Jody Raffoul

Jody Raffoul may originally be from a small town in Southern Ontario, but his diverse career as a working class pop-rock singer/songwriter has continued to put him in the spotlight in the United States.

Already a reliable “critic’s pick” in the Detroit region, Jody performs over 200 shows a year and has opened for: Collective Soul, Kid Rock, Nickelback, Joe Cocker, Blues Traveler, Richard Marx, Counting Crows, The Allman Brothers Band, Uncle Kracker, John Entwhistle, Chris Isaak, Paul Rodgers and most recently Bon Jovi.

At home in a small club or the big stage, his signature voice and compassionate stage presence has been described as a hybrid mix of Bono and Bruce Springsteen making every performance unique which is what helped Jody to become the National WINNER of the 2006 Bon Jovi “Have a Nice Gig” Contest, hand-picked and announced personally by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. He went on to open a sold out show at Giant’s Stadium in Bon Jovi’s home state, New Jersey, alongside fellow Canadians, Nickelback.

Jody’s acoustic album Simple Life (2000) not only garnered attention from the music industry, contemporaries and some of Jody's musical influences, but it also showcased Jody's diversity. His sensitive, in-tune songwriting ability combined with infectious rifts took his second album, Like A Star (2004), to another level backed with a full band. Both albums have only been available at live shows and have collectively sold in excess of 25,000 copies, primarily in the Detroit/Windsor Metro area.

BIG SKY is Jody’s first national U.S. album release and is his most prolific work to date. It’s composed of songs about life’s up and downs and Jody’s “sky’s the limit” attitude toward life. The first single “Stay (with me)” has an infectious beat and is about the excitement of a budding relationship in which you want that person to give your relationship a chance. “Little Black Car” is a beautiful ballad which Jody paints a vivid picture of the simple pleasures of being in love. Only fitting with today’s news, “Chasing Paper” with its forceful rhythm tells the true, yet harrowing story of the meaning of life over money; based on one of Jody’s friends. “Learn From Me” came about when Jody was asked to write a theme song for an anti-bullying program in Jody’s native Leamington, Ontario Canada called B-RAD. B-RAD was developed by several police services designed to help teens deal with Bullying along with Relationships, Alcohol and Drugs. The up-tempo “It’s Grand” rings true to its title – about living life to the fullest, while the somber “And It Shines” is about life’s end.

A Detroit, MI and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, based rock singer and songwriter, Jody Raffoul released his first collection, Simple Life, in 2000. An acoustically based work, the album earned Raffoul a good bit of regional industry attention, and helped land him some very lucrative opening slots for national-level rock acts. For his next work, Raffoul assembled a full band, and recorded the 2004 release, Like a Star. A strong seller regionally, Like a Star led to even more great opening slots, adding stage work with Collective Soul, Kid Rock, Richard Marx, and Counting Crows to the ever growing list. While a live record -- Live at Migration Hall -- would also be released in 2004, it was to be 2006 that was to be Raffoul's biggest -- and most career defining year. That would be the year that he won the Bon Jovi "Have a Nice Gig" competition, which led to an opening slot at Giants Stadium in New Jersey for the aforementioned Bon Jovi (and his band, obviously) along with fellow opener Nickelback. With his star in the ascendant, Raffoul soon went back to work crafting new songs and music, and in 2008 released his third album, Big Sky. The album was the first of Raffoul's to see national release, thanks mostly to the word of mouth buzz created by his contest win in 2006. ~ Chris True, All Music Guide