NEW SINGLE "ILLINOIS" out now

Artist Bio

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​​True blue ​folk rock with a taste for the grandiose and the unrequited, Joe Bourdet's music is unapologetically anachronistic. He writes, performs, records, and produces new music that sound as if from another fantastical, yet familiar, time and place, leaving all contradictions therein unresolved.

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Raised in Nevada City CA, Joe Bourdet is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer with songs as varied as the mythic terrain of California, blending pastoral imagery, personal reflection, and a deep reverence for analog sound. His work often explores themes of nature, transience, place, and the quiet complexities of ones inner world. This strong sense of geography roots the music in real landscapes, especially the Sierra foothills and the California coast. Stylistically, Bourdet crafts lush, harmony-rich arrangements with layered acoustic guitars, punchy, natural drums, and vintage textures that play with the melodic tropes, arrangement ideas, and recording techniques of the early to mid 1970s. A meticulous arranger and self-taught studio craftsman, Bourdet’s recordings reflect a rare level of care and patience. His debut album Meadow Rock exemplifies this, offering songs that feel both spacious and intimate. 

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In live performance, Bourdet is equally at home in solo acoustic settings or backed by his group, the El Capitan Band, delivering shows that are heartfelt, rich in atmosphere, and the special joy that comes from making music with ones friends. He has shared the stage with fellow torchbearers of the new California sound such as Mapache, Alex Amen, John Craigie, Brothers Comatose, The Mother Hips, Beachwood Sparks, and Jonathan Wilson. With new recordings underway and a growing presence in both the U.S. and Europe, Joe Bourdet stands as a unique voice in a varied revival of roots-oriented, analog music. ​