Joe Craven is an American freestyle folk, world and roots music multi-instrumentalist, singer and educator.

Craven is a well known sight at acoustic music festivals and, for many years, was violinist and percussionist for the David Grisman Quintet.

[1] He also played percussion in the group Psychograss with fiddler Darol Anger and mandolinist Mike Marshall.

Craven lists some of his influences being Jimi Hendrix, dumpster diving, Hermeto Pascoal, thrift stores, Frank Zappa, educator and aesthetician John Dewey, beachcombing, Carl Stalling, Eddie Palmieri, field recordings, Tiny Moore, Los Pleneros De Viente Uno, Darol Anger and The Horseflies.

Craven has played with many notable musicians including Jerry Garcia, Stephane Grappelli, Alison Brown, Rob Ickes and David Lindley.