Joel Rasmussen (born September 14, 1970) is a Montana born filmmaker, author, and producer. He produced and co-wrote

Before the Music Dies ''Before the Music Dies'' (B4MD) is a 2006 United States, U.S. documentary film that criticizes the American music industry and the increasing commercialization of the art of music over the past thirty years. The film features interviews and perfo ...

, a 2006 documentary, narrated by

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Forest Whitaker, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award ...

that examines the homogenization of the music industry. Rasmussen and the film's director,

Andrew Shapter Andrew Shapter (December 30, 1966 – February 23, 2019) was an American film director, producer, writer and photographer. Shapter is known for his documentaries, ''Before the Music Dies'' (2006) and ''Happiness Is'' (2009), his feature film ...

spent a year traveling across the U.S. interviewing hundreds of people in the music business. The film features interviews and performances from such musicians and groups as

Doyle Bramhall II Doyle Bramhall II (born December 24, 1968) is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall. Early life Bramhall was born ...

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

, Dave Matthews,

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

, and

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

He is the CEO and Co-founder of Fantrail.

Early years

Rasmussen attended

Lewis and Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

and graduated from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

in 2003 with a degree in Music Technology.

Personal life

Rasmussen lives in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

with his wife Dani and son Leif.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Joel 1970 births Living people People from Montana American filmmakers Lewis & Clark College alumni University of Montana alumni