| Joel Fafard | |
| Birth Date: | 18 November 1968 |
| Birth Place: | Pense, Saskatchewan |
| Origin: | Canada |
| Genre: | Roots and Blues |
| Occupation: | Finger-style and slide guitarist |
| Instrument: | Guitar, Banjo |
| Years Active: | 1990–present |
| Associated Acts: | The Duhks |
Joel Fafard (born November 18, 1968) is a Canadian finger-style and slide guitarist from Saskatchewan. He now lives on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.[1]
Fafard has released six albums featuring original and traditional folk/blues instrumentals and songs. He won a Western Canadian Music Award in 2006[2] and was nominated for a Juno in 2007[3] for his album ...and another thing... In 2009, he was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award for his album Three Hens Escape Oblivion[4] . With Fafard's latest album, Fowl Mood, he builds on his previous success, with a collection of new songs in the southern blues and Appalachian traditions.
Fafard studied guitar with Jack Semple[5] and music at Capilano College in British Columbia, and was a member of the Manitoba-based band Scruj MacDuhk, which later evolved into the Celtic fusion band, The Duhks.
Fafard's 2013 album, Borrowed Horses, was a collaboration with Toronto-based guitarist Joel Schwartz.[6] Schwartz and Fafard toured with Canadian sculptor Joe Fafard, performing at the sculptor's exhibition openings[7] across Canada. The album's title, Borrowed Horses, is a reference to Joe Fafard's sculpture of running horses,[8] which graces the CD cover.
2009 Canadian Folk Music Award nominee; 2009 International Acoustic Music Award runner up; 2009 Western Canadian Music Award nominee; 2007 Juno nominee; 2006 Western Canadian Music Award Winner; 2006 Canadian Folk Music Award nominee; 2004 Western Canadian Music Award nominee