Major
Joseph "Joe" Bethancourt
Joe is our Senior Chaplain.
Born on August 8th, 1946, Joe was raised all over the world (he is bilingual in German and English) .... but is a third-generation native of Arizona.
Joe has been a professional acoustic musician since 1964. The Phoenix acoustic scene was active and thriving and Joe hung out with people (then unknowns) like John Denver, the Irish Rovers, and Jim Connor ("Grandma's Feather Bed") and with some of the best in Dixieland, Ragtime, and traditional Mexican musicians.
He spent a stint with a local bluegrass band, "Ma Tucker's String Band," playing with Jeff Gylkinson ("The Dillards") and Doug Haywood (keyboard player/songwriter for Jackson Browne).
He also worked with noted entertainer Dan "Igor" Glenn in several bands. Joe credits "Igor" with teaching him much about the entertainer's art.
In 1968-1969, Joe worked in L.A. as a studio musician, where he made
his first record, "The Joe Bethancourt String Concert Album." It was very
favourably reviewed by BILLBOARD magazine ( 28 Feb. 1970 ), and given a four star rating. He
has some fascinating stories about the "name" musicians he met while he was
there.
Joe came back to Phoenix in late 1969, where he became influential in the original KDKB underground radio "scene," hosting his own radio show on KDKB, "Folk Music Occasional," with the late Bill Compton.
He was also a regular on the Emmy award-winning "Wallace and Ladmo Show" on KPHO-TV (Ch.5) in the 1980's, and worked with children in the Arizona Commission for the Arts' "Artists in Education" program for about 6 years. He still does occasional Artist Residencies at local elementary schools.
For almost 17 years, he was the "house band" at a little restaurant at
19th Ave. and Bethany Home Rd, in Phoenix, called "Funny Fellows," playing
instruments from his enormous collection of traditional ( and not so
traditional ) instruments.
He is now making CDs with a California record company, Random Factors, both as an artist in his own right and as a producer.
Joe also worked for eight years with the Maricopa County Juvenile Court,
is active in the Single Action Shooting Society, is our Webmaster, and describes himself as a "compulsive historian."
Joe's father was one of the last commanders of a segregated unit of the US Army. That story can be found here.