, 47 Mount Auburn Stre ...

. In February 2009, his second CD, ''Able Baker Charlie & Dog'' was given the "Album of the Year" award by the

Folk Alliance International Folk Alliance International (previously the ''North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance'') is a non-profit organization that produces an annual conference that is the world's largest gathering of the folk music industry and community. Founde ...

in a ceremony in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, indicating that it received more radio airplay than any other folk album released in 2008. In February 2016, he was named

Artist in Residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

by the

. He collaborated with The National WW1 Museum and Memorial in Kansas City MO to write the song, "The Letters of Florence Hemphill" about a 19 year old nurse who served in France during WWI. January 19, 2018, he had an art installment and concert at True North Gallery in

Waterdown, Ontario Waterdown is a community in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. Waterdown is approximately 60 km west of downtown Toronto and, as of 2021, has a population of approximately 24,400 residents. On Jan ...

. His paintings are installed in the gallery alongside paintings by other musicians, including

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, and

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

Music

Earlier albums

Crookston released three CDs on his own independent label: ''Nobody Told Me'', ''Michaelangelo Knew'', and ''Rounding the Square''.

Fall Down as the Rain (2004)

* Fall Down as the Rain * Don't Bring Me Flowers * The Good Stuff * The Sylvan Song * Satisfied (

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The story was origina ...

) * Mostly * If I Say Yes * Dance and Sway * Blue * Little Pink * Poor Me / (May There Always Be Sunshine) * Mostly (the Chaco Canyon live mix)

Able Baker Charlie & Dog (2008)

The Logical Song "The Logical Song" is a song by English rock group Supertramp that was released as the lead single from their album '' Breakfast in America'' in March 1979. It was written primarily by the band's frontman Roger Hodgson, who based the lyrics ...

, a cover version of a

Supertramp Supertramp were a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending p ...

song * John Jones, from the Finger Lakes Project, about an escaped slave who relocated to

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...

and became part of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

* Wandering Shepherd * Freddy the Falcon, based on a prison inmate Crookston worked with * Brooklyn in July * Red Rooster in the Mash Pile, from the Finger Lakes Project, based on the story of a family's chickens getting drunk from the wastage of an illegal

still A still is an apparatus used to distillation, distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively Boiling, boil and then cooling to Condensation, condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic Distillation#Laboratory_procedures, ...

during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

* Able Baker Charlie and Dog, based on his grandfather Joe Gnap's memories of working as a

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

to construct the runways on

Tinian Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...

island that were used to launch the atomic bomb attacks on Japan. * Mending Walls * Hands Metal and Wood * Blue Tattoo, from the Finger Lakes Project, about an

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

survivor explaining her

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

to her young daughter. * Bird by Bird * Red Rooster in the Mash Pile (Live in Ithaca, NY) * The Rutabaga Curl (Live in Ithaca, NY)

Darkling & the BlueBird Jubilee (2011)

* I Sing * Caitlin at the Window, about

Caitlin Thomas Caitlin Thomas (née Macnamara; 8 December 1913 – 31 July 1994) was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fueled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dyl ...

* Mercy Now, by

Mary Gauthier Mary Veronica Gauthier ( ; born March 11, 1962) is a Grammy-nominated American folk singer-songwriter and author, whose songs have been covered by performers including Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Kathy Mattea, Boy George, Jimmy Buffett, Bettye La ...

* Good Luck John * The Nazarene * Darkling & the BlueBird Jubilee * Everything Here is Good * Wilderness Alone * Blue, also on his 2004 album * A Friend Like You * To Keep You Warm * Darkling/BlueBird (Fear & Transcend)

Georgia I'm Here (2014)

* Georgia I'm Here (The Invocation) * Riding the Train (The Dream Mix) * Impermanent Things * Tuesday Morning (For Roko) * Big Sky (In the Middle of Nowhere) * Miner in the Mourning * Black Dress (I'm in Love With a Woman) * Riding the Train (The Meter Maid Mix) * Pretty Saro * Fall Down as the Rain (2014) * Out On the Run (For Josie Rae) * Georgia I'm Here (Amen)

References

External links

* Artist's website
www.joecrookston.com

Falcon Ridge Preview Tour plays 23 Northeastern Venues

A song and a request for Eliot Spitzer

2007 bio for the Finger Lakes Song Festival

* https://vimeo.com/94228071/ Trailer for a documentary film inspired by Joe Crookston's song "Blue Tattoo" {{DEFAULTSORT:Crookston, Joe Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American male singer-songwriters American folk singers People from Portage County, Ohio Place of birth missing (living people) Kent State University alumni Singer-songwriters from Ohio

Biography

Music

Earlier albums

Fall Down as the Rain (2004)

Able Baker Charlie & Dog (2008)

Darkling & the BlueBird Jubilee (2011)

Georgia I'm Here (2014)

Nine Becomes One

Chapter 9 (Start Brave) (2023)

Chapter 8 (Child Heal) (2023)

Chapter 7 (Time Become) (2024)

Chapter 6 (Water Fire) (2025)

References

External links