Joe Seamons is a musician and educator based in the Pacific Northwest and dedicated to helping people connect with their heritage through music and storytelling. As director of The Rhapsody Project, he works with youth in Seattle to explore the influence of regional and personal history through the lens of American blues and folk songs. He serves as board chair of the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center.​Born and raised in Northwestern Oregon, Joe has made a living interpreting the songs and stories of the local sawmill, logging, and fishing ballads composed by elder working people and folklorists. Many of these songs are included on the 2016 album, Timberbound, the story of which is detailed here. In the same vein, Joe directed and served as executive producer for a Smithsonian Folkways album entitled, "Roll, Columbia: Woody Guthrie's 26 Northwest Songs."

The Rhapsody Project is a community that explores and celebrates music, heritage, and culture through an anti-racist lens.

Facilitating classes for South Seattle students with local and national culture bearers is at the heart of this work. This position also involves grant writing, school concert performances, coordinating and leading field trips to local music festivals, and growing a community of musicians and educators dedicated to cultural and racial equity across North America.

Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons are songster revivalists, performing a variety of field hollers, fiddle & banjo breakdowns, early jazz and hokum that has delighted audiences in concerts and workshops nationwide for the past five years. Their tours serve as an extension of their work as teachers and community organizers in their home of Seattle Washington. With their unique integration of performance, education and modern-day folklore, the duo is redefining the role of a songster for the 21st century. In January of 2016, they released their second album and earned 1st place in the International Blues Challenge’s solo/duo category.

I teach middle schoolers to play guitar and banjo for a class called Pickup Band. Currently, Artichoke is collaborating with the SUN Program to facilitate my after school classes in NE Portland.

Concert and class programs featuring American blues and folk music. Visual art of contemporary painters, filmmakers, and photographers is featured in each concert program. Residencies & after school programs available for K-12 students. Instrumentation includes: vocals, harmonica, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, trombone, fiddle.