Joe Crookston

Joe Crookston

Joe Crookston, an Ithaca, New York-based singer-songwriter and guitarist, received the prestigious Album of the Year Award during the 21st annual International Folk Alliance Conference, Feb. 18, in Memphis, Tennessee. His 2008 recording, Able Baker Charlie & Dog, ended the year as the #1 most-aired CD by folk/acoustic radio DJs in the United States.

Recorded at Ithaca’s Wilburland Studios, The CD showcases 13 songs –- many of which were inspired by stories that ordinary New Yorkers related to Crookston during his year-long travels throughout the state as part of a songwriting grant from The Rockefeller Foundation. Four of those songs –- including the title track and two other originals, as well as a solo acoustic cover of Supertramp’s “Logical Song” — also were among the top 25 songs of 2008 on the FOLKDJ-L radio playlists. Richard Gillman, a folk DJ with KBCS in Bellevue, Washington, compiles the annual radio charts and introduced Crookston during the awards ceremony in Memphis. The year-end Folk DJ Chart was based on 166,787 airplays by some 200 reporting DJs in the U.S., Canada and abroad

“I’m extremely honored,” said Crookston. “I’m thrilled to have had a chance to travel, interview New York locals, and write songs based on the stories that I heard … and then to have it so appreciated is a dream come true!”

A serious craftsman, who heeded his father’s advice to work with his hands (and heart) in metal and wood, Crookston has been developing a national reputation as an energetic and engaging live performer. He was among the artists voted “Most Wanted to Return” during the 2007 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, New York.

Crookston embarks on what he’s calling his “Ides of March” house concert tour on March 1. He will perform his lyrically compelling, narrative-style songs during 15 intimate living room concerts in communities across New York State.

For more information about Joe Crookston and his music, visit www.joecrookston.com.