During all this accident..whiplash turnin into worse and all the pain blah blah I have meditated a lot. Writing a lot. Taking time to sit & really listen.

I have some really great people in my life right now. It’s funny how when you’re down people tend to show their true colors… they avoid. I actually kind of enjoy it. It’s only then do you grow, move on, & know who and where to focus your energies. Blessings come in so many ways and I am so grateful right now that I have music & people to make me laugh & create. Life’s too short to waste time… and there’s a lot left to do. Cheers to all of you 🙂

…may in fact, bring May flowers, but I’m not much of a horticulturist, so I can’t say for sure. Heck, who knows if we’ll even have April showers? Seems like the local weather forecast doesn’t have much better than a 50/50 chance of being correct.

But one thing I do know for sure – April will bring a veritable garden of live shows by Julie. Even if it doesn’t rain.

Julie’s current schedule for April is listed below. But be sure to check the Calendar page for the latest updates. It’s way more accurate than the local weather forecast.

• Apr 1st, The Listening Room Cafe, Nashville, TN
• Apr 4th, Old Chipley Town Fair, Pine Mountain, GA
• Apr 4th, TBows, Cleveland, TN
• Apr 10th, Alpha Soda, Alpharetta, GA
• Apr 11th, River Market, Chattanooga, TN
• Apr 11th, Cork And Barrel, Sapphire, NC
• Apr 12th, Owls Eye Vineyard, Shelby, NC
• Apr 18th, Yonah Mountain Winery, Cleveland, GA
• Apr 19th, Wine Club Spring Party (Yonah Mtn Winery), Cleveland, GA
• Apr 24th, Peerless Saloon, Anniston, AL
• Apr 25th, Corks & Chef, Birmingham, AL
• Apr 25th, Magic City Arts Festival, Birmingham, AL

Julie with flowers in the background. OK, maybe it’s bamboo. Whatever…

In 1785, Robert Burns famously wrote “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley”. John Steinbeck modernized that in 1937 to “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, or as we are more likely say in 2015, “Shit happens”.

Julie moved back to Atlanta to focus more on acting while continuing to write, record, and perform her music. Sustaining injuries from an auto accident was not part of Julie’s best-laid plan. Unfortunately, with the accident things have gang aft agley and Julie’s had to re-work her plan a bit. The injuries have required some significant treatments the last several weeks.

But Julie’s one of the more resilient people I’ve met – you probably have to be to be a musician and actor – and she’s working through her physical limitations to reach out to her audience as best she can. She’s recording, preparing for a music video, writing songs and collaborating on a screenplay. That’s a lot more than I usually take on, but for Julie that constitutes slowing down.

Julie’s continuing perform when she’s able – and has shows upcoming in Brookhaven (March 17), Alpharetta (March 20), and Chattanooga (March 21). Check out the Calendar page for show details.

Courtesy of Spectrum Health Systems

Artists have performed at prisons before, and surely will do so in the future, but with the possible exception of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, it’s usually not a career-enhancing gig. A show within prison walls probably won’t sell many CDs.

In October, Julie accepted an invitation to perform at the Tennessee Prison for Women (TPW), as part of a program put on by Spectrum Health Systems. I asked her why she did.

“I feel that anytime you have the chance to help people with your music, you have to do it,” Julie told me. “The Spectrum program was a great opportunity to do this in a very positive way.”

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Julie’s been back in Atlanta for a couple of months now, and being back on her home turf is sitting well with her.

Her frenetic touring schedule hasn’t let up, and she’s been working on new music. “I’ve been writing some,” Julie told me recently. “And I recorded four songs – some acoustic stuff.”

Those songs Julie laid down in the studio include Coming Home (click here to watch Julie perform it live) and two new ones. She’s working towards putting out a new album, but, she says, “We’re doing it slowly.”

Although the album is not being rushed, Julie told me she’s not one to do take after take after take when she’s recording. “When you’re in the studio you have to get to a point where you let it go. You have to realize when it’s done and it’s not going to get any better.”

But that doesn’t mean Julie doesn’t strive to get it right. For example, she likes to record the vocal takes for her songs all the way through. Other artists will re-record single lines of the vocals if they’re not happy with a take, but Julie thinks the song loses something that way. “If you try to do it one line at a time, it takes away from the whole feeling and emotion of the song.”

And if all that isn’t enough to get you excited about her new work, how about this preview from Ms. Gribble? “This album’s going to be a little different,” she said. “Some weird stuff. You know, just for fun.”

I. Can’t. Wait.