JOEL RAFAEL “Old Portland Town”

Critically acclaimed, California songwriter and seminal folk artist Joel Rafael releases his ninth album today, Baladista, on Inside Recordings. Inside Recordings, a label created by Jackson Browne and his management team, is distributed worldwide by Alternative Distribution Alliance.

“Joel Rafael’s songs are filled with passion and compassion,” says Jackson Browne. “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.”

The album’s first single and video, “Old Portland Town,” tells the tale of Rafael’s experience being arrested in Portland as part of a city-wide sweep of the entire underground. He had migrated there from Los Angeles with a group of outlaws, artists, writers and mystics in an effort to avoid the impending military draft.

Baladista is available today at all normal retail outlets, including Amazon and iTunes.