BY MAUREEN PARKER for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 9/4/2026
Old Town Park in Tacoma has been bringing us music for several years now with its summer music series, something I’ve mentioned before, and let me tell you, they have been giving us bangers and hits galore!
About a week ago, I made my way down there to listen to some live music, and this here band right here, the Joel Astley Band, was cranking out gem after gem and had folks dancing in the park.
The four-piece band consists of Joel Astley on vocals and harmonica, Joseph Barton on guitar, Tracy Wilkinson on bass, and Don Montana on drums, and together they play a mix of blues, swing, funk, rockabilly, Americana, and blues rock.
Basically, they’re giving us a reason to leave the house and shake our butts.
Seriously, folks. Hips were swinging during this set, and a time was had!
But Joel Astley’s path to becoming the guy standing in front of a band with a harmonica in his hand didn’t exactly start with music.
It started with art.
Joel was a visual artist for years and years and, as he describes it, was always “music adjacent.” He had friends who were musicians, so every now and then he’d get on the mic and sing, but he never really thought about his voice as an instrument. He was just having fun.
Ain’t that the way it goes sometimes? You stumble into your own lane and suddenly realize, Wait a minute … I ain’t so bad at this.
Joel loved the harmonica, and more importantly at the time, he could afford one. So he bought one.
And the rest, as they say, is HIStory. For a while, Joel moved between his visual art and music worlds. He also found himself working a regular ol’ jobby job in the kitchen of a jazz restaurant, which put him around even more musicians and artists.
And when you’re surrounded by creative people like that, you can’t help but glean something from them.
His visual work at the time included bar scenes, musicians, and bands, initially done in a fairly traditional impressionistic style. His work eventually moved toward a more cubist, abstract style mixed with modern futurism.
Then came a blues jam.
And as Joel put it, that was all she wrote.
He was hooked.
Not only did he fall in love with the music itself, but he was welcomed with warmth and love from the music community. The deal was sealed. Joel was in his early thirties at the time, and those open jams became an important part of developing the musician he would eventually become.
He learned how to lead a band. He started singing more. He learned how to call songs, communicate phrases, and work with other musicians in real time.
And THAT is one of the things I love about open mics and jam nights.
Those spaces matter.
They’re where you find like-minded people who love what they’re doing and want to learn, grow, practice, and get better. You might meet your next bandmate. You might find musicians you’ll work with for years.
Sometimes you might even find your next life mate, if you know what I mean.
I mean really, where do you think all these love songs come from, folks? Duh. Joel eventually started his first band in 2014, and since then, his creative worlds have continued to intersect.
Remember, this man didn’t stop being a visual artist just because he picked up a harmonica.
He has designed album covers for other musicians and received recognition for his graphic artwork while also building an award-winning music career. His music has earned a Silver Medal from the Global Music Awards, along with nominations for the Josie Music Awards and the Independent Blues Awards.
So yeah.
Color me impressed.
Of course, y’all already know I asked the AI question.
But this conversation went in a slightly different direction because Joel lives in both worlds being affected by it: visual art and music.
More venues and businesses are using AI-generated artwork for promotional materials, which means work that once might have gone to an actual graphic artist can now be generated in seconds and for considerably less money.
Then there’s AI-generated music.
For someone who has spent years developing both crafts, that makes the conversation a little more complicated. There’s a legitimate concern about what happens to working artists when technology can imitate parts of what they’ve spent years learning to do.
But we came back to the same point I keep hearing from artists:
AI can’t do this.
It can’t stand in a park and read a crowd.
It can’t feel when people start moving and adjust the energy of the set.
It can’t interact with the person dancing in front of the stage, feed off the musicians playing beside it, or sweat under the lights while giving you a show with actual heart and soul.
And watching the Joel Astley Band play made that point pretty damn clearly.
Growing up in the Seattle area of the Pacific Northwest also gave Joel something else incredibly valuable: access to a deep community of musicians.
When you spend years playing, sitting in at jams, and building relationships, you meet musicians who know musicians who know other musicians. Some of those folks tour, and those relationships can eventually create opportunities to share stages, travel and bring your music to audiences outside your own backyard.
And that’s exactly what these guys are doing.
The Joel Astley Band has a slate of regional dates coming up in September. Visit joelastley.com/shows for upcoming performances and music. After playing around here for a while, they’re taking this show on the road. You can also go listen for yourself if you need a little convincing.
Although after what I saw at Old Town Park, you really shouldn’t need much.
If you get the opportunity to see Joel Astley and his band, I’m telling you: you’re in for a great show.
You might sing.
You might dance.
Your hips might start doing something you didn’t authorize beforehand.
But most importantly, you’ll probably walk away happy that you left your house.
Which is definitely why you went outside in the first place, right?
