I had no idea what to do with my life when I entered high school. My freshman year is probably the last time I honestly didn't care about planning my future. This is not to say that I didn't want a future, I was just still a carefree child. I had recently quit taking voice lessons and I enrolled in a high school that none of my middle school friends would be attending. Suffering from a crippling case of low self-esteem, it was all I could do to eek out a social circle and make a couple of friends. The first few weeks of school I actually hid out on the steps of my humanities portable and ate my lunch in solitude, until my best friend (who attended high school across town, and made friends effortlessly) forbade me to continue that path. Fine. I still wasn't making much of an effort to get invited to parties, or go to football games. I didn't attend concerts or plays, but I was required to go to assemblies. The self-esteem factor also prevented me from ditching the assemblies and getting a coke at the 7-11 down the street. A month or so into the school year, we had an assembly that would change my life.
This assembly started as per usual, with the pledge of allegiance and a performance by the drill team, ho hum... Then a group from Mr. Nielsen's guitar class got up. The group was made up of equal parts guys and girls. They launched into "Sweet Home Alabama" and I was amazed. I was fascinated that a class of 18 kids' wrists and fingers were moving in perfect unison. Then, this shock of auburn hair began singing. She was beautiful and she had a strong voice I wanted to emulate. And she wasn't just a hood ornament for the band--she was playing right along with them. That moment, I decided I needed to get into that class.
That summer, I took three months of private guitar lessons and enrolled in beginning guitar for the fall. My private teacher Dimi, in that short time, got my shaky fingers to play "Dust in the Wind" expertly. I was beyond nervous when I walked into that class of long-haired freaky people in August. But as we all struggled together, we bonded. We had 4 concerts that year, filled with classic rock repertoire as well as a few classical etudes, ostensibly to make the principal happy. We were just the beginning class--the intermediate and advanced classes got to do the really gritty tunes. The girl from the assembly always sang lead on the big rock numbers. The audience would always fall silent for her voice, and then go crazy at the end. Myself included.
We prepared for the last concert in May, and our big song was "Dust in the Wind". I volunteered to sing it, but Mr. Nielsen needed some harmony. He pulled in someone from the advanced class to help out. It was her. The auburn goddess from the assembly. Julie. I thought I was nervous at the beginning of the year! It turned out she was really nice and super supportive. And she played the hell out of the guitar. Even though she was clearly the better singer, she did her duty with backing harmonies. There is nothing like a strong backup singer. We went on to do the song together, and to this day, I still get goosebumps when I watch that tape. I felt like a superstar singing next to an even bigger superstar. The following year, Julie's senior to my junior, she sang and played "More Than Words" for the homecoming queen nomination. Compared to a lot of talentless pretty faces, I always thought Julie was robbed of her righful crown when she only got runner-up.
I had a lot of musical influences growing up, but I hold Julie responsible for my taste in female pop vocalists. They have to be strong, vocally and in spirit. There is always room for a little diva behavior, but female musicians need to support each other. It's really nice to know Julie still sings and writes music. I found her on the 'Space after rekindling with another guitar buddy. She has a music page, too. You should check it out. I like "Little Things" the best.
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