Joel Mabus

Biography

Joel Mabus is one of contemporary folk music's most eclectic perfomers. A skilled guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin player and melodic songwriter, Mabus has played everything from traditional folk tunes to bluegrass, blues and original songs.

Mabus inherited his love of music from his parents who performed on WLS Prairie Farmer Barn Dance road tours in the 1930s. His father and his uncle, who were identical twins, played old-timey songs throughout the Midwest prior to World War II. Mabus' musical skills were evident from an early age. By the age of nine, he was singing gospel music at the local Pentecostal church and old-timey tunes at home.

Although a fourth grade teacher suggested that Mabus learn to play the trombone, his parents were financially unable to rent an instrument. Instead, Mabus was gifted with his older brother's mandolin, which he quickly taught himself to play.

As a teenager, Mabus wrote poetry and his first songs. Although he attended Michigan State University, where he studied anthropology under a National Merit Scholarship, he left the school, before graduating, after four years to play music full-time in 1975.

Mabus' debut album, Grassroots, was released in 1978 and featured guest musicians including Frank Wakefield, Brian Bishop, Joe Fitzpatrick and Frank Youngman. His second album, Settin' the Woods on Fire, released in 1980, was recorded during a performance at the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse. While most of Mabus' subsequent albums have spotlighted his original tunes, he's occasionally concentrated on special projects. Flatpick & Clawhammer, released in 1993, featured all traditional tunes, mostly played instrumentally on banjo and guitar. Western Passages: Suite For Solo Guitar, released in 1996, focused on finger-style melodies based on 19th-century Americana, which Mabus played on a classical guitar. Rhymes Schemes, released in 1997, emphasized the humorous side of Mabus' poetry and songwriting.

Mabus' songs have been covered by such artists as Claudia Schmidt, Bryan Bowers, Sally Rogers and Magpie. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide