Julie Matthews (born 1963) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. She has been a member of some of the most influential British folk duos and groups and is acknowledged internationally as a major songwriter, with her work being covered by a wide range of artists and groups. Her music is often classified as English folk, but contains strong American influences.
Early career
Julie Matthews was born in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
, England. The daughter of a steel worker, she began playing guitar at the age of nine before teaching herself piano.
While still at school she began songwriting and recording and was soon exploring what she would identify as the three primary jobs of her songwriting: ‘confession, observation and social comment’. She left school at 18 and began writing songs for a small London publishing company. After only a few months the company went bankrupt, forcing her to work for several years as a nightclub and hotel pianist throughout Europe, while still playing her own music at festivals.
With Pat Shaw
Julie met Pat Shaw at a session at a local radio station and they formed a musical partnership, singing and playing together. However, while singing at the Feet First Festival in Derbyshire in 1990 Julie was seen by
Ashley Hutchings, who invited her to join the ''
Albion Band
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the mo ...
''. With a lack of progress of their own projects Pat began a career in teaching and Julie joined the Albion Band and toured with them for three years. No studio album was created with this line-up, but recordings from this period surfaced as ''Captured'' (1995).
Julie and Pat Shaw released their first album, ''As Long As I Am Able'', in 1992. As things began to move forward as part of a duo again Julie left the Albion Band in 1993 and was replaced by songwriter, guitarist and singer
Chris While
Chris While (born 1956) is an English songwriter, singer and musician, known particularly for her vocals and live performances. She has worked as a solo artist, a songwriter and as a member of a number of duos and groups. Her music is often cla ...
. Julie and Pat joined fellow south Yorkshire musicians Kathleen and Rosalie
Deighton,
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, and is one of the be ...
, and
Kathryn Roberts
Kathryn Roberts is an English folk singer, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
Early career
Roberts' first released recordings were on the album ''Intuition'', a collection of songs by various South Yorkshire folk artists which also included he ...
for the highly regarded album ''Intuition'' (1993). The same year they released their debut album ''Lies and Alibi's''. All the compositions were by Julie including 'Thorn Upon a Rose', which was subsequently covered as a single by Mary Black and which charted in Ireland and Japan, helping to establish Julie's growing reputation as a songwriter of note. The album received critical acclaim being nominated in the 'rising star' category of the Great British Country Music Awards; this led to the duo opening for
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...
at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in 1994. However, soon after Pat returned to her career in teaching and Julie rejoined the Albion Band.
The Albion Band
Julie and Chris While now became the mainstay of writing within the band. The 1995 release ''Albion Heart'' included the While/Matthews collaborations of 'Man in the Bottle' (with Ashley Hutchings) and the title track, which became something of a group anthem and provided the first evidence of a fruitful musical collaboration. In addition Julie contributed three tracks, including the memorable up tempo 'Devil in Me' and the ballad 'Love is an Abandoned Car'. In 1995 Chris and Julie toured Canada as 'The Women of Albion'. The intention was a one-off project, however, positive audience reception and their growing musical partnership led them towards pursuing joint projects. They released an ''EP Blue Moon on the Rise'' (1995) with five jointly penned tracks, including the since much recorded reworking of a traditional theme as ‘Young Man Cut Down in His Prime’.
Matthews' solo debut, ''Such Is Life'' (1996), was notable for the fact that six of the fourteen tracks that had already been recorded. One had been taken by
Fairport Convention to be used as the title track of their 1995 album ''
Jewel in the Crown'', (the anti-imperial message of which led to accusations of being unpatriotic) and 'Love me or Not' was covered by
Frances Black
Frances Black (born 25 June 1960) is an Irish people, Irish singer and politician. She came to prominence in the late 1980s when she began to play with her family's band, The Black Family (band), the Black Family, performing a mix of Traditi ...
.
In 1996 Julie and Chris joined with
Christine Collister
Christine Collister (born 28 December 1961) is a Manx folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter. She was born and grew up on the Isle of Man and first came to public attention in 1986 as the singer of the theme song for the BBC's television adapt ...
,
Melanie Harrold and
Helen Watson to form
Daphne's Flight. They produced an eponymous record that showcased the formidable vocal talent in the group. The last Albion album with Chris and Julie, ''Demi Paradise'', was released in 1996. Julie contributed to five of the twelve tracks, but by this point Julie and Chris had decided to focus on their solo and joint work and left the band after the 1997
Cropredy Festival
Fairport's Cropredy Convention (formerly Cropredy Festival) is an annual festival of folk and rock music, headed by British folk-rock band Fairport Convention and held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. The festi ...
in August.
While and Matthews
In the Big Room to Stages
![WhileandMatthews2005](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/WhileandMatthews2005.jpg)
Julie co-produced Chris's solo album, ''In the Big Room'', with writing credits for on two songs and instrumental contributions on every track. This was followed by their first album as a duo, ''Piecework'', in 1998. This included what are often considered some of Chris and Julie's most powerful songs and marked the emergence of their distinctive and highly polished sound. It included the Matthews penned 'Class Reunion' which soon became a concert favourite; the moving collaboration 'Even the Desert' and 'Seven Years of Rust' which was based on her father's experiences: memorably expressing triumph over adversity. A busy recording schedule resulted in their second album ''Higher Potential'' in October 1999, which showcased their diverse influences. Tracks penned by Julie included the wistful ‘Angels Walk Among Us’ and the up tempo ‘Digging Holes’. The following year there was the much anticipated double live album, ''Stages'', which managed to capture some of the duo’s outstanding live sound and stagecraft, as well as many of their best songs to date.
Quest to Perfect Mistake
Their third joint studio album, ''Quest'' (2001), was produced by acclaimed Ghanaian musician Kwame Yeboah of
e2K and featured his multi-instrumental skills. It was hailed as their best album to date, and as cementing their position 'as two of Britain's most important singer/songwriters'. In this period Chris and Julie began to tour frequently in the UK, Europe, Africa, North America and Australia. They are particularly well regarded in the last of these, where they fill large concert halls and attend the major festivals. For the 2004 release ''Perfect Mistake'' Julie took the major share of the songwriting duties, contributing nine of the twelve tracks and sharing another two with Chris, with her creations much enhanced by Chris’ outstanding performances, harmonies and instrumental skills.
Here and Now to Shoulder To Shoulder
In 2005, they released ''Here and Now'', recorded at the Worden Arts Centre in Leyland Lancashire, with a more acoustic and stripped down sound. The live vibe may explain its very positive reception in the music press, especially among more traditional folk commentators. In the same year Julie released her second solo album ''Slow'', which showcased some of her down tempo songwriting and which received positive, if not effusive, reviews.'' Stage 2: Live at the Firehouse'' (2007) was a second live album from the duo containing some fan favourites and songs written since 2000. In 2008 Chris and Julie released their sixth studio album ''Together Alone'' to further critical acclaim, with ''Propaganda'' magazine describing the duo as ‘dealing so very tenderly with simple universal truths, they achieve their impact by an astute economy of expression allied to warmly accessible melodies and arrangements’.
In 2006, they released their first 'Best Of' album which covered their duo career up to ''Here & Now''. 2010 saw the release of ''Hitting The Ground Running'' then in 2012 came ''Infinite Sky''. ''Who We Are'' was released in 2014 and the single "If This Were Your Last Day" from that album was on the BBC Radio 2 playlist for three weeks. They appeared on ''Weekend Wogan'' live and were played on daytime radio. Their 10th album in 22 years ''Shoulder to Shoulder'' was released in September 2016.
Diverse projects
While pursuing a career based around her work with Chris While and her solo endeavours, Julie has fitted a number of diverse projects into a busy schedule of touring and recording.
St Agnes Fountain
In December 2001, Chris and Julie joined forces with
Chris Leslie
Christopher Michael Leslie (born 28 June 1972) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley from 1997 to 2005 and Nottingham East from 2010 to 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, he defected to form ...
and
David Hughes David Hughes may refer to:
Arts
*Dave Hughes (born 1970), Australian comedian
*Dave Hughes (producer), American television producer and editor
*David Hughes (illustrator), British illustrator
*David Hughes (Emmerdale), fictional character in the I ...
to form the Christmas project
St Agnes Fountain, which combined original music, unique arrangements of classic seasonal songs, with a good deal of humour. They have toured in the pre-Christmas season every year since and released 'Acoustic Carols for Christmas' in 2001 to critical acclaim and have produced five subsequent albums: ''Comfort and Joy'' (2002), ''The Show'' (2003), ''Three Ships'' (2003) ''The White Xmas Album'' (2006) and ''Soul Cake'' (2008).
Blue Tapestry
In 2002 the duo collaborated with outstanding instrumentalists
Maartin Allcock
Maartin Allcock (born Martin Allcock; 5 January 1957 – 16 September 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer.
Biography
Born in Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), E ...
,
Pete Zorn
Pete Zorn (29 May 1950 – 19 April 2016) was an American multi-instrumentalist who was a longstanding member of Richard Thompson's backing band. He was also a member of Steeleye Span, The Albion Band, and Driver 67.
Career
As a member of Th ...
and Neil Marshall for a series of live performances under the title 'Blue Tapestry', which cumulated in a rapturous reception by 20,000 fans at the 2003 ''Cropredy Festival''. This was a show featuring the music of
Carole King and
Joni Mitchell, which resulted in a subsequent release of ''Blue Tapestry Live'' (2003).
Radio work
As a duo While and Matthews have worked on several musical projects for the BBC including ''Tales of the Towpath'' (2005), a radio documentary about the building of the Manchester Ship Canal and the ''2006
Radio Ballad The radio ballad is an audio documentary format created by Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, and Charles Parker in 1958. It combines four elements of sound: songs, instrumental music, sound effects, and, most importantly, the recorded voices of those wh ...
s.'' Julie wrote 11 of the songs, covering four of the programmes for the critically acclaimed shows. In 2007, Julie embarked on a solo tour that featured these songs, interspersing the live performances with recordings of the original testimonies the songs were written around.
Party on the Lawn
While and Matthews have an annual festival 'Party on the Lawn' which takes place at Prebendal Farm, Bishopstone, Wiltshire in June.
Rejoice the Voice
Chris and Julie, along with fellow Daphne's Flight member Helen Watson, also tour with their woman’s vocal workshop 'Rejoice the Voice', providing women with an opportunity to sing collectively and improve their vocal technique. In 2009 Julie, Chris and Helen released ''Bare Bones'', featuring some of the songs they worked on at the 'Rejoice the Voice' workshops.
Record production
As well as producing her own, Chris’s and some of their joint albums, Julie has also produced albums for other artists, including Helen Watson's ''Somersault'' (1998) and ''Lifesize'' (2002) and Kellie While's ''Tenacious'' (2001).
Awards
While and Matthews have been nominated as best duo in the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards seven times and as best live act twice and won the 'Best Duo' award in 2009.
Discography
Solo albums
*''Such is Life'' (1996)
*''Slow'' (2006)
With Chris While and Helen Watson
*''Bare Bones'' (2009)
With Pat Shaw
*''As Long as I am Able'' (1992)
*''Lies and Alibis'' (1993)
With Kathleen Deighton, Rosalie Deighton, Kathryn Roberts, Kate Rusby, and Pat Shaw
*''Intuition'' (1993)
With the Albion Band
*''Captured'' (1995)
*''
Albion Heart'' (1995)
*''Demi Paradise'' (1996)
*''The Acoustic Years 1993–97'' (1997)
*''Albion Heart on Tour'' (2004)
With Chris While
*''Blue Moon on the Rise'' EP (1995)
*''Piecework'' (1998)
*''Higher Potential'' (1999)
*''Stages'' (2000)
*''Quest'' (2001)
*''Perfect Mistake'' (2004)
*''Here and Now'' (2005)
*''The Best of While and Matthews'' (2006)
*''Stage 2: Live at the Firehouse'' (2007)
*''Together Alone'' (2008)
*''Hitting The Ground Running''
*''Infinite Sky'' (2012)
*''Who We Are'' (2014
*''Shoulder To Shoulder'' (September 2016)
*
The Duo's Website'
With ''Daphne's Flight''
*''Daphne's Flight'' (1996)
*''New album due for release in 2017''
With ''St Agnes Fountain''
*''Acoustic Carols for Christmas'' (2001)
*''Comfort and Joy'' (2002)
*''The Show'' (2003)
*''Three Ships'' (2003)
*''The White Xmas Album'' (2006)
*''Soul Cake'' (2008)
*''Spirit of Christmas'' (2010)
*''Best of St Agnes Fountain'' (Double CD) (2011)
*''Twelve Years of Christmas'' (2012)
*''Christmas is not Far Away'' (2014)
*''The Best of St Agnes Fountain'' Vol.2 (2015)
With ''Blue Tapestry''
*''Blue Tapestry Live'' (2003)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Julie
1963 births
Living people
English folk musicians
English folk singers
English women singer-songwriters
Musicians from Sheffield
The Albion Band members
Daphne's Flight members