Joan Hammel
Joan Hammel performs live as well as appears in commercials, on television, in films, and on radio.
Joan has been nominated five times for Pop Entertainer of the Year by the Chicago Music Awards. (Other nominees have been R. Kelly, Kanye West, Mavis Staples, Wilco and Jennifer Hudson.) She was a part of the team that won an EMMY for
Best Children's Special for, "It's Fun to be Fit!"
Her first full length CD entitled joanland is a collection of 11 original songs performed by Joan and a variety of talented musicians. Appearing are members of the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member band Cryan' Shames and blues legend Corky Siegel, as well as Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Skip Griparis of the Major League movies. It was on the Grammy Nominations Ballot in four categories. Joan was also the vocalist on the recording of Oh Lady Di for the late Princess of Wales benefiting her Foundation and charities. This performance also landed her on the Grammy Nominations Ballot.
Joan was the singer on America recorded after 9-11. It can currently be heard on the website for the Flight 93 Memorial in California, and is part of the Artist Registry for the National 9-11 Memorial in New York City. The song led to Joan being chosen for a nine-day USO tour to entertain the troops including New Year's Eve in Cuba.
Other performance highlights include appearing as a headliner during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and working all around the globe in places like the Caribbean and Las Vegas including Caesar's Palace. She has shared billing with entertainers like Buddy Rich, Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, the Chi-Lites, the Cryan’ Shames, David Sanborn, Brenda Russell, Shirley King, Taj Mahal, Johnny Frigo, Frank Mantooth, Rare Earth, James Moody, Tom Rush and the Second City Comedy Troupe. She has sung at Holy Name Cathedral many times including Cardinal Cupich's Golden Jubilee and was one of the vocalists selected to sing in front of 30,000 people at White Sox Park for the Pope Leo XIV Celebration. She performed a concert as a part of acclaimed cellist YoYo Ma's yearlong Silk Road project in Chicago. She also sang with the Bobby Sanders Orchestra and at the Gaslight Club in Chicago. For several years, Joan was the lead singer and keyboard player of the Exceptions with Billy Herman, a bandmate formerly of the 2022 Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band The New Colony Six and Aorta.
The National Park Service selected Joan as an Artist in Residence, landing her at the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area in Washington state where she spent some time living on the Colville Indian Reservation. This is where she ended up collaborating with Colville and Yakama Tribe members on the parks inspired song Nature Walk. The song was in three categories on the Grammy Nominations Ballot, and was also nominated by the NAMMYS (Native American Music Awards) and the Indian Summer Music Awards.
She has earned six ASCAPLUS Writer's Awards, where a panel of music experts recognize active writers in the early and midstages of their careers with cash and recognition. She has also been selected for a number of their songwriter workshops, The YWCA of Lake County awarded Joan their Women of Achievement Award in the Arts category. The Robert M. MacNamara Foundation awarded her one of its residencies where she wrote new music. The Illinois Arts Council placed Joan on their Illinois ArtsTour Roster of artists. Her music is available on major digital distributors like iTunes and is available in over 100 countries.
She has produced albums for other people including the posthumous Original by pianist Dean Malsack and It's About Time by singer/violinist Andrina Singer, both receiving regular airplay on jazz stations and both landed on the Grammy Nominations Ballot.
She is always working on new music and collaborations. She did a collaboration with Ben Jaffe of the TV Show House Guest as a part of the SCL (Society of Composers and Lyricists) challenge of putting to music the story of Alice in Wonderland. She played piano and percussion on composer and sax player Jon Irabagon's Recharge the Blade progressive jazz album as a part of the Transatlantic Luxury Cruise Line Cigar Lounge All-Stars released on Irabagast Records. Kelly Beaman and Joan co-wrote Animal Symphony for beginner band and have more works coming. She was the vocalist on a track by longtime friend Jeff Wehrmeister for his Penguins in Love release.
Commercials and television work include working with a variety of sports legends like Mike Ditka, Dan Hampton, and Dr. Julius Irving. Film work includes working with stars like Bill Murray, Robert DeNiro, Andie MacDowell, Dolly Parton, James Woods, Brandon Lee, Madeline Stowe and Aidan Quinn among others. The film Last Day in Chicago, in which she had a starring role, won its division of the Chicago International Film Festival.
She has been a spokesperson for Jessica McClintock, Liz Claiborne, Microsoft, Anheuser Busch, and Toyota. Some of the honors she has received include being named to Who’s Who in Entertainment, Who’s Who in the Midwest, Who’s Who in Music, Who’s Who of American Women, and the International Who’s Who of Music in London. She has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Who's Who. She was the cover feature for the summer edition of I'm Possible women's magazine. She also won the Founder's Award from the BIBO Foundation.
She also worked on the "Daybreak" show at CBS-TV Chicago and some of her favorite guests included Valentino, Jimmy Dean, Roger Miller, Jack Hanna, Jack Hemingway, Jack Brickhouse, Sid Caesar, Virginia Graham, Janet Leigh, Gore Vidal, Patti Davis, Beverly Johnson, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe.
The Chicago Tribune listed her as one of the best shows to listen to when she hosted and produced The Midday Show at ABC Radio affiliate WKRS, the first woman to do so, winning the Lake County Women’s Coalition’s Woman in Communications Award and Illinois’ Public Health Association Media Award. She hosted a show for WaukTown radio with shows there averaging over a million hits per month. She has done shows with James Brown, Steve Allen, Richard Marx, Alan Thicke, Bart Starr, Jim Otto, Astronaut Jim Lovell, chef Jacques Pepin, Elektra Records founder Jack Holzman, Jennifer O'Neill, Livingston Taylor, Alan Osmond, Robert Guillaume, Oak Ridge Boy Joe Bonsall, Statler Brothers' Don Reid, Dr. Elmo (Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer), HGTV's Room by Room hosts Matt and Shari, Dick Van Patten, original Mouseketeer Lonnie Burr, Janis Joplin and BOH guitarist Sam Andrew, and Hemingway’s travel companion, A.E. Hotchner, as well as covering a variety of local and national issues.
She served on the Board of Governors in Chicago for the GRAMMYs for many years, and was a part of the first female President/Vice President team in Academy history. She chaired the Special Events Committee and later the Education Committee where she was a part of the team that created the first Grammy in the Schools program. Her idea for Grammy Camp went on to be a national program. Through them, she has chaired the Chicago premieres of the Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett movie, "Music of the Heart," and "Mr. Holland’s Opus," with Richard Dreyfuss. She is a member of the Recording Academy's Producers and Engineers Wing as well as the Songwriters and Composers Wing. She serves on the Chicago Chapter Engagement Committee as well as the Producers and Engineers Committee. She has been active with the Academy's Advocacy Day since it started over a decade ago, advocating for the passage of legislation that helps the entertainment community.
She is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS - Emmy Awards), and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) where she is Co-Chair of the Singers Committee. She served for over ten years as Trustee for the Lake County Discovery Museum Friends Board (now the Dunn Museum) including multiple terms as President. She is also maintains a Friend of the Guild membership to the Guild of Music Supervisors. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago where she served as President of their their Alumni Association and on the school's Board of Trustees for about eleven years. She is an Advisory Board Member of the BIBO Foundation. She is also a member of She Is The Music and SoundGirls, helping to mentor women in the field of sound and engineering including providing a masterclass on the voice and the microphone. She is Co-Director of the Midwest Chapter of SoundGirls. Music Forward has had her be a judge for a number of events and she has mentored some of their students. She has also mentored college students through the Recording Academy's Grammy U program.
She has studied singing and recorded with Robert Harris of Northwestern University as well as studying both singing and conducting with the legendary Margaret Hills of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. She studied voice and acting with Tony Randall and operatic singer, Sherrill Milnes. At Ravinia, she had a master class with Conductor Christoph Eschenbach. She also had a vocal masterclass with Roger Love and did a songwriting workshop with the talented Beth Nielsen Chapman. Joan regularly sings in a variety of languages and has sung in German, French, Latin, Greek, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Tagalong and Swahili. She studied the Meisner Technique with Tony Award winning actor and musician Kent Klineman and now has a sync licensing partnership with him.
She has worked with a variety of charities over the years doing concerts and other performances. One of them dear to her heart is singing for Veterans in Hospice each November around the time of Veterans Day.
Joan enjoys cooking and is a home test chef for the TV Shows America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country.
She was selected as a writer for MicroChicago's L series and wrote about the Berwyn stop. Her short piece, "Fear of Fears" had its world premiere at Steppenwolf's Merle Reskin Theatre in December of 2025.
She is the mom to athlete Adam Hammel.
Resume
Eyes: blue Hair: Light brown Dress: 6 Shoes: 7 1/2
Music
Shared billing with Lonnie Brooks (Alligator Records), Buddy Rich (RCA), Koko Taylor (Alligator Records), Second City, Rare Earth (Motown Records)
Chi-Lites (Brunswick/Ichiban Records), Cryan’ Shames (Decca Records), David Sanborn (Verve/Elektra), Brenda Russell (A&M/Warner). Additional performance highlights:
Nekoosa Paper Company FTD Consolidated Radio Artists
Chicago Medical Association Vince Geraci Arnie Evans Productions
First Gold Gaming Hotel & Casino Tony Caselli Genesee Theatre
Epilepsy Association (WI) Computer Bay Glenview Naval Air Station
Village Cay (Caribbean) Amway Mike Knauf Jazz Quartet
Aladdin (LasVegas) Shell Oil Delta Records
USO Sophisticats Variety Enterprises
Gaslight Club (Hilton-O’Hare) 1990 US Summer Ski Jumping Nat’ls Brunswick Corp.
Holy Name Cathedral, Cardinal George Hundreds of corp. parties and outdoor festivals plus many, many others…
Theatre
“Everything in the Garden” A.D. Getz Theatre
“Winter Jamboree” Lead/Choreo. Milwaukee Fine Arts Society
“Showtime-Love & Broadway” Lead/Choreo. Milwaukee Fine Arts Society
“The Lion Who Wouldn’t” A.D. Marriott Corp.
“Singin’/Dancin’ Broadway” Principal Heather Ridge Theatre Guild
“Come Blow Your Horn” Peggy Village Repertory Theatre
Film
“Ground Hog Day” Columbia Pictures d/ Harold Ramis
“Last Day in Chicago” Grand Cinema/Sound Images d/ Louis Antonello
“Mr. Holland’s Opus” Buena Vista** d/ Stephen Herek
“Music of the Heart Miramax ** d/ Wes Craven
TV/Industrials
Chicago Music Awards Co-host Chicago Cable
"Shower the People" Background Singer James Taylor Summer Tour
National Anthem Guest Star: Singer SAG-AFTRA
"Concert in the Park" Guest Star: Headliner Comcast
Zion Jubilee Parade Host AT & T Cable
“Nasty Boys” Co-star: Single Barfly Universal Pictures
“Overexposed” Co-star: Mom Harpo Productions
“President’s Shoot” Guest Star: Employee/Customer McDonald’s Corporation
“Inside the NFL”* Field Producer HBO
“The Magic Door” Co-star: Customer WBBM-TV & Chicago Board of Rabbis
“Legs” Guest Star: Legs MacDonald-Hein Films
“Sometimes It’s Harder To Care” Co-star: Patient American Hospital Association
“Daybreak” Production Assistant/Intern WBBM-TV
“Lotus Blossom Exhibit” Poetry Reader Lake County Museum
“Employees of the Year” Voice Over Resurrection Health Care
"America's Test Kitchen" Home Test Cook PBS
"Cook Country" Home Test Cook PBS
Radio
WaukTown Radio Show Host—iTunes podcating; Talk Show Host and Producer on ABC radio affilliate WKRS’s “Midday Show” Spring Broadcasting
Some guests included: Steve Allen, Richard Marx, Jacques Pepin, Astronaut Jim Lovell, James Brown, Alan Thicke, Bart Starr, Elektra Records founder Jack
Holzman, Alan Osmond, Joe Bonsall (Oak Ridge Boys), Hemingway travel companion A.E. Hotchner, national, state, and local political figures
Tradeshows
Print Heidelberg
IFT, Natural Foods Expo West, Fancy Foods Great Lakes Gelatin
Minnesota Netware Conference Shiva
Chicago Netware Users Conference Shiva
Giftwares Baubles
Housewares Resentel also Reaves Dropcloth
Radiology RSNA
Sporting Goods, FMI & NRA Anheuser-Busch
Kenosha & Minneapolis Ski Expos Mark Hammel (U.S. Ski Team-Central Division)
POP Nekoosa Paper
FMI Campbell’s Soup/Pepperidge Farms
NRA, Midwest Software, Autofact Microsoft
Awards
Emmy Award - Midwest, Best Children's Special*
NAMMYS (Native American Music Awards) Nominee
Indian Summer Music Awards Nominee
Chicago Music Awards - 5 Time Nominee Entertainer of the Year
Grammy Nominations Ballot - Producer, Songwriter, Performer
Marquis’ Who’s Who in Entertainment
Marquis’ Who’s Who of American Women
Marquis’ Who’s Who in the Midwest
Marquis' Who's Who in America
Marquis' Albert Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award
Marquis' Who's Who in Popular Music
Marquis' Who's Who in America
Who's Who in Popular Music
World Who's Who
Outstanding Intellectual of the 20th Century
Int’l Who’s Who of Music/& Popular Music
1999 Illinois Public Health Association Media Award
Int’l Who’s Who of Professionals
1998 Honoree Lake County Women’s Coalition’s Woman in Communications
Personalities of America
International Woman of the Year
Who’s Who Among Rising Young Americans
1987 ITVA Award - Best Health Care Video*
International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs
1986 ITVA Award -Best Health Care Video*
Outstanding People of the 20th Century, England
Numerous All -District, Conference, State, National and Int’l vocal competition medals
Skills/Hobbies Singing, skin/scuba diving, guitar, piano, animals, television production, stained glass, mentoring, gardening, cooking, first aid and AED certs
Memberships SAG-AFTRA; Television Academy; Recording Academy (served on Board of Governors and as Officer) Producers and Engineers Wing; Guild of Music Supervisors; soundgrls; Society of Composers and Lyricists; She Is The Music
Education
Columbia College, Chicago, IL 1986 B.A. Graduate 3.97/ 4.0 GPA Summa Cum Laude
Also: Larry Arancio - acting Janet Louer - on camera Bob Zeman - piano
Allen Myren- voice Art Peck - piano Bruce Mack - percussion/woodwinds
Mike Jorgenson- voice Jamey Aebersold - jazz Dr. Sims - Vocal Health Masterclass
Eileen Vorbach - acting Robert Harris - voice Dr. Thomas Hoekstra- voice
Sherrill Milnes -stage singing Kent Klineman -Meisner tecnique Tony Randall -acting & stage singing
Sean Frasier—web marketing Matthew Morrissey - acting Christoph Eschenbach—vocal masterclass
Matthew Polenzani - masterclass Kevin Murphy - vocal masterclass Zephyr Dance - Powerful Connections
Roger Love - vocal masterclass Rose Rosen - self-taping Cari Cole - Step Up To The Spotlight
Dr. Mayim Bialik -neuroscience Yale - Science of Well Being Valerie Ghent - songwriting
Alex Forbes - songwriting Beth Nielsen Chapman - songwriting ASCAP Christian Songwriting Workshop/Cindy Wilt Colville Jens Peter Maintz - Ravinia Masterclass Ana Maria Martinez - vocal masterclass
Wendy Russell - on camera Jason Houser - songwriting Jason Blume - songwriting
Scott Krinsky - self tape Taye Diggs - acting Yale - Rocket Scince
Portfolio, commercials list, print list, demo tapes, references, or other materials gladly furnished upon request.
*indicates production staff
**Chair of Premiere in Chicago