“This is cosmic folk of the highest caliber. Julie’s vocal melodies grow in your mind like they were planted on the shortest day of the year. An absolute treat for all of us temporal adventurers.” ~ Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance)
With its ethereal, buzzing acoustic riffs, helix of resonant drones, and vocal delivery that often sounds like an ancient form of prayer, Only the Void Stands Between Us sure-footedly takes its place in the post-’70s experimental folk lineage. Joining Julie Beth on stage on this evening will be Silver Current label head, Howlin' Rain's Ethan Miller on guitar, and auxilary Carlton Melton axeman Anthony Taibi on synth!
Doors 7:30pm. Music at 8:00pm with a special supporting solo set from MEG BAIRD.
JULIE BETH NAPOLIN++ ONLY THE VOID STANDS BETWEEN US ++
Only the Void Stands Between Us is the debut album by Julie Beth Napolin (Citay,Meridians). Not only elementally vast in its thematic outer-traveling, it is also a work that isdeeply, darkly personal at its core. The record flows around that dynamic axis resonating withembedded drones, mantra-like lyrics and grand, psychedelic folk songs that balance an inherent experimentalism and melodic accessibility in a way few artists do as effortlessly.
“My lyrics circle around something changing shape or form, death, or desire forbelonging and connection. I want things to be beautiful,” Napolin continues, “but not in away that shies away or is purely aesthetic, because I findthat cowardly. It’s important tome that created sounds are courageous and emotional, not something to escape into.”
Though the soaring vocal lines and adrenalized folk of Catherine Ribeiro, theexperimental-folk vision of Nico, and the neo-psychedelia of Kendra Smith come to mind asimmediate reference points forOnly the Void Stands Between Us(all three of theaforementioned also sing in the distinctive alto range that Napolin does), Julie also describesrock influences in her music, including the great Baltimore riff-mystics Lungfish, whose “Pray forthe Living” Julie covers on the album:
“I wanted to wed Lungfish’ssense of what was possible with a single riff to those otherplayer’s sense of envelopment in resonance where the voice or guitar becomesautonomous and world-building/mystical.”
Napolin grew up inAlbuquerque, New Mexico and taught herself to play guitar by ear. After a stint in Chicago in 1999 interning at Drag City, she touched down in San Francisco in2000 just in time for yet another great musical explosion in the far western city. Julie cut herteeth at open mic performances, where fellow artists like Joanna Newsom and DevendraBanhart would drop in, before landing in SF psych rock outfit Citay, as a full-time memberplaying keys, flute, and guitar. Citay played on bills with the likes of Six Organs of Admittance,Om, and Earthless, and the exposureto psych rock and inspired heavy underground music leftits mark on her songwriting. In 2012, Meridians, Napolin’s duo with luthier Trevor Healy (SnakeOil), recorded and released their debut album. She then made a permanent move to New YorkCity where sheconnected with experimental composer/guitarist David First, who providedmultiple micro-tonal drone tracks onOnly the Void Stands Between Usas well as Tom Carter(of Charalambides), who plays a beautifully fractured but melodic guitar solo on the titletrack.These east coast connections redoubled Julie’s approach to traditional song craft through anexperimental perspective.
Julie Beth Napolin currently lives in the Hudson Valley, NY, is a published author, andhas a PhD in Rhetoric from Berkeley.She teaches sound studies, philosophy, and literature atthe New School in Manhattan.Only the Void Stands Between Uswill be released November29th, 2024 on Silver CurrentRecords.