Feature

After growing up in an environment where women were to be seen and not heard, Schurr escaped the chains of her strict upbringing and made herself known nationwide with a guitar in her hands, a song on her tongue and a new genre of music she fondly calls “indierockbitchfolk.”

On her first release “To Her (the Bittersweet),” Schurr composed songs that tended to be both poignantly honest and verbally cutting. As her next release is nearing completion, Schurr is proving that overbearing ideologies have a tendency to backfire from time to time.

SC: You have something in common with a musician I interviewed named Tim Reynolds in that you both grew up in strict religious households. How would you say that shaped you as a musician?

JS: Well, I guess in a way I took from my upbringing what I could use. I’m not so religious now, but it really opened my eyes to a lot of things that I don’t maybe agree with in more strict religious practices. It brought to my attention the issues that are there that serve to keep people out of the church instead of bringing them to it. I do tend to write about things like that.

I definitely have nothing against any religion. Being raised the way I was, I saw how judgmental people can be, and it kinda made me more apt to accept every religion just because seeing what I saw, I know how deep faith and how strong faith is. It made me realize that every religion has that, but everybody follows what they need to follow.

So, I kinda took the good things from that and try to work that in a lot. It also made me rebel a little bit, being raised that way. At first, I rebelled quite a bit, and it kinda made me a loudmouth. I was raised where women are supposed to keep their mouths closed and be subservient. I flipped that and went the exact opposite way, and that has helped a lot!

SC: What was it that made you decide that being a professional, touring musician was the life for you?

JS: Let’s see, I love performing, and I love performing because I find the commonality between me and these people that I’ve never met before. They tell me that they felt something in a song. When that started when I wasn’t doing this professionally doing open mics and random gigs, people would tell me, “Oh, I felt like I was alone until you said that.” That was so beautiful to me because it’s a connection between someone I just met and might not ever see again in my life, but you feel so connected that you don’t feel alone anymore.

There’s so many people out there, and you know that there are people who feel something. If I hadn’t put it out there in the music, I might not have ever known that. Issues that I sing about, and maybe not even issues, but the emotions that are in my music are not always acceptable when spoken about, but in a song, they are acceptable because in that artistic form, they are accepted. So, that is beautiful, and when I started doing that and finding it was the same thing in every city that I went to, that was just amazing to me. Being on the road is hard. You know, you get lonely and things like that, but I love what I do, and I love the people I met. I feel I have extended family all over the place that I may never see again, but I know they’re out there, and they feel the same way.

SC: That leads into my next question. You keep a pretty intense touring schedule. How do you stay sane on the road?

JS: When I’m on the road, I’m pretty busy. I’m always in the hotel rooms or wherever I’m able to crash, I’m working on new music or preparing for the next show. I travel with my dog, and that really helps, because he’s an awesome friend to have with me. You know, there are times when it does get lonely, touring by myself. I meet so many people at the shows, and the two to three hours I spend in a venue are so overwhelming. It carries me through to the next show.

If it doesn’t, then I have the work I have to do, the music I have to write. I’m always working on the next song or the next CD. So, I’m honestly realizing that after a year of doing this that I have too much time to fill with work and meeting people to really be lonely. Those times that do present themselves, I’m in a new city, so I go drive around and find local cuisine and things like that. I make it a great experience even though I’m feeling kinda lonely at the time. It works out. It’s definitely something you have to be made for, I think. It’s definitely a hard life, but I think I’m cut out for it.

SC: I love how you classify your music as “indierockbitchfolk.”

JS: (laughing) Yeah!

SC: Could you elaborate a little on that for me?

JS: Well, I kinda coined that after people would refer to me as a folk musician, which puts me in a category of bluegrass and earthy, kinda hippie music. I have no issue with that at all, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way at all. Don’t quote me as saying that in a bad way. I coin that because my music is not considered to be rock by people who play rock music, and it’s not considered to be folk by people who play folk music. Instead, I see myself as a woman who will say whatever I need to say at that moment. It’s definitely not folk, and it’s definitely not rock. So, I created my own genre, I guess, or tried to.

SC: You’ve been working on your follow-up to “To Her (The Bittersweet).” Could you tell me a little about that?

JS: I’ll tell you what I can, because I don’t want to give too much away. I like the whole grand unveiling. I’m working on my second CD, which I’m really excited about. A lot of people are excited for it to come out. I’m about halfway through the music for it. I’m going to do straight acoustic, once again. I like the sound.

At first, I was kinda worried that was not enough, but I got such great response from the first CD with it just being straight acoustic that I’m gonna go that way this time too. This CD, I noticed that the songs are just a little more evolved, which is good because it should happen.

A lot of the songs on the current CD are spanning across a nine-to-10-year period. These will all be from the last two to three years. It will definitely have the same style and the same general feel to it, but it will be a little more evolved. I’ve been working on some new stylings on guitar. It will be a little different but definitely still me. I’m really excited about it. I can’t wait! We’ve got the photos done, and I’ve found a studio. So, it’s just a matter of finishing up the music, and I’m hoping to get it finished on the road.

SC: So, what does the future hold for Julie Schurr?

JS: Oh wow! Well, no one really knows what the future holds, but what I hope the future holds, I hope to tour full time, year round and keep getting feedback whether it be good or bad, because I always need input on the music. I hope to keep growing with the music and put out things that I will get wonderful compliments on. I mean, that’s how I got started, and that’s how I want to keep going.

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

Archives