ABOUT

Joe Stephenson was born and raised in the Missouri River town of Yankton, South Dakota, and
went to college at Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota. It was at St. Cloud that
Stephenson first began singing, playing guitar, and writing songs. Upon college graduation,
Stephenson began an epic canoe journey down the entire Mississippi River solo from Lake
Itasca, Minnesota to New Orleans, which largely inspired his 2017 album Down the Mississippi. 

Songs from the album like “No Time to Waste,” “Leavin’ It All Behind,” and “For All the World
to See” reflect Stephenson’s lifelong desire to stay close to nature.  

For most of his adult life, Stephenson’s been living a seasonal lifestyle: summers in the
pristine beauty of Skagway, Alaska (where he performs regularly and works as a trail and river
guide on the Chilkoot Trail and Taiya River), and winters traveling ~ often to his ‘winter home’
of St. John, US Virgin Islands, where he’s known as "Alaska Joe" and performs regularly. Joe
has spent winters traveling throughout much of Southeast Asia, Africa, Central America, and
spent a year teaching English in Taiwan. His love for travel and adventure is reflected in
“Christmas at the Blue Diamond Hotel,” “Full Moon Risin’,” and “The Breatharian Man”~ a
tongue and cheek tune about a breatharian Joe met while hiking in Hawaii.

Stephenson’s recent protest song, “Minnesota Strong,” was born out of the rage and tears
he felt during the needless brutalities inflicted upon the people of Minneapolis and the senseless
murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti carried out by our own government. The song was
largely inspired by the courage and wisdom of the Minnesota protestors.