Julia and her Piano

Twenty one year old Julia McDougall grew up in southern Saskatchewan in a town the size of a thumb tack. She grew up with a passion for music, began playing local shows when she was fifteen years old, and continues to play accross Canada. Julia's songs can only be defined as her own: her lyrics are powerful, honest, and true to her prarie heritage. Her melodies, well at times rough and chaotic, are beautiful and unformulated. Growing up with her mother and three siblings, Julia was surrounde...

Twenty one year old Julia McDougall grew up in southern Saskatchewan in a town the size of a thumb tack. She grew up with a passion for music, began playing local shows when she was fifteen years old, and continues to play accross Canada. Julia's songs can only be defined as her own: her lyrics are powerful, honest, and true to her prarie heritage. Her melodies, well at times rough and chaotic, are beautiful and unformulated. Growing up with her mother and three siblings, Julia was surrounded by the music Simon and Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen, Tracy Chapman, and Joni Mitchell playing on the radio. She has fond memories of gathering around the record player with her grandmother and listening to old albums, including classic Jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holliday. At the age of six, Julia began taking piano lessons in her then-hometown of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. She became immediately enamored with the ability to create and perform music on her own. As she grew older, her love affair with creating and performing began to take shape. Increasingly, she took on more and more creative projects and began to build a library of songs. She played her first show at the local art gallery in Estevan, Saskatchewan, accompanied by nothing more than her keyboard and a homemade tshirt. It was after this show that Julia decided to record her first demo at a small studio in Saskatoon. She continued to make more demos as her writing grew stronger and more refined. When Julia was fifteen, she embarked on her first Western Canadian tour in a van full of unwashed and unkempt teenage boys. This first tour gave Julia an idea of what it would be like to be a professional musician, and only encouraged her passion for songwriting and performance. After being accepted in to Simon Fraser University's Contemporary Composition program in Vancouver, British Columbia, Julia has fostered incredible technique and musicianship. Her songs have become more melodic and richer, and as a result, her music emits a deeper sound. With a full catalogue of songs, Julia recorded her first full length album, entitled Who Is This, at Baker Street Studios in North Vancouver, BC. The abum Who Is This was met with enthusiasm and esteem, and has recieved rave reviews from such media outlets as Simon Fraser University's The Peak, music blog Beyond Robson, and CBC Radio 1 in Saskatchewan. Julia continues to play shows all around Vancouver BC and Western Canada. She plans to embark on a full Western Canadian tour in the Summer of 2010, while playing showcases at festivals such as NXNE in Toronto and Go Your Own Waste as part of Music Waste, a Vancouver-wide music festival.