COVEpod | Carganilla Online Variety Entertainment Podcast | Storytelling, Interviews, Poetry, Music, Arts & Inspiration
In the Carganilla Online Variety Entertainment Podcast, host Paul Carganilla [joined by his family and friends] offer a wide variety of entertainment offerings, including: music, poetry, storytelling, special guest interviews, dramatic readings, thought-provoking conversations, inspiration, and more!
Along with highlighting the work of established creators, this podcast celebrates the power of creativity, imagination, and inspiration. More than just an entertainment podcast, the COVE Podcast seeks to inspire its audience through performances and introspection from a community of like-minded individuals driven by the belief that dreams can become reality. Together, we cultivate a positive and supportive podcast community that entertains and empowers listeners to take bold steps toward their creative, professional, and personal life goals.
COVEpod | Carganilla Online Variety Entertainment Podcast | Storytelling, Interviews, Poetry, Music, Arts & Inspiration
Julia DiGrazia | Rockin' the Creative Roller Coaster | COVE Podcast 23
Fiddle Extraordinaire / Singer / Songwriter / Musician / Ice Hockey Player / Snowboarder : Julia DiGrazia
Join host Paul Carganilla for a chat with the incredibly talented singer-songwriter and fiddle player, Julia DiGrazia. Julia shares insights on her musical childhood, juggling classical violin with old-time fiddling, and her enthusiasm for snowboarding, ice hockey, canine companions, and vegetables. With a blend of original solo tracks like "If You Wanted To" and "Roller Coaster," a hint of an upcoming album, viral musical collaborations with her friend Evan Honer, and an upcoming tour, Julia's musical creative journey is a roller coaster ride of its own. Whether you’re a music aficionado or a casual listener, this episode promises a harmonious blend of music, passion, and inspiration. Tune in!
JULIA'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.juliadigrazmusic.com/
EPISODE VIDEOS: www.covetube.com
COVE DIRECTORY: https://linktr.ee/covepod
COVE PATREON: www.patreon/covepodcast
CONTACT: covepod@gmail.com
PRODUCER / POETRY PERFORMER: Craig Jackman
FEATURED MUSIC: “If He Wanted To" [ Original ], "Roller Coaster" [ Original ], "Jersey Giant" [ Evan Honer & Julia DiGrazia - Tyler Childers COVER ], "Someone You Don't Know" [ Evan Honer & Julia DiGrazia ]
POETRY: “The Corn-Stalk Fiddle" [ Paul Laurence Dunbar ]
VOICE-OVER INTRODUCTION: Malcolm McDowell [ Actor: "A Clockwork Orange" ]
SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM: Craig Jackman, Emily Thatcher, Christina Marie Bielen, Dary Mills, Amanda Benjamin
PATREON CURATORS: Jamie Carganilla, Emily Thatcher, The Faeryns, Charity Swanson, Krista Faith King, Kelsey B Gibson, Angelica Bollschweiler, Anna Giannavola, Gina Dobbs, Merrill Mielke, Susan Kuhn, Josefa Snider
INTRO MUSIC: “Papi Beat” [ KICKTRACKS ]
CREDITS MUSIC: “Fat Banana” [ KICKTRACKS ]
HOST, CREATOR, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, EDITOR: Paul Carganilla
What is the difference between fiddle and violin?
Speaker 2:This is the million dollar question. If I had a quarter or a dime for every time. Someone asked me this, woo, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Cogginilla Online Variety Entertainment Podcast. Here's your host, paul.
Speaker 4:Cogginilla.
Speaker 1:Hello everyone and welcome to Cove. This is the online variety show in which we aim to both entertain and inspire our podcast listeners and YouTube viewers through a variety of art forms, including music, poetry, storytelling, special guest interviews, travel blogs and so much more. I'm excited to meet, get to know and introduce everyone here in the Cove community to an incredibly skilled singer-songwriter this evening. But, of course, let's first pull the cart back behind the horse and say hello to producer Craig Jackman. Hello, producer Craig.
Speaker 5:Welcome, hello everybody. Wow, you know, paul, I am excited about our guest today because, first of all, I okay, I'm kind of a fan of country music. Okay.
Speaker 5:Okay, and I hope our special guest doesn't. You know I prefer rock and roll, classic rock, but one thing that I've always enjoyed is someone who can play the fiddle. Oh yeah, very well too. Two of my favorite pieces are Orange Blossom Special and Devil Went Down to Georgia, and when you're talking about a good fiddle player, to me those are the two songs that set the bar, and I am thrilled to have our guest on and share her background and maybe kind of help us understand how the fiddle works.
Speaker 1:I'm going to tell you the truth, I don't even understand, like, the difference between fiddle and violin. Maybe she can explain that to us. But having worked for over 12 years in the Bootstrap or Pirate Band at Disneyland, I can tell you it like I've seen, seen and heard some amazing fiddle playing as we play sea shanties and we just hear these incredibly skilled musicians come in and play with the band and I was blown away. So I went to Nashville on a business trip, for I went to the. It was actually the International I'm sorry, the National Information Officers Association Conference. It's an annual thing, first time I'd ever been, and this year it happened to be in Nashville. And it was also the first time I've ever been to Nashville.
Speaker 1:And after hearing how amazing the city is and you can just walk up and down Broadway and just hear live music all day and all night, I was very excited and so I spent like every second that I could away from the conference just checking out live music, dropping into every, every bar, every stage I could find, and just taking it all in. And so it was the second night I was there. I was walking past a joint called the Valentine, and you know if you've been in Nashville, they have the front doors open or the front windows open so you can hear what the band inside is playing, what they're doing, and I could hear the band leader on the microphone. He said, yes, who want? Who wanted to hear what you just mentioned?
Speaker 1:Devil went down to Georgia and I was like, oh, this is gonna be good. So I just like slipped in and the band leader was like, well, that's going to cost you a hundred bucks and the guy I guess who requested it stood up and put a hundred bucks in the bucket and so they went right into the tune and I just got to. So it was a gentleman by the name of Josh Hewitt I hope I'm saying that right and he had a bass player and a fiddle player and I you know I have been making travel blogs now for the podcast here, and so I had the camera ready and producer Craig. If you have the video, this is a little bit of what I got to experience that evening.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I read she is sawing on that, so good.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you know it being. You know Nashville. They've got all the artists there. They're able to promote. You know their Instagram and everything. So it makes it really easy for you to tag them and share them and on and share their work. And I actually shared that with Julia and Josh and I reached out to them and I asked them both. I said hey, would you mind being on the podcast? And Julia wrote me back. She said I'd love to. I'm working on my own original stuff. I believe she's working on an album. But, ladies and gentlemen, before we bring her in, I'll just let you know that Julia DeGrazia, the fiddle player you just heard, she's a freelance musician from Phoenix, arizona, and is continuing her creative journey in Nashville, tennessee.
Speaker 1:Julia's musical direction started with a classical background and then she shifted her focus toward old time fiddling. When she's not fiddling, you can hear on the mandolin, guitar, banjo, cello or singing. During the 2013-14 season, she became the orchestral concert master for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony and earned the director's award for fiddling in the MYS Fiddle Program. I believe that it's probably the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Fiddle Program. Most recently, julia was a member of the Mountain View Fiddlers and graduated from Berkeley College of Music in summer of 2022. In addition to performing, julia also believes in helping local young musicians develop their passion for music Love that. In Arizona, she started an elementary strings program at Scottsdale Christian Academy and taught at McDowell Mountain Lessons in Scottsdale. Julia's current music projects include releasing music with Evan Honer and playing alongside the voices Madison Hughes. She's currently releasing her own music which is available for streaming on all platforms. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, please welcome to the Carganella Online Variety Entertainment podcast. Julia DeGrazia.
Speaker 2:Hi, thanks so much for having me, paul. That was such a fun introduction.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and so you're joining us from the future. You're in Nashville now.
Speaker 2:I am in Nashville currently.
Speaker 1:Very good and I just got to say you know, as somebody, I'm always trying to find people who are making their own stuff and help them. You know, highlight it and put it out there into the world, and it always appreciates when you reach out to somebody and they actually write back to you. And you've been such a great person. This is like the first time we've actually spoken, but you responded to my message on Insta and we set up the podcast here this evening. It's such a pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I appreciate it. It's really nice to have people support your music and want to help spread it out to their listeners, and I really appreciate it. And yeah, thank you so much for having me here.
Speaker 1:It is our pleasure and I warned you, we do an icebreaker intro where, yeah, I read all of the work related stuff and the music related stuff, but let's get to know a little bit more about you as a human being, as much as we can possibly learn about you in 60 seconds or less.
Speaker 2:I'm going to try my best to contain it in 60 seconds.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, Are you ready?
Speaker 2:I think so.
Speaker 1:All right, one, two, three.
Speaker 2:All right, I'm a musician from Scottsdale, arizona. I moved to Nashville the last December, so been here about a year. I snowboard when I'm not doing music. I play ice hockey when I'm not doing music. I have four dogs back home in AZ. One of them is a St Bernard. I used to have a pet hedgehog. I played fiddle since I was well violence since I was five years old. So music has been my entire life pretty much, and I think that's a lot of what I would say. Oh, I've been a vegetarian my entire life. That's a fun fact.
Speaker 1:First album you ever purchased when you had money.
Speaker 2:I ever purchased personally. I can't remember, but the first album I was ever given was Taylor Swift's debut album.
Speaker 1:Really Okay.
Speaker 2:First car First car is a 2007,. 2003 Nissan XTERRA.
Speaker 1:What color?
Speaker 2:Silver.
Speaker 1:You mentioned you've been a vegetarian your whole life. What is your favorite meal?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm Italian, hence the last name to Grazia, so I'm usually between spaghetti or pizza. It's like every other night for that.
Speaker 1:Love it. Do you do any cooking?
Speaker 2:I do a lot of cooking. I'm pretty good, not as a brag, but I imagine mostly Italian. Yeah, I do a lot of vegetables. I love cooking vegetables and it's usually alongside some vegetarian options. So there's some like veggie chicken, which is the brand I use, is like a mushroom base protein. So it's kind of interesting. But that's the biggest thing is how to get protein. I find my ways. I do pretty good. I'm an athlete Snowboarding and ice hockey. You can't be like frail and play those.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right. Well, that was a really good. I mean, you were done after 30 seconds. I just kept asking you questions and, wow, you were four or five when you picked up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was given it to me as a birthday present when I was five years old. My mom really wanted me or one of my sisters to play, and she tried on my older sister and then stick. And then when I got it, I remember like the first day I had no idea what the heck it was, but my mom was so excited that I like pretended to be excited about it and then I like taught myself how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then my mom was like okay, we're getting her lessons.
Speaker 1:And did you start lessons when you were five?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I started lessons like pretty shortly after that.
Speaker 1:Wow, okay, can you explain this to me and anyone else who's like out there and just has this hole in my brain? What is the difference between fiddle and violin?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. This is the million dollar question. If I had a quarter or a dime for every time. Someone asked me this. There is really no difference between the instrument itself, it's two in the same way. I mean you can't tune it down a half step. Sometimes when I play with Josh I do tune it down a half step. There's, the biggest difference is just technique and how you play it. So come middle school I actually went through both classical and fiddle lessons. It was right around the time that I was in the orchestra and doing the fiddle group. So I had to like switch on and off between my classical brain of technique and then my fiddle brain of technique. So that's really the major difference. Like you read sheet music with classical, with fiddle, sheet music is a blueprint so you're able to have a little bit more variety in what you choose to do with, like improv and all that.
Speaker 1:Gotcha Okay. Well, that makes me feel less dumb.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's really not as deep as some people think. It's not like there's a different string or no, it's just all like how you play it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so if we hop on your Instagram, which is what? Again for everyone listening? Julia DeGras music and a lot of the more recent videos, or at least at the time that I was checking it out, was you on guitar playing, playing some of the tunes, your originals. What came first?
Speaker 2:roller coaster, if you wanted to roller coaster is written first, but release after if you wanted to, is my first release.
Speaker 1:And are these going on an album? Are you doing like a slow drip on Spotify?
Speaker 2:I'm kind of doing a slow drip as far as right now. I do have like a concept album idea that it's still in the works but I don't know when or if that will wind up coming out. So that's kind of in the works for sure. But as far as right now I'm just kind of focusing on releasing singles, things that through social media. Once they kind of gain a little bit of interest and appreciation, I'll start to release them. So that's the music scene right now is just kind of working on them, honing them in and then putting them out one at a time.
Speaker 1:Really interesting how it evolves, right, because I'm a lot older than you, but I remember when it was, like you know, we had to have an album to put it out, and then I mean that was before Spotify and YouTube and now it's just like you know, it's kind of a choice to make an album.
Speaker 2:I think once you do like a couple songs and then if you have an album already ready, just like, getting it all out is so nice, but it's definitely up to, like you said, if you want to do like a big chunk of something at once and do take a lot longer to finish it, but then once it's out, it's kind of out for everyone, or do it piecemeal, do like one at a time. That's just, I think, the difference of artistic wants and desires with their music.
Speaker 1:It's something I love about the whole vibe in Nashville and from everything that I've been able to glean from just looking at the different artists that I experienced Instagrams and YouTube's and is that you know the whole collaborative spirit of musicians there and you've done a lot of work with other artists that are out on YouTube. But first let's let's focus on your solo stuff that your originals Can you tell me about if you wanted to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally, if you wanted to, is kind of a fun one. I wrote it. One night as I was walking home I saw this couple that lived in my apartment building and I was actually petting this girl's dog and her boyfriend came out with groceries and had flowers and she was like you just wanted to, like you didn't have any like reasons, like other flowers, and it was the cutest thing. I was like if you wanted to, he would like. You just got her flowers because he wanted to, and so I went back up to my apartment. I was like you know, that should be a song, if you wanted to. And then I kind of sparked that idea and I posted a very small clip on TikTok that then people showed interest in and like were trying to help me get ideas for like lyrics and what I should do in the song. And so then I actually sat down and like started working on it and cultivating like what it should be, and then total fluke, accident.
Speaker 2:I had studio time that was offered to me that I didn't have to pay for, which was such a blessing, and I got the song tracked and I did violin, guitar, cajun, shaker, vocals, everything but the bass had my friend AJ track bass for me and got that whole song done and I was like, wow, I just finished a song. It was the most unreal feeling because I had done Jersey Giant with my buddy, evan, which we released together, which was like the first time I released with my name on it. But this was my like first song and it was terrifying. But it was also super cool to actually get it out and have people enjoy it. So it means the world when people listen and send them listen to the song, it's great.
Speaker 1:But we're all going to listen to it right now and tell me about the video. How did the video come about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so actually you mentioned my good friend Madison earlier when you're introducing me, but my friend, madison Hughes, actually hit me up to take the video with me. So we went to a park here in Tennessee and she actually filmed and edited it for me, which was incredible To your collaborative effort. Everyone here wants to like build each other up and see each other succeed, and I love that in the music industry here. So it was super cool that I got to do that and share that moment with her as well.
Speaker 1:That is awesome, so inspirational and, ladies and gentlemen, we can't wait to share it with you here on Cove. This is Julia DeGrasia's original, if he Wanted To.
Speaker 3:If he wanted to, he would heed by me yellow flowers. Put his head down on my chest and stay there for hours. If he wanted to, he would heed by our names in that old pipe. We dance and drink wine till the sun comes up. Music no, we didn't even speak. In our hearts, we both Watching your eyes across the creek. If I know what I know, now I've seen it too. If he wanted to, he would heed by me yellow flowers. Put his head down on my chest and stay there for hours. If he wanted to, he would heed by our names in that old pipe. We dance and drink wine till the sun comes up Music. If he wanted to, he would heed. Never leave me in the rain. Instead, he'd rescue me and make me feel safe. If he wanted to, he would heed, get down on one knee. He'd make the world feel like it's only me Music.
Speaker 3:If he wanted to, he would heed by me. Yellow flowers.
Speaker 1:I love that song. I love the story about how it came about. I love the stories of the grassroot stories. The idea came to me, I wrote it, I had the session available and I laid it down and then we made a video and then you see what comes out of it. What is your favorite part of the whole creative process?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. I love getting to collaborate songwriting-wise, so a lot of my songs I got to co-write with my best friend back home in Arizona, kace McGinley. We wrote a bunch of songs, so Roller Coaster was actually written with her. Since I've been in Nashville, I've been able to do a bunch of songwriters with various songwriters and musicians. It's just super cool to get to bounce ideas and stories off of each other. Sometimes I have a concept and I can't finish it because I don't have the right words. Someone who is super smooth with words can help and finish that. That's. The coolest feeling is when you get to create something, it's great to get to do it on your own as well. But when it's a shared story or feeling that someone else is also able to input in it kind of just makes it feel more universal, which is a really cool experience.
Speaker 1:I agree, and when it is something that is yours, that other people are collaborating with you on, you get to be the director. That is so much fun, especially when it's a team of people that you trust. It just enhances the whole process, not just the final product but the whole experience in creating it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure. It's super cool to get to be in that environment. The people that you're working with are easy to work with as well, and putting ideas it just makes it go so much smoother. It's a really good time. I've had good experiences with the people that I've gotten to work with and write with out in Nashville.
Speaker 1:That's awesome and it's all about the journey. We talk about it in life and in the whole creative process. The first record that you make, the first album that you cut, the first screenplay that you write. It's going to look a lot different than the next one and the next one and the next one. It's fun to be on a journey with friends and people that you respect and love to work with. We've mentioned Roller Coaster a couple of times. Tell us about that track.
Speaker 2:Yeah, roller Coaster was really fun. That's personally been one of my favorite songs to write. It kind of just came one of those nights that me and Casey were spitballing ideas to sound, right about Something clicked and we were like, yeah, the relationship was like a roller coaster. We were like let's go off that. It weirdly came so quick. We wrote it in 30 minutes. We had the whole idea to follow the timeline of being 21 and then love with someone and then just wasting your whole youth away. The song is about being interested in an older guy and him just taking advantage of the fact that you have this youth and taking it from you. So you go through 21 and 23 and then finally you're 29 and you're able to get rid of them like you want off the ride. But it's this idea of like you're so into it and kind of wanted to enjoy your 20s and have fun on a roller coaster, and it kind of just took you all over the place.
Speaker 1:He took your summer in his stride. Yeah exactly, and here's the one when Autumn came Good, can't wait to hear it. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Julia DeGrasio, roller Coaster.
Speaker 3:It's going upside down and it's fast and it turns and it makes my head hurt. Stuck on this roller coaster ride with you. Fast forward. Now I'm 23, dealing with the shit that you put on me and you try to be there. You wanna be free. And then you come right back around and cause you're unhappy and it's up and it's down and it's all around. Stuck on this loop.
Speaker 3:Oh it upside down and it's fast and it turns and it makes my head hurt. Stuck on this rope cause you're right with you and my world stopped, made my heart drop, feeling like I could get rid of you. I was strapped in and it strapped in, had my head's a while. I'm screaming Out the top of my lungs. And it's up and it's down and it's all around. Stuck on this loop. Oh, it upside down and it's fast and it turns and it makes my head hurt. Stuck on this rope cause you're right with you. Stop the ride. I'm done wasting time Getting whiplashed while you try to decide, stolen my 20s now that I'm 29.
Speaker 3:But I'm better off without you Now that I've realized that it's up and it's down and it's all around. Stuck on this loop. Oh it upside down and it's fast and it turns and it makes my head hurt. Stuck on this roller-coaster ride with you. It's up and it's down and it's all around Stuck on this loop. Oh, it upside down and it's fast and it turns and it makes my head hurt. Just hook on this roller coaster ride with you.
Speaker 1:So much fun and so we're live streaming to our YouTube community and Kelsey says I love her voice, so so, so good, and I was gonna comment on that too. Did you there's? It's so raw and honest to me. And have you taken? Was vocal lessons part of all of your training, or is that just a natural thing?
Speaker 2:No, so I need to take voice lessons because I sing so much downtown that, like I just want to properly learn like vocal hygiene. I want to properly learn vocal hygiene and how to like sing correctly, if that makes sense. But as of right now, vocal like training has been the last thing I've done. I've done, I've taken some like guitar classes at Berkeley, obviously violin and fiddle lessons my whole life growing up my fiddle teacher taught me a few things with mandolin in order to just kind of grow from what I was already self teaching. But vocals, banjo and cello have all just really been like me personally doing it.
Speaker 1:What about Cajon?
Speaker 2:Cajon, also kind of personally me doing it. My little sister played drums and she's actually a super talented drummer. She doesn't really do it much anymore, fortunately. I'm trying to convince her to get back into it, but she is a super talented drummer, so anything that I think I would know is probably from her.
Speaker 1:And so many people are saying this is a great song. That's a great song. And are they available? Yes, they are all on her Spotify Julia de Gracia on Spotify and find her again on Instagram at Julia de Graz music. And speaking of your Spotify, if somebody opens it up, the number one thing with like the most streams at the top there is Jersey Giant, and that is a cover that you did with your friend.
Speaker 2:Yes, so that's a cover I did with my buddy, evan Honer. I actually do a lot of music with Evan. He is super, extremely talented. I fiddled and put some instruments on a lot of his tracks as well. We released that song last December and that, honestly, is kind of the catapult for me wanting to release my own originals as well, because it gave me something that built my profile and I was like, okay, well, now that I have this, let's keep going. And it kind of blew up way more than I think we were kind of expecting, but in a great way. It, I think, has like 21, 22 million streams already, which is insane to me, but it's been getting lots of love. It's a Tyler Childers cover song he released like 10 or 11 years ago on SoundCloud and refuses to release it, but people kind of fell in love with mine and Evan's version of it and it's been super heartwarming that we get to like be a part of that movement of music.
Speaker 1:And let's keep the movement going and share it with more people. Here it is. This is Jersey Giant.
Speaker 4:I remember all him. Summers playing till my fingers play. You sing songs and I sing with you. We get drunk and go to bed Looking back at all their memories, lord, I hate to sleep alone, but if you ever get the notion that you need me, let me know. Just two hours to get there, babe. I can make it back by an hour or so. Hold too close against my skin. I need a little warmth on a night. So cool Singing songs we used to sing, the one about the lady in the long black veil.
Speaker 4:I could have seen a ward in sight. Lord, I love to hear you. Well, I want some heart and strong, even if it was a little out of tune. Cauter than socks or letters. He giant Lord, I thought you hung the moon. I remember all them winters Drinking wood for till we drown. We get wind about a party. Bundle up and go to town. Never worry about the police, never worry about your own. I miss those nights of reckless glory. I'd come back if you just called. Just two hours to get there, babe. I can make it back by an hour or so. Hold too close against my skin. I need a little warmth on a night. So cool Singing songs we used to sing the one about the lady in the long black veil. I could have seen a ward in sight. Lord, I love to hear you well, I want some heart and strong, even if it was a little out of tune, cauter than socks or letters. He giant Lord, I thought you hung the moon While left town.
Speaker 4:We were over Cause it didn't feel safe. Every back road held a memory and every memory held your name. Just two hours to get there, babe, I can make it back by an hour or so. Hold too close against my skin. I need a little warmth on a night. So cool Singing songs. We used to sing the one about the lady in the long black veil. I could have seen a ward in sight. Lord, I love to hear you. Well, I want some heart and strong, even if it was a little out of tune, cauter than socks or letters. He giant Lord, I thought you hung the moon.
Speaker 1:Love that so much so you touched your phone. You touched yourself mandolin.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I my mom got me a mandolin oh my gosh, I didn't even know what year it was Sometime towards the end of high school and it was given to me as a Christmas present. And then I got my banjo like a year later. But I basically just like taught myself it's the same strings as a violin, so it kind of made it easier. But then my fiddle teacher gave me like a few pointers and tricks on like how to be better. But yeah, at first it was just kind of me figuring it out and going with the flow it's like mix of guitar and violin. So I just figured it out.
Speaker 1:Love that and I love, like we talked about in your bio, how deeply or how supportive you are of young people getting into music. Would you say how would you say getting into music at such a young age really Is the big takeaway or the biggest effect that it had in your life and your upbringing, your development?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, as long as I can remember, just loved music, whether it was singing songs from musical soundtracks that we were playing or just songs that my mom was singing. My mom's also a musician, so, like growing up around music was just always a part of me. So I can't really tell you when it just became like a thing that clicked. But I Definitely think that having an outlet to be able to go towards when I'm feeling sad or anxious or excited or happy, and have something that I can pour into and then get to like, share with others, it's so powerful and there's just something about it that when I need to have something to do with what I am feeling, I can put that out into a music like it's the crazy thing and have other people relate to it or feel personal towards a song is Super incredible. So I would definitely say just having that ability to have some work to something to do with how you're feeling.
Speaker 1:Love that. And what's next for Julia de Grazia?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's next? I have a few Tours coming up with some other artists and then also some dates with Evan Hohner. I'll be opening for a few of his shows this February, which I'm super, super excited about. I haven't ever personally opened a show with my own music before, so I don't know what shows and dates they'll be yet, but I will post about them and upload them to my website, so when they're out they'll be there for everyone to see, but I'm super excited for that. And then just continuing doing music, hopefully releasing some more songs. I have a few more in the works. Don't know which ones I'm gonna release yet, so I'm not gonna name any titles, but I'll also post about them when the time comes.
Speaker 1:She is Julia de Grazia on Spotify. On Insta she's Julia de Grazia music. What are on tiktok?
Speaker 2:She's also Julia de Grazia music. I'm on all streaming platforms, so for my Apple music fans as well, I'm also.
Speaker 1:You can find me there and you know I want to respect your time, but I, we, I think we, we want to hear some more. Do you mind if we hear a little bit about someone you don't know?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so that one. I recently just released the Evan Hohner as well. It's a duet that we wrote together and I'm super, super happy with how it came out.
Speaker 4:There's a breeze through my window Now side looks lonely. California in December Is anything but snowing. You would have liked the weather here, hated the traffic, you would have loved, and high and pure Guess. I'll just imagine how it would be if you came with me and all the things I do differently. It ain't anyone's fault but mine. Now that you're gone I'll spend the weekends wandering. If I was, wrong.
Speaker 4:How does someone go from being your everything to someone you don't know? How does it go from raining endlessly to a city filled up with smoke?
Speaker 3:Rolling up my windows because outside it's snowing. Virginia is for lovers, at least that's what they told me. Do you miss the rolling hills? Do you miss calling your name? If I had to guess, you had to fill this town with the man you became.
Speaker 4:It ain't anyone's fault, but mine. Now that you're gone, I'll spend the weekends wandering. If I was wrong, how does someone go from being your everything to someone you don't know?
Speaker 3:How does it go from raining?
Speaker 4:endlessly to a city filled up with smoke. It ain't anyone's fault, but mine. Now that you're gone, I'll spend the weekends wandering. If I was wrong, how does someone go from being your everything to someone you don't know? How does it go from raining endlessly to a city filled up with smoke?
Speaker 1:That's Julia DeGrasia, evan Honer. Original. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I love it Just like the knife in the heart. How does someone go from being your everything to someone you don't know? I think everybody has a story about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, heartbreaking for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, what is not heartbreaking is the fact that you joined us this evening, and we're absolutely overjoyed to be able to share your music and so thankful for you joining us and sharing this beautiful light that is Julia DeGrasia's music with the world.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I really really appreciate you reaching out and having me. This was like a super fun opportunity that I don't get to do often, so I really appreciate it, thank you.
Speaker 1:Well, let's stay in touch and as you release more music, we'll have it back on.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we'd love that.
Speaker 1:Awesome Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Julia DeGrasia. Thanks guys, thank you so much. Stepping into a bar watching a fill player like shred on a song and then just hitting them up on Instagram and then you know we're having this conversation and getting getting to meet a new friend.
Speaker 5:So much fun. Yeah, and boy, talk about talent with the fiddle. And I didn't realize that too, is that it's not the fiddle, is the violin. It's how you play it. Yeah, it's a style of violin. It is a style, and the poem that I selected for today comes from a gentleman named Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
Speaker 5:He is a black gentleman from the South and he was one of the first influential black poets in American literature, and he likes to write in what is known as dialect verse poetry that attempts to reproduce the accents and quirks and speech patterns of people who aren't speaking standardized English. So this is this one is going to be a challenge. But what's neat is this poem comes from 1896 and it is talking about the fiddle and how, especially back then and even today, you know, like I said at the start of our program, there's something about the fiddle that just it makes you wanna smile, makes you wanna tap your feet, move a little, and so I found this poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar called the Corn Stock Fiddle, because it incorporates a lot of that. So we're gonna go back to 1896 for this particular poem.
Speaker 1:Ladies and gentlemen, craig Jackman thrown it back a little bit to 1896, and the Corn Stock Fiddle by Paul Lawrence Dunbar ["Corn Stock Fiddle"] ["Corn Stock Fiddle"].
Speaker 5:When the corn's all cut and the bright stock shine like the burnished spears of a field of gold, when the field mice reach on, the nubbins dine and the frost comes white and the wind blows cold, then it's hi-ho fellas and hi-diddle-diddle. For the time is right for the corn stock fiddle and you take a stock that is straight and long, with an expert eye to its worthy points, and you think of the bubbling strains of song that are bound between its pithy joints. Then you cut out strings with a bridge in the middle, with a corn stock bow for a corn stock fiddle. Then the strains that grow as you draw the bow or the yielding strings with a practiced hand and the music's flow, never loud but low, is the concert note of a fairy band. Oh, your dainty. Songs are a misty riddle to the simple sweets of the corn stock fiddle.
Speaker 5:When the eve comes on and our work is done and the sun drops down with a tinder gland, with their hearts all primed for the harmless fun, come the neighbor girls for the evening dance and they wait for the well-known twist and twiddle more time than tune from the corn stock fiddle. Then brother J-Bez takes the bow, while Ned stands off with Susan Bland. Then Henry stops by Millie Snow and John takes Nelly Jones' hand while I pair off with Mandy Biddle and scrape, scrape, scrape goes the corn stock fiddle. Salute your partners, comes the call. All join hands and circle round grand train back and balance all footsteps lightly, spurn the ground, take your lady and balance down the middle to the merry strains of the corn stock fiddle. So the night goes on and the dance is o'er and the merry girls are homework gone. But I see it all in my sleep once more and I dream till the very break of dawn of an impish dance on a red-hot griddle to the screech and scrape of a corn stock fiddle.
Speaker 1:APPLAUSE, dreaming of the party, and you know you work hard during the day but you know the party's coming at night. And thank you, craig Jackman, for introducing us. I had never heard the corn stock fiddle by Paul Laurence Dunbar, but that was a great find and a beautifully interpreted reading of it.
Speaker 5:Thank you very, very much. And yes, I agree, it's just getting together with family, friends and enjoying the company and the atmosphere, and that's what we do here on the Cove. It just it fills the heart. Music.
Speaker 1:I'd like to give a big shout out of thanks to our Cove curators on Patreon Angelica Bolschweiler, anna Jean Avola, charity Swanson, emily Thatcher, gina Dobbs, jamie Carganilla, josepha Snyder, kelsey Blaine Gibson, christa King, meryl Milky, the Farons and Susan Kuhn. Thank you so much for your incredible support in helping the show grow. If you're out there listening, you're enjoying the show and you haven't visited our Patreon yet. Please check it out at patreoncom slash Cove podcast. You'll find all the awesome perks you'll get for becoming a Patreon of the show, including monthly bonus, request episodes, virtual hangouts and so so much more. So I encourage you to go check it out. Thank you for listening to this episode. We hope to see you next week. Music. I put the coat on her.
