Biography

Silver crayons and the Beatles have fascinated Joel Kraft from a very early age. Even after his mind was trained to pull sounds apart into theoretical blocks of rhythm and key signature, the British pop group's extant works have remained to him magically aloof from analysis.

Nonetheless, his own sense of melody and fantasy owe an obvious debt to both Brit Pop and crayons. At the heart of his work are the questions of a simple-minded curiosity and a love of catchy, singable songs. With a diverse musical training ranging from Irish Folk to Flamenco to Jazz and Ragtime, Joel has developed a unique and broad-ranging approach to songwriting that is at once simple and complex, light and dark, polished and ragged.

Kraft’s unique approach can be heard on his debut CD for Blinking Light Records, a division of City Light Entertainment, Big Ideas. The debut is a powerful work of pop culture.

The songs on Big Ideas take you by the hand and lead you on an adventure to the end of the world and back, wandering through a circus of wide-eyed wonder. Full of big questions and sugar high images, candy sweet harmonies and exotic marvels, they showcase Kraft’s unique perspective and talent as a songwriter.

While songs like “Teacher Showed Up to Learn”, “Raisins” “Catalpas” and the album’s title track get you humming and tapping to their lush Brit-pop hooks, “Rainsong” “Gone” and “Hymn for Sal” explore a quieter acoustic sensibility, such as that of Iron and Wine, Nick Drake, or even Paul Simon.

Wandering through the circus of Kraft’s imagination, you meet curious characters and see exotic marvels that gleam with promise. From a graceful Neanderthal to the kaleidoscopic brilliance of springtime, to the anchorman who rises like a balloon out of his desk and up into the studio ceiling, Joel’s penchant for magical realism is a delight, while at the same time describing an ever-deepening mystery.

Big Ideas has an awful lot to say, about heartache, humility, faith and the intelligence that we might somehow enjoy our time here on Earth. Inspired by the Midwest and the Mideast, Kraft’s debut is an appeal to the child within to remain curious.