Julia Knew

Somewhere along the line, virtuosity in rock music stopped being a necessity and instead became a lucky coincidence, solid songwriting gave way to simplistic progressions and strings of clichés, and rock bands started looking more and more like boy bands. Lincoln, Nebraska’s own Julia Knew seems to have forgotten the ubiquitous new rules of 21st century rock—they know their instruments inside and out, take pride in the process of songwriting, and have dispatched with the eye makeup and hair gel. One listen and the skill and sincerity of Julia Knew’s four members becomes indisputable. Fronted by Zakk Wooten, a familiar face to the Midwest music scene through several various musical endeavors, Julia Knew formed in early 2006 after the disbanding of an acoustic project that had produced a large cache of tight, hooky pop songs. Wanting to further the sound, Wooten assembled his new band as a seasoned bank robber would put together a team to pull of a big heist—he found the best men for the job and got down to business. First on board was Jarrett Portnoy, a drummer just as comfortable tackling jazz combos and funk bands as his behind a concert snare drum or set of timpani. Putting his full ride music school scholarship aside, bass prodigy Danny Firestone fit in as the funky, smooth backbone of the rhythm section. Completing the sound was Dan Beard, who’s been known live to bust out a flawless Clapton solo and then turn on a dime to swoop in with a sensitive and sultry jazz lick. The four bared down for weeks to hone their sound to pop perfection, then got in the studio with up-and-coming producer Trent Haun to cut a three-song EP called “The Red Room Sessions.” After much critical acclaim and general success with the EP, and with constant demands for more recorded material increasing with every day, the band reunited with Haun in the Summer of 2007 to record their 2008 full-length release “Innuendo and Out the Other.” The album embodies Julia Knew’s musical theory of fresh pop rock that’s unpretentious, impressive, and fun. One can pull influence from a myriad of sources and decades: songwriter tenderness akin to James Taylor butts heads with the riffy blue-eyed soul of Aerosmith or The Rolling Stones; the amusing, catchy bar rock of Huey Lewis and the News rumbles around with the driving pulse of The Police; post-grunge acts like The Gin Blossoms and Third Eye Blind combine with the blues revivalist swerve of Jonny Lang; the backbeat of Maroon 5 and fresh fretwork of John Mayer collide. Either live or in the studio, Julia Knew juxtaposes old and new school to make music at once familiar and unique, played to a T, without the frills, and for the fans. Current but timeless, catchy without being trite, and free of gimmicks, Julia Knew fits perfectly within the new guard of modern rockers bringing music back to basics, proving pop rock can be both a mainstream staple and a conduit of energy, artistry, and emotion.