Julie Lee

Item: Stillhouse Road
Author: Steve Stockman

Stillhouse Road

(2004)

Reviewed by Steve Stockman

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Label Compadre RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2004

alternative country americana bluegrass country

Stillhouse Road might be a kind of debut album but Julie Lee is a talent already perfectly formed. An artist by study and sort of by trade -- you should see what beauty she can create in a junkyard -- she came to music relatively late but with a God given voice that is strong, pure, yearning and joyful and the ability to write timeless songs you wonder if she was born without a navel and just placed here without the need any time to grow or develop. Truth is she has had a few do-it-yourself releases before now and this album is for the most part the best of those songs with a little bit more budget and Vince Gill and Alison Krauss and Colin Linden among others replacing her friends who lived around the corner.

For those not in the know about those first low budget efforts Stillhouse Road will be revelation; the unveiling of a singer/songwriter that should sit with the stars of the genre. Or genres! Alison Krauss's blue grass, Emmylou Harris's last few atmospheric albums and Mary Chapin Carpenter's more straight ahead country pop songwriting; Lee has taken them all and mixed them into one sweet, sweet taste that sits snugly beside any of the three in the quality of delivery. There is a sense of ridiculous ease about her writing and delivery that oozes natural talent.

There is a nostalgic seam to the terrain. Photographs of ancestors adorn the stunningly beautiful packaging, which also features the wonderful photography of Michael Wilson, and many songs are meditations lyrically and musically on times gone by whether Biblical, geographical, political, or journalistic. The past is taken and ruminated over to find lessons and feelings and truth. Genesis and Ecclesiastes sit beside the history of modern America and the news reports of the LA Riots or the Quecreek miners so that those of us who are blind might see a little clearer. There is a lot of love given and received, a lot of wonder and beauty and a little confession too. There is a warmth and spiritual depth that wraps its arms around you and captivates you in a lavishness of grace.