Julie Ann Bertram is a very talented indie folk musician from Toronto, Ontario. But to do her justice, I can’t peg her down to any one location really — this woman is everywhere! She’s really made a life based around artistry, taking in every beautiful outcome along the way. At a young age she left university (where she was taking theatre studies), packed her bags and moved to Vancouver where she began a monumental journey. Armed with a tent and a guitar, she took off hitchhiking along the West Coast crossing into the U.S., Mexico and back again. Though many days were tough and nearly unbearable, alone in strange woods and stranger cities, she really honed an artistry – melding her crafts of writing, music and performance art into busking on street corners for money to continue the journey.
“It is during this time that I came to understand much about the human psyche and my place in this world” she says of the journey.
A couple of years later, in her home town of Toronto, the fruits of this edification were apparent to her newfound songwriting career: winning two first-place medals for guitar composition from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Peel Music Festival), and the Sylvia Tyson Songwriting Scholarship (CMPA). She released her EP JAB and she was the top finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and Lilith Fair’s Talent Search.
The story goes, that while working in a metaphysical bookstore, she came across the poetry of a 13th century mystic poet named Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. The timeless sentiments of this Poet inspired her to write music and melody to the translations written by Coleman Barks – that album, my personal favourite of hers, is called Ecstatic Songs.
It wasn’t long until she was top finalist in the Q107 Radio talent search, and won the title of Best Acoustic Female Artist at the Toronto Independent Music Awards.
Preview or buy “Woe Is Me” off of CD Baby!
If you want to catch her live, check her out!
May 29th – Groundswell, 96 Victoria St., Alliston
May 30th – Graffiti’s Bar in Kensington Market, Toronto
July 25th – Mattawa Voyageur Days Festival
July 30th – Moonshine Cafe, 137 Kerr St. Oakville
**Julie Jams at Little Montreal (182 Elgin St.) in Sudbury, ON every Thursday night
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