Joe Bethancourt

W. Joseph "Joe" Bethancourt III (August 8, 1946 – August 28, 2014) was an American folk musician.

Bethancourt was born in El Paso, Texas, United States. He began learning banjo at age 9, after he heard his maternal grandfather, C. H. Burnett, playing fiddle. His first banjo was given him by his grandfather, and was "an old S.S. Stewart." This banjo is now in the able hands of his nephew, Tom Purtill.

When his family moved to Phoenix for the final time, in 1961, he began learning guitar, hanging around coffeehouses, mariachi bands, bluegrass groups, and a place called "J.D.'s," where he would sneak in to listen to such local artists as Waylon Jennings. With the "folk boom" of the '60's just hitting its stride, he found that all that music he had learned as a child stood in good stead.

His first "real pro" gig came at age 18. The Phoenix acoustic scene was active and thriving and Bethancourt associated with John Denver, the Irish Rovers and Jim Connor ("Grandma's Feather Bed"), and with some of the best in Dixieland, Ragtime, and traditional Mexican musicians.

He spent a stint with a local bluegrass band, Ma Tucker's String Band, playing with Jeff Gylkinson (The Dillards) and Doug Haywood (keyboard player/songwriter for Jackson Browne). He also worked with noted entertainer Dan "Igor" Glenn in several bands. Bethancourt credited "Igor" with teaching him much about the entertainer's art.

In 1968–1969, Bethancourt worked in L.A. as a studio musician, where he made his first record, "The Joe Bethancourt String Concert Album" which was favorably reviewed by Billboard, receiving a four star rating.

Bethancourt returned to Phoenix, where he became influential in the original underground radio scene, hosting his own radio show on KDKB, "Folk Music Occasional," with Bill Compton. He was also a regular on the Emmy award-winning Wallace and Ladmo Show on KPHO-TV (Ch.5) in the 1980s, and worked with children in the Arizona Commission for the Arts' "Artists in Education" program for about 6 years. He performed occasional Artist Residencies at local elementary schools throughout his life.

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