JULIE JAMES
It's an incredible honor and pleasure to be asked to do more than one album with an artist, for lessons learned from the first give a real leg up to the second, though each will have its own charms and unique stories to tell. And in this way, what may have seemed a formidable mountain to climb paves the way for an expanding vision. Julie's two albums Mirror's Glance and Daydreamer worked in tandem like this, and gave us many opportunities to stretch our wings and fly, in so many different ways.
Where Mirror's Glance challenged and delighted us, Daydreamer opened up into a rollicking adventure. We were blessed with many imaginative contributions from friends including Patrick Ross, Chas Eller, Charlie Shew, Ashley Ross "Sauce", Joellyn Arce, and Daniel Mench-Thurlow. Julie's two albums both shine with her inventive musical thinking and gracious lyric writing, speaking to the heart, as well as the spirit. And giving a nod to the packaging, there's some beautiful album artwork featuring the paintings of Julie's aunt Mary Page.
Julie says: "When I was 14 years old, I paid $12 for a classical style nylon string guitar at a yard sale. I sat up in my room for hours working out how to play simple chords and to sing rock and folk songs. Within 6 months I had traded in for a steel 12 string and wrote my first song.
Music, my music, my first language, my gift given me through generations and common human experience, is a gift I am compelled to share. It is not enough to write, sing, play for myself. Somehow it is in the communication that makes complete this drive and purpose. I simply offer my truth as I can honestly speak it.
In the early hours I sit, listen, wonder, see, clear my mind of chatter, listen, listen, feel, listen. The stories I tell come from the wind, from the heart, the river, the fire burning, the Earth in undulating dance with my feet, from relationship. This part is for me, discovery, creative, soul searching, my process.
I am often asked, ‘What kind of music do you do?’ I’m not sure how to answer that. Categories analyze what already is. When I write, sing, it comes through my experience, thoughts, feelings. I am not thinking of a genre or style. So I describe or try to associate my misfit with the next closest thing; singer songwriter, classic /indy rock/jazz/ Americana/poetry influenced folk."
Contact Julie at jultech@juliejamesmusic.com