From building guitars to writing heartfelt folk-Americana songs, Bend musician Joel Chadd explores grief, connection and the healing power of music.
Bend singer-songwriter Joel Chadd was 23 when his mother handed him a nylon-string guitar and a Bob Dylan songbook. He had never taken a guitar lesson, though he grew up surrounded by musicians and writers. Songwriting soon became a way to express what words alone could not.
“Singing for me became this emotional release,” said Chadd. “When I perform, I think that is what I’m trying to tap into: the emotion behind why I wrote the song.”
From Guitar Making to Songwriting in Central Oregon
Raised in the Willamette Valley, Chadd moved to Bend more than two decades ago. He learned to build instruments at Breedlove Guitars before joining Preston Thompson Guitars in Sisters, where the late Preston Thompson became his mentor.
Loss has shaped Chadd’s music. His mother was diagnosed with cancer when he was 25, and his 2022 debut album, Ghost of You, grew out of her death and Thompson’s passing, exploring grief, memory and the ways loved ones remain with us after they’re gone.
The idea of home remains a recurring theme in his songwriting. Chadd, who lives in Central Oregon with his wife, finds inspiration and solace in the high desert’s mountains, sunlight and wide-open horizons; home has become less about a place than the people who fill it. “Connection and those relationships that bring you that love, that’s what home is to me now,” he said.
Joel Chadd’s New Folk-Americana Music Explores Hope and Healing
This winter, Chadd is returning to the studio for his second album, drawing from folk Americana songs written over the past four years and digging deeper into childhood memories, personal struggles and vulnerability. Among them is “It’ll All Come Back,” which earned him a spot among 10 songwriters selected nationally for the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase. Another, “July Snow,” is about nature and the persistence of hope.
The new material reflects another difficult stretch of life: “Sometimes when life is hard, it just keeps hitting.” Rather than allowing heartache to define him, Chadd has found that hope offers a way forward. “I don’t know if there’s any other thing I could have held on to,” he said. “It’s just hold on to something brighter.”
See Joel Chadd Live: Nov. 13 at Open Arts Center and Dec. 12 at TEAL Tea + Art Lounge.
