Folkadelphia Session: Julie Byrne

Photo by Jonathon Bouknight
Julie Byrne‘s flawless new album Not Even Happiness is about travel, transition, journeys, and discovery. On the first track “Follow My Voice,” she leaves behind the city for the light, the sky, and the green and on “Sleepwalker,” which you can hear as part of our in-studio session, she “crossed the country and…carried no key.” Byrne is nomadic, but she treats it like destiny, as on “I Live Now As a Singer,” where she describes how she has “dragged my life across the country and wondered if travel led me anywhere.” She sings with an inherent bravery, a deep humanity, and an admirable self-knowledge of herself, but there is always more to learn and to seek out, within and without. Not Even Happiness from its message to its music may seem simple and overly subtle, but the depth of its beauty and power are truly remarkable.

While she was in Philadelphia, Julie Byrne stopped by the WXPN Studio to perform tracks from Not Even Happiness. Even removed from a studio environment and flreshed out instrumentation, Byrne’s words and music resound with a reverberate with a magnificent grace.