Raised in the shadow of Billy Bob's, one of Texas's legendary honky tonks, Joel Thetford grew up listening to the sounds of classic country radio and the wide variety of rock and roll, blues, and folk music that the Texas scene provided. His career as a bull-rider landed him eventually in Stephenville, where the Texas Country scene was booming. With acts like Gary Stewart, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jerry Lee Lewis, Robert Earl Keen, making regular stops in town, those were Joel's earliest and strongest influences as he began writing songs.
Joel has become a fixture in the songwriting community, and has shared the stage with such acts as The Alternate Roots, Kaleo, Barns Courtney, John Craigie, Tigerman Woah, Hannah Daman and the Martelle Sisters, Town Meeting, Max Carcia Conover, Griffin Sherry, Seepeoples, Clara Junken, Sarah Blacker, Chris Ross and the North, The Mallett Brothers Band, Jim Betts and The Beach People, Joseph Gallant, Jake Hill and Deep Creek, Five of the Eyes, North of Nashville, Ghost of Johnson City, and many more.
Joel's debut EP "Here I Go" was released in the summer of 2015. Joel's new EP "The Outer Bank" was recorded and produced by 2017 New England Music award winning producer of the year Jonathan Wyman at The Halo, and mastered by Grammy award winning Dave Collins in Los Angeles. Joel will be going back to the studio to record his third album fall of 2017 with Jonathan Wyman.