Singing in the Shadow of Homer piece for Antigone Journal: “In 2018, when I committed myself to composing a retelling of the Iliad in original song, I found comfort in these words. They freed me from the text’s narrative and gave me permission to consider other of its aspects worthy of expression and translation. They also invited me to examine more closely this holy atmosphere of the Iliad that I worship.”
University of Wisconsin - Madison L&S Alumnus Profile: “The man on stage closes his eyes and begins to strum his silver guitar, swaying slightly with the melody, as he gently sings about pain, grief, and loss…”
NewCity Album Review: “‘The Blues of Achilles’ is a set of seventeen songs, each sung from the point of view of one of the poem’s characters. The lyrics are specific to the war’s time and place, but resonate on a more universal level; Goodkin performs these tunes solidly in the American folk tradition, so if you don’t know the context, you might mistake them for songs of grief and loss from the Civil War, or Vietnam. I’m guessing, before too long, they’ll speak to this Ukrainian moment as well.”
In the Moment SDPB Radio Interview: “The Iliad is an epic poem that tells of the Trojan War. It's bloody and violent and one of the most well-known literary records of humans in brutal and rapturously deluded combat. Now a new musical interpretation of stories from the Iliad comes to Vermillion. Joe Goodkin presents "The Blues of Achilles" at USD.”
If Homer Had a Guitar (Duke Research Blog): “In re-telling these epics, Goodkin is not only bringing another perspective to the classics scene, but connecting it to American culture. ‘Blues music is our oral tradition. It was composed and came to be as an art form largely the same way the Greek epic did, by these bards-slash-singer-songwriters’ he explains.”
Anhedonic Headphones Album Review: “The Blues of Achilles works through a lot of grief and anger, and in the end, there is a fleeting respite of not so much hope, but at least of peace. Incredibly cerebral—yes, but it is also a thoughtful, harrowing, and often a beautiful experience.”
McMaster Interview: “With the Iliad, it’s about grief and love, it’s about war and specific aspects of grief and love that come out in war. Grief is the most universal experience In humanity. I think everybody grieves and grief is a consequence of loving something. You don’t grieve unless you love something. I think they’re so powerfully rendered in both of these stories that they’ve inspired people like me to keep telling them.”
Ancient Heroes Podcast: Songs of Achilles and the Trojan War w/Joe Goodkin
William & Mary Review: “On Tuesday, March 18, Joe Goodkin dazzled a packed crowd with [17] songs that tell the story of Homer’s Iliad.”
