Singer/songwriter Julia Brown grew up in Richmond, VA. The oldest of four children, Brown's mother gave her early exposure to music through her work as a classically trained pianist in a local gospel church. Starting when she was only 12 years old, she began composing, writing hundreds of songs before her 16th birthday. When she was 18, she left Richmond to attend New York University. In 1999, her career saw a major development when she attended a songwriting conference hosted by Chris Difford (formerly of Squeeze) in the English countryside. The experience inspired her to take her career more seriously and she began to play live in small Greenwich Village clubs, eventually hooking up with producer Christian Cassan to record her debut album, Jubilant Newborn Alien Haze, which was released by Riot Shack Records in 2001. This highly personal album drew from a variety of stylistic sources, including soul, pop, electronica, and folk. ~ Stacia Proefrock