JULEE GLAUB - Traditional Irish & Appalachian Song P.O. Box 15125 Durham, N.C. 27704 www.juleeglaub.com On a quest for her musical heritage after finishing her undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University in her native North Carolina, Julee moved to Dublin to continue her pursuit of Irish Song, Literature and Theater. Julee believes in getting the songs she sings from her points of origin. Fascinated by immigration stories, she was a near inhabitant of the Traditional Music Archive in Dublin. She credits the combination of material from the archive, from older singers, and her experiences in working with poor and working people in Dublin as her major inspirations. The combination of the power that comes from having lived near the music's sources and her clear, sweet but commanding voice stills audiences whenever she sings. She has just finished recording her second album, Fields Faraway, which will be well launched into what is sure to be a wonderful musical career - for both her and those fortunate enough to hear her sing. She possesses a reverence and passion for the music and provides proof of the continuing viability of the tradition. Mardi Tuminaro, Irish Arts Center, NYC On June 24, New York's Irish Arts Center hosted a "musical reflections" concert featuring Donegal fiddle great Tommy Peoples and NC singer Julee Glaub. The format of these programs usually includes some give- and-take between audience and performers, but no one complained this time when the music was largely left to speak for itself...Glaub is a charming performer with a fine voice and her repertoire of Irish songs went down well. Don Meade, the Irish Voice, June 27, 2001 The Southern historian Grady McWhinney, in his book "Cracker Culture, Celtic Ways in the Old South," goes to great lengths to describe the influence of this ancient culture on the American South of the past and present. Julee Glaub certainly could be another chapter supporting Professor McWhinney's thesis. A native of North Carolina, Julee fell in love with Celtic music and journeyed to Ireland, where she spent almost eight years collecting and learning the ballad tradition from the source. What is interesting to me as a follower of Julee's music is the profound influence her Southern origins have on her presentation and her singing, which brings a subtle but unique quality to her artistry. Julee's voice is unmistakable in a relatively vast arena of women's voices presenting similar material. Her singing can move the most veteran listener, bringing a new depth of feeling to the ballad tradition. I remember the first time I heard Julee perform. It was in an Irish gift shop on a rainy March afternoon. She began to sing a ballad, which started out in a predictable fashion, but her phrasing and ornamentation left me moved and eager for more. In writing notes for this her second album of ballads, I celebrate Julee's place in Irish song not as a native Irish singer, but rather, a Southern American with a rightful claim to interpret the music of the Celts who settled and influenced the mountains and valleys of her origin. One can hear the plaintive cry of the Rebel and the Lost Cause in her presentation of Irish modern day standards such as "Irish Ways and Irish Laws," and you'll want a drop of "white lightning" famed in the mountains of North Carolina after hearing "My Dear Irish Boy." This is not an Irish balladeer "wannabe" but an original talent with something new to say based on her own roots and culture. Listen to her and you will hear what I mean! Gene Hogan Bender, a voice from the audience At a time when the role of American voice in traditional Irish song is being questioned on grounds of authenticity, we are given an album that, if it does not silence the debate completely, should quiet it down for a moment at least. The singing of Julee Glaub is not quaint, affected, or pretty. Her voice is imbued with that rare quality the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca defines as duende, or presence. "The duende," Lorca writes, "is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet." Julee has the capacity to sing beyond the song, to get down into the pure emotional core, and give back to us the song in a way that moves us utterly. In a world where it is almost impossible to feel anything, Julee Glaub gives us back our hearts. This is what traditional Irish song is about -- conveyance of emotion. The ornamentation as crucial to the "Irishness" of these songs does not come forced or strained. It is an element integral to emotion, as is evidenced in her stunning Sean Nós rendition of The Flower of Magherally O. There is risk in this singing. Julee Glaub does not hide. She has lived these songs. We hear it and we say yes. Here is a voice that holds the birds in awe. Kevin Goodan. New York, 2001 Liner notes for Fields Faraway