Biography
Bloodlines already predisposed Julia Greenberg toward music, since her grandparents had worked as vaudeville performers. New York City proved no impediment to her progress, nor did the left-wing summer camp whose counselors schooled the children in political protest folk songs. Vocal studies at New York’s High School of Music and Art coincided with the early-’80s arrival of MTV. Only in college did Greenberg finally encounter an opening. While enrolled at Wesleyan University she majored in Russian literature and history and spent time living in Moscow to refine her command of the language. The interlude proved brief; she was soon drawn back onstage with the Cowlicks, a country-punk band that worked the New York–New England club circuit on weekends. The Cowlicks cut a record produced by Celtic fiddle hero Johnnie Cunningham. Shortly after its release the group disbanded, and Greenberg turned to solo work. She assembled a circle of players that included members of Health and Happiness Show, Birdy, and the Other 99; together they launched Cropduster Records and began recording and releasing their own material. Greenberg’s first release, Past Your Eyes, appeared in 1999. Its single “Pitiful You” landed on Rolling Stone’s most-downloaded MP3 chart directly behind Eminem. To promote the album she played clubs and opened for Jill Sobule and Freedy Johnston.
Albums
