Ryan Star's album 11:59 is released today. Despite Star's interviews in April which suggested there would be a collaboration with Juliana included, she sadly doesn't feature.

Star told MusicVice.com:

"She actually sang background vocals on “So Ordinary” which is another track from Songs from the Eye of an Elephant, but it won’t be making this album. It didn’t make the cut. I felt like people already have it. I wanted to get the new songs out to everybody first. As much as I selfishly want to have Juliana and my voice together out there in the world, it’s just not happening yet."

To clarify, the version of So Ordinary from Star's 2005 debut album Songs from the Eye of an Elephant does not feature Juliana either.  If you have Spotify you can listen to this original version here (link opens Spotify) and ... imagine Juliana's voice on it.

Juliana has posted 4 photos on her blog taken from previous promotional shoots by Jonathan Stark.

(The individual blog links are 1, 2, 3 and 4.)

"Before I embarked on this challenging project/experiment, I was totally burned-out on songwriting, burned-out on singing about myself, and now I am completely re-energized and inspired again. In a part of my brain and a part of my heart, I was secretly hoping for this sort of a result — feeling, somehow, that it was never just an exercise in whoring myself out for money."

Juliana has reopened the $1,000 custom song project.

Explaining that she closed the original orders when they reached 11 from the original planned cap of 20, the remaining 9 songs are now up for grabs again.  This 'second wave' (as Juliana calls it) includes a further 'lottery ticket' song, this time for free.

For all the details head over to Juliana's blog.

UPDATE: August 17, 2010: The lottery is now closed.

Juliana has picked a lottery winner for her customised song project.   If you haven't heard from her by today it's not you. 

It won't be me. I didn't apply, fearing I'd likely want to share the song too much, especially if it turned out to be a classic, not to mention the whole self-indulgence of it all!  For those without such neuroses good luck to any of you who entered.

The official messageboard at julianahatfield.com is no more. The site admin, Stacee, has confirmed to me that there are no plans for it to return, advising that "Juliana was ready to pull the plug."

Its demise will come as no surprise to members, given that the forum has been 'hidden' for the last year, closed to potential new members and with an admin who candidly admitted her heart wasn't in it any more.

I'd like to thank Stacee for running it while she did, including its previous incarnation as the Some Girls board. Its closure together with its forewarned but still abrupt nature is however a big disappointment. It will be missed.

Although never a high traffic forum, it was the most active community for Juliana's fans. It was the natural home for fan discussion, for the diehards and particularly for newer and 'casual' fans where it would be the first and probably only place they would look for it. Juliana is now a rarity amongst artists in not having a forum on her website.

This is the main reason I've never put a forum on liveontomorrow.co.uk and why at least in the immediate future, I don't have any plans to do so now. I don't think the official one can be replaced.

I hope I'm wrong. As many of us no doubt know, there is nevertheless a messageboard / mailing list hosted on Yahoo called This is the Sound. This board pre-dates the official forum and has its origins in Juliana fan sites that came and went before this one. It was THE place to go for info and discussion and although quieter in recent years has never gone away.

A Yahoo Group may seem a bit ancient in the age of TwitFace social media but this should be preserved. It is after all Juliana fan heritage!

Hopefully enough fans will migrate there now. Although I didn't contribute much on the official one I'll endeavour to contribute now at This Is The Sound, and I'd encourage everyone else to. I'll be putting a more prominent link to it on this site. Hopefully it can take off again and allay my pessimism that the community will wither away over time; inevitable if Juliana's output becomes more sporadic and low profile.

If you have any other thoughts on how best to keep the Juliana fan community active, please leave them in the comments here or indeed at This is the Sound.

Update

on 2011-06-30 11:03 by Craig

A year on and this post still gets Google hits.

Hello there!

Inevitably This Is The Sound hasn't really generated the same levels of discussion as the old board. I still wish, forlornly, that it will come back.

Update

on 2010-06-30 20:33 by Craig

There's been a noticeable spike in traffic to this site over the last week via Google search referrals for 'juliana hatfield message board', rather underlining my opinion that the board was highly valued by a lot of us.  A real shame it's gone.  

A brief mention of Juliana in an interview with Jody Porter at Green Shoelace: 

GSL: You’ve worked with the likes of Albert Hammond Jr., Jesse Malin, Ivy and Juliana Hatfield. How did you decide to work with each of them? Are there any more collaborations you would like to do in the future?

"Well they’re all pals and I’m not that hard to find around the village. Albert and Jules have my digits so it was really just guesting on some friends’ records. I’d like to work with Jesus if he ever shows up."

Yes, this is not that interesting and hardly 'news' but it's posted now.  No going back.

"I am making progress on the songs-to-order. Songwriting takes time sometimes. It’s hard to pump out good stuff quickly, at least for me. But I am plugging along, liking what is happening."

Juliana also mentions that the 'lottery' winner has yet to be picked.  More on this and other updates from Juliana's world can be read in her latest blog.

The most elongated series of audio interviews in internet history has now come to an end. Part 4 of Juliana's interview with Gearwire is now online and includes a discussion on her Martin HD-28V acoustic guitar.

Thanks to Carlos for the link.

From Juliana:

"I will not be accepting any more song orders. I will announce the lottery winner soon. Thank you to everyone."

Q:  Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

JH: Here. Still here.

Read a new Q&A with Juliana at Tuned-Out.

 

Juliana never fails to surprise. Today she has announced an unexpected left field idea of offering a customised personal song for $1000.  Yes, you have just read that.  

The full details in Juliana's own words are at her official site, where orders are being taken. UPDATE - MAY 12 2010 - Juliana is no longer taking orders.

The key points are:  

• send some personal info and Juliana will tailor-make a song for you
• songs will be ‘mostly acoustic style’
• songs sent by mail in personalised hand painted cardboard CD sleeve 
• $1000 cost on first-come first-served basis, capped at 20
• $10 ‘lottery ticket’ option for one chance to win the same deal
• songs intended solely for recipients, not planned for future release

This offer is intended to help fund two unspecified future projects and a third, which Juliana tantalisingly says...

"..involves gathering together some of my vast unreleased archives."

This idea is a little eccentric and intriguing.  It will also no doubt induce panic among the most compulsively voracious of collectors!  Nonetheless we now know that a) Juliana is still writing new songs and b) there is a “vast” number of old unheard songs she wants to do something with.  Therefore the best news reported on these pages this year.

A solo acoustic tv appearance dating way back to early 1993 (post Hey Babe and pre Become What You Are) can now be viewed on JBTV Online, featuring a snippet of Start Choppin (Dinosaur Jr), plus full versions of He’d Be A Diamond(The Bevis Frond), My Sister, Ugly, It’s A Shame About Ray(The Lemonheads) and Supermodel.

A good quality video, great performance and wonderful nostalgia. 

Thanks to Andrew for spotting and sharing this. 

UPDATE August 2010 - The videos appear to have been removed from JBTV. Hopefully they will be back.

UDPATE Mar 5, 2012 - As JBTV's Robert Shell points out in the comments they are now back online.

If you want to collaborate with Juliana it helps if your name is Ryan. 

Her involvement with that Cardinals fella has been well documented.

This week another Ryan - American singer / songwriter Ryan Star has revealed that Juliana performs backing vocals on his forthcoming album 11:59.

UPDATE: August 3, 2010

The album has now been released and Juliana is not on it.

In an article carried by the Huffington Post, Star says:

“(Juliana) sang on my record. It turned out she was a fan, you know, it goes years back. I saw her (when I / she) was younger, gave her one of my demos, and it turns out she knew who I was and was excited to sing.”

In CWG magazine he says Juliana was his favourite person to collaborate with, describing her as:

“the greatest fucking girl artist in the world.”

It looks like the recording may date back at least a couple of years as the release of 11:59 has been delayed several times and there is currently no firm date.  Perhaps Ryan should take note of his label’s history of releasing of songs involving Juliana.  Ryan Star is signed to Atlantic Records. 

Ryan Schmidt - Black Sheep, Run

And to complete the Ryan theme, a reminder that as reported last year, Juliana performs a duet with Boston singer / songwriter Ryan Schmidt on the track Night The Bells Rang on his new album Black Sheep, Run. The album is due for release on June 1, 2010 November 2, 2010. Listen to the track here:

In her self-deprecating (or just realistic) way Juliana has mentioned her relative musical anonymity in recent interviews.  Her withdrawal from touring and promotion inevitably pushes her further under the mainstream radar, something she appears comfortable about.  It’s therefore good to see her music continues to be appreciated by contemporary artists. 

24 year old British singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, aka Marina and the Diamonds is a current darling of the music press, and a fan too.  

She namechecked Juliana in an interview carried by we7 earlier this year: 

“I love artists who are true to themselves and don't follow a particular pattern with trends, what's "in" etc. I love artists who aren't scared to do something new. PJ Harvey, Daniel Johnston, Metric, The Distillers, Juliana Hatfield, Madonna...”

In a widely syndicated article by Bang Showbiz this month, Marina said:

"I think I will have a Juliana Hatfield or PJ Harvey moment one day, where I'll just record in my bedroom with an electric guitar and it'll sell two copies.”

Juliana talks about Gibson guitars and raises the possibility of future live electric shows in the third part of Gearwire's audio interview.    

Motown based music site Tuned-Out is due to interview Juliana:

Questions can be submitted via their site or at Facebook and Twitter.  'When will you be playing a show in my backyard?' themed questions should probably be avoided.  Thoughts on crimes against confectionary less so.

Update

on 2010-05-08 16:55 by Craig

The interview is now available at Tuned-Out.

When she's not busy saving stray dogs and other 'super secret' non-musical adventures it appears Juliana is also now a consumer champion.  Today's blog post addresses the vital matter of the new US 2 piece King Size Snickers bar and the inane brevity of the manufacturers' reply to her complaint.  

Such an important issue that liveontomorrow.co.uk has taken to Google to find a more detailed answer from Mars Chocolate North America:

"The size of the product was changed in order to hold the retail price steady. This is also directly related to manufacturing and ingredient costs. When you compare the weight of any product of equally high quality, we are confident our candy would cost less per ounce."

Part 2 of an audio interview, titled "Juliana Hatfield On Vocals, Recording, And Musical Education Of The Higher Sort", is now available to listen at Gearwire.

If you missed Part 1, it's here.