Joe Goodkin is a Chicago-based musician and songwriter. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor’s Degree in Classics. Since 2002, Joe has been traveling the United States as a modern bard performing his one-man folk opera retelling of Homer’s Odyssey to high school, college, and general audiences, almost 400 performances at such institutions as Harvard, Brown, UC-Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, and more. He has performed his Odyssey in all 50 US States as well as Canada, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, England, Scotland, and Ireland.
In March of 2020, Joe premiered an Iliad-based song cycle,The Blues of Achilles, at San Francisco State University as part of a program titled Conversations with Homer. He has since performed the songs for almost 100 virtual and in person audiences, including those at University of North Carolina, Vassar, University of Hawaii, Duke, University of South Dakota, College of Charleston, and University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Joe has recorded and released thirteen albums of original music both under the name Paper Arrows and his own name. His most recent release, 2023’s Consolations and Desolations, was produced by founding Wilco drummer Ken Coomer.
Joe’s Odyssey Website
Joe Goodkin Website
On Being a Modern Bard (Article for Eidolon)
Odyssey Interview on South Dakota Public Radio