Meet Singer-Songwriter Julia Barry, Creator of the Advocacy Program “In Her Image”
Written by admin2 on January 7th, 2009Filed under: Irked Audio, Irked Videos, Themes, The Skinny on Fat
Julia Barry is the creator, musician, and director of the experimental advocacy program, “In Her Image: Producing Womanhood in America.” She works with high schools, colleges, organizations, community centers, and conferences to promote widespread, public media literacy. A “REALLY Hot” awardee in the 2006 REAL Hot 100 list, Barry has been a featured guest at events such as the National Organization for Women’s Love Your Body Day, the Girl Scout National Leadership Institute, and the Alliance for a Media Literate America’s National Media Education Conference. She was also the 2003 recipient of the Andrea Klein Willison Prize for Poetry/Women’s Advocacy.
If you like Tori Amos, if you like Sarah McLachlan, if you like Joni Mitchell or Enya or Beth Gibbons or Diana Krall…then you will LOVE Julia Barry.
Her lyrics are substantive. She sings from her soul. She can make a piano shiver-and-then-wail. Her vocals have been described as “simultaneously melancholy and sweet.” Sometimes she’s provocative. Always she’s on key.
Her 2002 debut album, Arrivals, is a “storehouse of good songs,” as they say. It’s a magnificent work of art and a glorious work of heart. In addition to her hectic schedule performing live, Julia has also returned to the studio to begin recording her next CD.
FACT: If Julia Barry’s not on your radar yet, she will be soon.
Listen to the track Song For Us Trying, off Arrivals:
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Julia on the shape of American life: We are constantly bombarded with images and messages representing and shaping American life. What are their roots and meanings? How do they affect society’s views of gender? How do they influence life perceptions and experiences?
Julia on complex stories: While BabyGap pushes sexiness early with leopard-print shoes for infants, the Department of Health promotes abstinence as a cure for teenage pregnancy; while music videos propose the ultimate fantasy of submissive women, more than 100,000 rapes are reported to the FBI each year, most of which are under-treated by emergency rooms; while most Americans attribute their diets and exercise routines to health objectives against a growing obesity panic, how-to-lap-dance exercise videos, pro-anorexia websites, and the popularity of cheap fast food tell us more complex stories.
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Listen to the track It’s Not Her Abuse, off Arrivals:
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Julia on Julia: Let me back up and introduce myself. My name is Julia Barry; I am a media literacy educator. While this view of society may seem like an endless negative cycle, I believe that we can gain rights and individual happiness with knowledge, purpose, and a sense of togetherness, engaging in programs that promote peace, understanding, and equality between human beings. In this spirit of communication and individual responsibility, I created a public awareness program entitled “In Her Image: Producing Womanhood in America” for use by people like you. While I am only one person and cannot possibly provide magic-bullet solutions to America’s most complicated social issues, I do believe in the power of interdisciplinary learning and discussion to make change, and am sharing “In Her Image” with as many people as I can, because together we can make change.
“In Her Image: Producing Womanhood in America” is an experiential program and curriculum that addresses the influence of media imagery in American society through a female perspective. Available as a live performance or film accompanied by supplemental materials for discussion and action, “In Her Image” is a 34-minute audio-visual documentation of advertisements, photographs, illustrations, and pertinent text taken from public sources such as the internet, textbooks, magazines, health brochures, and billboards. These images are arranged in order of the human lifespan and examine gender norms and the issues they affect—sex/sexuality, teenage pregnancy, pornography, reproductive rights, marriage, family, career, body image/eating disorders, nutrition and diet, drugs and alcohol, violence/abuse and harassment, discrimination, and aging—by tracing back to the sources that influence them. In rearranging the obvious, “In Her Image” refreshes the investigation of gender dynamics in the United States today.
Watch the trailer for In Her Image (film footage by Jay Sterrenberg, music and lyrics by Julia Barry):
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For more information, please visit http://inherimage.juliabarry.com or feel free to contact Julia directly at InHerImage@juliabarry.com.
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Here’s a recent video of Julia performing her not-yet-officially-released song For Example at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (with bassist John Lenis):
A CHANCE TO SEE JULIA PERFORM IN NEW YORK CITY!
Saturday, January 10th @ 9:00pm
Pianos Upstairs Lounge
158 Ludlow Street—Map
New York, NY (the Village)
Tel: 212.505.3733
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To buy the album Arrivals click here.
To visit Julia Barry’s official website click here.
To visit the In Her Image website click here.
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If you’d like to book Julia to play a show, it’s best to email her directly. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Julia does her own booking. And she can bake a mean key lime pie too, sometimes even simultaneously.
Please write to Booking@juliabarry.com to set up a gig.
