Joel Pelletier is an independent musician, composer and multimedia artist living in Los Angeles, CA. His songwriting is influenced by both classical and pop music, while his lyrics combine the personal with social and ethical topics. His painting and illustration style is a kind of "surrealistic cartooning."
Raised in Massachusetts, he received a degree in Music Composition from The Hartt School of Music at The University of Hartford , while also studying at the Hartford Art School and playing in rock bands at night. In Los Angeles since 1988, he has been a vocalist, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist/pianist, Chapman Stick player, composer, arranger and musical director for many bands and ensembles, including his own. He is also active as a "sideline musician," appearing in films and TV shows including Jim Carey's "The Man In The Moon", Star Trek Voyager, VH1's Meatloaf Bio, Family Matters, Celine Dion Special (CBS), INK, Fame LA, Murphy Brown and Columbo.
Joel performs either with a string quartet or with his 7-piece Chamber Pop Ensemble, with guitar, bass, drums, a string section and the 3-part harmonies featured throught his pop music. 2001 also marked a return to his classical piano and composition roots, and 2002 promises solo and chamber music recitals of masters including Alban Berg, Bela Bartok, Paul Hindemith, Schubert and Beethoven, as well as the premier of some original "art music" pieces.
His background as a composer/musician, artist and computer graphic artist/designer come together in the production of his CD/CD-ROM, "CHAMBER POP ," featuring 12 songs plus videos, lyrics in 10 languages, animations, etc., and the entire album is available for free MP3 download from his website, http://www.joelp.org.
As the line between business and art continues to blur, Joel feels that independence from market influences are essential for the survival of culture and the arts. Through his web, design and multimedia company the Way Home media, Joel has created and designed professional commercial websites, illustrations and advertising campaigns and materials for dozens of large and small commercial clients, and this work continues to finance his art, music and music company, The Way Home Music. For 2 years Joel was "Cyber Music" columnist and webmaster for Music Connection Magazine, LA's oldest and most respected professional music publication, and he has also contributed columns and illustrations to Electronic Musician. He has moderated panels on music and the Internet at MUSICOM, and was featured on The CBS News in a story about music, the Internet and MPEG3. For performance, interview and/or panel bookings he can be reached by email at joelp@joelp.org, or by phone at 818-980-8304.
Please call or e-mail if you would like to be on Joel's mailing or email list for future shows. Online purchasing of the CHAMBER POP Enhanced CD, a 4-song sampler CD, or t-shirts are available at his website. He is actively seeking bookings, management and national/international distribution; call or e-mail for a complete demo package/media kit.
Joel also has a musicLA page as a session/touring musician.
photos, music and lyrics © 1999-2003 Joel Pelletier
© musicLA 1998-2003, designed and maintained by
the Way Home media
