Biography
Julie Byrne is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in 1990 and raised in Buffalo, New York.[1] Her fingerstyle guitar playing is rooted in the influence of her father, and she began learning the instrument herself around age seventeen, after complications from multiple sclerosis meant he could no longer play.[1]
She left Buffalo at eighteen and lived in cities including Pittsburgh, Northampton, Chicago, Lawrence, Seattle and New Orleans.[1] She has studied environmental science and worked as a seasonal ranger in New York City's Central Park.[1]
Her early cassette-only EPs were later collected as Rooms with Walls and Windows (2014), followed by Not Even Happiness (2017) and The Greater Wings (2023).[1] She has released music on labels including Orindal, Basin Rock and Ba Da Bing Records.[1] Producer Eric Littmann, her former partner and longtime collaborator, died unexpectedly in 2021, and his death shaped The Greater Wings.[1]
For Not Even Happiness she returned to Buffalo to record, and has said she wanted a more stable base so she could give more fully to audiences on tour.[2] Before that she spent years moving between cities and felt starved for green space in New York, which led her to the Central Park ranger job.[2]
References
- Julie Byrne (Wikipedia) — Biography and discography.
- Q&A: Julie Byrne On Vulnerability, Fighting The Pull To Start Over, & Her New Album Not Even Happiness (Stereogum) — Byrne on home, Buffalo, and recording her second album.