Joel Rafael is an award-winning, internationally recognized songwriter from north San Diego County, California. He was recognized with the Kerrville Folk Festival’s "New Folk Emerging Songwriter Award" in 1995. THIRTEEN STORIES HIGH is Rafael’s first album of original material since 2000, following up two acclaimed collections honoring the songs of Woody Guthrie.

THIRTEEN STORIES HIGH presents almost all original Rafael material (as did his earlier, pre-Guthrie-centric album releases, Joel Rafael Band, Old Wood Barn and Hopper). The radio focus track, the timeless protest song "This Is My Country," features vocals from David Crosby and Graham Nash. The album also includes the Steve Earle-penned "Rich Man's War" and Jack Hardy's "I Ought To Know." Rafael has toured the U.S. extensively over the last decade both as a solo artist and with his band. Rafael is a member of the national touring cast of the Woody Guthrie revue "Ribbon Of Highway Endless Skyway," which also features Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Jimmy LaFave, Bob Childers, Eliza Gilkyson, Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines.