May 31: Business & Pleasure Tour Day 1: The Inside Scoop

Hello backstagers…

Every day I will post a diary about my tour…going a little deeper than what you will see and read on socials. Thank you for this safe space and know that I treasure you and think of you at every interview…especially when they ask me why I’ve made so many albums that sound so different. :)

YOU: have always allowed me to be myself. I’m not sure what other artist can say they have been given this gift. There is no blowback when I make a wildly different album. There is no judgement when I veer from the emotional piano ballads. Or if you have a feeling you bring it to me with the sensitivity that a friend might. Except my friend Nicole who once said she hated “Julia”. LOL.

The last trip (with Def Leppard) was the best and worst of both worlds. Great events can come with a lot of introspection…and I came out of the last trip learning a lot of new personal lessons….on how to be, how to give, how to travel….how to dream, how to accept dreams coming true…

This trip already is so different.

The week at home gave me a little pause….it was bookended by jet-lag and busy mom stuff but I can’t underestimate the power of my little town in St Marys to be a place of healing, of channeling and renewal. It may not be LA, Nashville or NYC…but it remains a creative place and its slower pace does allow for a lot of breathing, designing and repair.

We decided to stay outside of London this time, on a beautiful estate property in Walton-On-Thames. Surrounded by greenery and space, it was the perfect place to recuperate from a long flight. Here’s a yoga video that I did today that was extremely helpful after a long flight. You may even want to do it if you feel like you’ve been sitting down too long at work.

I love this place for getting manicures:

…So I began the trip there…in Mayfair

I find a lot of inspiration in the stories of the aestheticians who have given me the gift of feeling beautiful. Both times I’ve been here, I’ve witnessed strong women who have left their partners (or were left) and were forging their own path. Both were single moms and I could relate entirely to the stories that they shared with me.

Michael joined me after and we headed over to Soho Radio. I got a real treat when I got to meet a longtime fan David Bosoty (from Plymouth)…he couldn’t make the London show so I invited him to the radio station. It was great to have him there:

Shawn Lee had us on his radio show and it was a brilliant time…to be right in the centre of Soho and hear “Burn the Boats”. We had a little conversation about how to make music sound LIVE in the studio and I daresay he decoded it for me in a way that I subconsciously knew but could not articulate.

This is why it’s so wonderful to immerse yourself in a community of creative people.

I held a masterclass for a woman recently….she wanted to write again, but hadn’t been doing it. By the end of our session I got her to commit to cleaning up her workspace (which she did and showed me by sending a jpg later). But one of my pieces of advice to her was to bring the world closer to her. You can be in a small town or a city that you’re not fond of and bring the world to you by joining a community, or a club or reaching out to people you admire. This is one thing about being on Legere that has been such a gift. I’ve learned about so much new music, from people who are making amazing music themselves.

Here is my favourite Young Gun Silver Fox song and if you haven’t heard it, you NEED to:

When you hear this, you will understand why I love it. I always love choruses that don’t go to the root note at the start all the time. I mean, “Summerlong” and “Almighty Love” do but “Stereochrome” and “Girls Are Murder” do not…say no more….say no more.

I’ll try to find the recording of Shawn’s radio show featuring us, when it is live.

I am now at Heathrow and we are headed off to Hamburg. The last time I was here was with Nina and A Camp in 2009, when I was balancing on the edge of rock star hired gun life and pregnant wife life. I am happy to be able to take stock of life and feel that things are just getting better…a little easier to navigate…with lots of possibilities laid out in front of me.

I am sending the same love, clarity and light to all of you. See you tomorrow!! XOXO

TOMORROW: Day off in Hamburg, Germany and JUNE!!!