juliekayclark

Hi there…..I was raised in Amarillo, Tx in a family of out-of-control discord due to the fact that my German dad and Italian mom were too hopelessly different to ever be able to mesh (add in the kickers of alcohol and infidelity and it was a true formula for disaster). I spent my childhood hiding inside my head dreaming up songs as to how I might solve my parents’ problems, all the while trying to seem as normal as possible to the outside world….clearly, this was the beginning of my se...

Hi there…..I was raised in Amarillo, Tx in a family of out-of-control discord due to the fact that my German dad and Italian mom were too hopelessly different to ever be able to mesh (add in the kickers of alcohol and infidelity and it was a true formula for disaster). I spent my childhood hiding inside my head dreaming up songs as to how I might solve my parents’ problems, all the while trying to seem as normal as possible to the outside world….clearly, this was the beginning of my sense of always being on the outside looking in. As I got older, I became more and more resigned or maybe just more realistic as to how much people (my parents) could ever change. When I was a freshman in high school, my family moved to Dallas where the fragile thread holding my family together completely unraveled. At last, I graduated and moved to Austin, leaving my poor baby sister home alone with my parents. (Sorry sis, I know it had to be hell). Yet, I took off to Austin following in the footsteps of my beloved older brother and started classes at the University of Texas. Thanks to the amazing music scene in Austin, I bought my 1st guitar at this time, the same 1969 Gibson Country & Western that I play today. One summer, I went to a pop festival outside College Station and one of my dogs, Lady, got sick. I took her to the veterinary school there and I’ll never forget walking through those doors and remembering how I’d always wanted to be a vet. Through the next 6 long, nightmarish years, I struggled getting into and through vet school but in 1980, I was at last a vet! After graduating vet school, I knew my mom was at a critical point in her relationship with my dad, so I offered to take her to California were her family lived. Amazingly, she went. What a crazy trip! My Italian mom following me in my old station wagon with my 15 cats and slobbering Dobie/Shepherd, Loupie. For the next 22 years, I married twice, started my own veterinary practice, and raised my 2 very feisty daughters, Lindsay and Kelly. In October of 2002, 2 years after the girls had graduated high school, I sold the vet practice and our home. It took a cross-country trip and 6 months in Connecticut to admit to myself that I had just sold everything I owned in order to be a singer/songwriter. I went back to California and sheepishly started the slow and confusing journey of discovering how to write a song and perform it. In 2004, with my broken heart in hand from yet another failed relationship, I went to San Francisco and shared an apartment with Lindsay. After a rough start, I fell in love with SF. It is so beautiful. I was filled with a determination to study with anyone and everyone I could find who might help me progress with my songwriting and performing. I will forever and ever be indebted to my many wonderful teachers: to my greatest task master and musical mentor, Jai Josefs; to the amazing Raz Kennedy who I completely adore; the incredible, insightful Susie Davis; all my teachers at the Blue Bear School of Music (Randy Clark, Janak Ramachandran and so many others); the outspoken and musical genius of Bonnie Hayes; the dear Steve Seskin; the dynamic, though completely wild man, Richard Nikol; the persistent and patient Katie Guthorn; Pat Pattison and his gift of the power of verbs; and last but surely not least, Brian Thomas Poirier and CeCe Cannavo. They changed the course of my life when I took their performance workshop called the Credo Workshop. They coached me afterwards and Brian even got me my first real gig at L’s Café in the Mission district. Thank you so, so very much to everyone for making such a difference. It was after staring my gig at L’s that I realized I was ready to move to Nashville. I had visited Nashville for the first time the previous year for a NSAI conference and remember thinking “I have to move here!” even before I had exited the airport. But since then, I had tried to talk myself out of it since I didn’t want to leave my daughters and the rest of my family and friends in California. Yet, somehow I knew it was time to go. Thankfully, I loved Nashville from the moment I got here. It is so friendly and reminds me a lot of Texas. Most importantly, it led me to the brilliant Kim Copeland who produced my 4 cds in June of 2008. She had such vision. She brought in Joe Spivey to play on my cds and he completely transformed my songs, breathing fresh life into them. I have never experienced anyone with such an amazing ability to find the exact notes that could perfectly match the lyric and mood of the song. Thank you, thank you, thank you Kim and Joe. Then, there was the wizardry and the magical ear of engineer Kelly Schoenfeld. To top it off, Kelly brought in a good friend, Rick Day, who did such a cool job of laying down percussion with the greatest of ease. I love those bongos!! Now, I’m just continuing to follow my nose and trying to stay as mellow as possible for a person that has an anxious terrier personality like mine. I am so very thankful to no longer have to witness people suffering over their little kitties and dogs. I even bought a house (which I had given up hope of being able to afford again in California). Life has been so very sweet lately and I will try to cherish this turn of good luck for as long as I am blessed to enjoy it. Thanks so much for listening!