Five Firsts: Julia Brown

NAME: Julia Brown
INSTRUMENT: Guitar. Some piano/keyboard.

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … The first cassette I ever bought with my own money was Squeeze’s “Babylon and On.”

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … My mom took me to see Tina Turner at the Richmond Coliseum. It was the most exciting thing my pre-teen self had seen up to that point; Tina did not stop moving, from minute one. I wore a ridiculous wool skirt and itched the whole time. But it was a fantastic show.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … My mom is a classically trained pianist, so we always had pianos around the house. I learned to read music and just enough theory to be able to pick out chords but was never very disciplined with lessons.

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … I didn’t do a lot of singing in public growing up. I sang Bette Midler’s “The Rose” at a talent show in elementary school. I also was briefly a member of a girl group in high school that lasted through two or three performances; we did sing a song that I wrote.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … The guy who produced my first album, “Jubilant Newborn Alien Haze,” helped me put together a five-piece band to promote the recording; the band lasted through a handful shows. I was just learning to play guitar at the time and wasn’t able to fully appreciate playing with other folks. Now, I’ve been playing solo for a while, and have begun fantasizing about putting together a band and traveling around in a van. I’m looking forward to it.

NYC singer-songwriter Julia Brown returns to town for a solo acoustic performance at the Bread & Jam Cafe in Cohoes at 8pm on Friday. Sharing the stage will be Nippertown’s own singer-songwriter supreme Bryan Thomas.