Joel Raney started playing the piano sometime between learning to walk and learning to read. His taste for gospel music began in a rural Baptist church in Alabama, an influence that shows strongly in his work to this day. After completing his degree in choral conducting at the University of North Alabama, he went on to sharpen his keyboard skills, earning a masters degree in piano performance at The Juilliard School. Since 1999 he has taken the church music scene by storm, with over 250 titles in print, primarily with Hope Publishing where he serves as Editor. His innovative style and inspired arranger's instincts put his numerous choral anthems, musicals and cantatas, handbell compositions, piano solos, and instrumental works at the top of sales charts year after year. In addition to publishing with Hope, Joel's work can be found in the catalogs of Heritage Press, Shawnee, Hal Leonard, Alfred, Fred Bock Music, Jubilate, and AGEHR. Joel's interest in music of all kinds has led to employment opportunities in everything from classical and jazz performance to pop vocal arranging. He has conducted national tours of Broadway productions, and has been honored for outstanding musical direction of theater in both Chicago and Los Angeles. Since 1988 he has worked as a composer and producer of commercial music in Chicago and has written soundtracks for more than 2000 television and radio commercials, plus numerous scores for short films.