Take Me Out To Hear the Band
Artist: Julie Lee
Label: Indie

Julie Lee is a Nashville treasure but then that particular Tennessee city isn’t short of riches. Everybody has their best kept secret that they are trying to tout for the big time. So what does Julie Lee have to lift her above her fellow citizens. I guess two of her songs appearing on Alison Krauss’s recent collection A_ Hundred Miles or More_ (indeed one of her songs gave the album its title!) will gain her some attention and feed her for a few years but her own album is more worthy of our attention. Lee who added music to her vocation as an artist quite late has matured into a formidable chanteuse and songwriter. Her voice is big, confident, full and flexible. Her songs are in the classic songwriting tradition, perfectly sculpted and seem to come natural. Where her last album _Stillhouse Road_ was all country, Lee, whose penchant has always been taking us back in time, creates a lot of jazz, swing on an album that sounds as if it is coming out of some post war radio in the corner of a Tennessee. Her voice is so confident, full and flexible. 

For those familiar with her work in recent years they, will be pleased to hear quality versions of older songs "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," written about her Nashvillian octogenarian singing neighbour Mr. Sherrill, and "The River" a poignant Gospel beauty. There’s also a version of Sam Cooke’s "A Change Is Gonna Come" which I think I am right in saying was recorded especially for a Greenbelt songwriter show of that same name hosted by yours truly!  

The only complaint is the distribution. I think it's only available at www. julielee.org
  
Steve Stockman

Steve Stockman is the Presbyterian Chaplain at Queens University, Belfast, Ireland, where he lives in community with 88 students. He has written two books Walk On; The Spiritual Journey of U2 which he is currently updating and The Rock Cries Out; Discovering Eternal Truth in Unlikely Music. He dabbles in poetry and songwriting and he has a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Ulster (listen anytime of day or night @ www.bbc.co.uk/ni/religion/rhythmandsoul). He has his own web page--Rhythms of Redemption at http://stocki.ni.org . He also tries to spend some time with his wife Janice and daughters Caitlin and Jasmine.