Born and raised in Texas, Joel cut his teeth in the bars of Deep Ellum starting at the age of 13. By nineteen he had traded in the high-rises and concrete of Dallas for the Steinbeckian Central California farm town of Visalia, California. The influence of Bakersfield legends like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens was unmistakable in this new home, and it would begin to color Joel’s writing. ... more