Julia Crafton

Julia Crafton’s sophomore album Nothing features legendary musicians such as Bernard “Pretty” Purdie (Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan), Mitch Stein (Cyndi Lauper, Bill Evans), Dan Rieser (Norah Jones, Martha Wainwright, Marc Cohn), Walter Parks (Richie Havens, The Nudes), Dave Richards (Indigo Girls, Dayna Kurtz), ETHEL (Joe Jackson, Todd Rundgren), Sam Schumann, Morgan Parker (MJ The Musical), and Ted Baker (Steely Dayn, Art Garfunkel). 

Tracks such as Mr. Johnson (written about the blues guitarist Rober Leroy Johnson), Little Dreamer, and Shiny or New all graced by Bernard “Pretty” Purdie showcase Crafton’s maturing sound as she transitions into becoming a young adult. 

‘An old soul’ as Purdie said while recording perfectly sums up much of this record as Crafton delves deeper into her strength as both a songwriter and a singer.

As John Platt of WFUV described it, “Nothing is guaranteed they say, but with a slew of soulful songs, polished production, and a stellar cast of backing musicians, Julia Crafton’s sophomore release, Nothing may well amount to something.”

When asked which song was her favorite, Crafton replied “I can’t choose! But what I will say is the reprise of Nothing (the last song on the record) is a recording I’m incredibly proud of because it was all one take including the singing, except for a few string overdubs. I was planning on re-recording and the vocal was supposed to be a placeholder, but Ethel, Ray and Dad all said we’d be crazy to re-record it. So the vocal you hear on the last song is the live, one-take wonder. It also is a little hint at the next project I’m working on.” 

Nothing (REPRISE) was written by Julia Crafton and the string arrangement performed by ETHEL was composed by her mother, Amy Crafton. A surely special composition. 

Crafton brings a more modern pop sound to the record as well with songs such as Thoughts From A Bubble, Perfect Plan, and Helpless Hopeless Romantic playing into her fun and fearless approach towards exploring genres. However, whether it be singing with her gut and going for the jugular with songs such as Beautiful Girl and Lucky One or a simple guitar voice song such as Middle of Everything, Crafton’s has developed an unmistakable sound that translates through every song as her own. The “Woodstock Child” as her debut album was titled… is growing up. 

“This album is dedicated to my pianist, teacher, and dear friend Ted Baker, who passed away just a few weeks after we finished recording this project. He was the type of person who would call you “kid”, but then ask you questions like you were an adult. Much love.”

• Julia

INCLUDES:

• 8 page booklet
• CD
• “Never Before Seen” behind the scenes (images)
• Lyrics/track listings

Thank you so, so very much for supporting independent artists such as myself. Choosing not to release this album to streaming platforms was an extremely difficult choice, but we're hoping to contribute to dismantling the trend of not paying others for their art, soul, and love. 100’s and 100’s of hours went into this project and a team of over 20 people contributed. So, thank you from all of us to you for helping us continue to make the music happen. 

Much love,

Julia Crafton