Photos taken at Fort Worth Live: Alan Mercer
Julie Roberts stepped into the national spotlight in 2004 with her country music hit “Break Down Here.” Her debut album earned RIAA gold for sales in excess of five hundred thousand copies. The South Carolina native was an undeniable sensation, performing in a wide range of concert and national TV appearances. Multiple honors followed, including an array of nominations from the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, and the Country Music Television Awards.
The daughter of an engineer and accountant, Roberts has been singing as long as she can remember. She performed at every opportunity, including class musicals, summer camp productions and beauty pageants. During junior high and high school, she spent her weekends playing festivals in the Southeast. She spent summers working at music shows in Carowinds, a theme park in Charlotte, N.C., and Dollywood in East Tennessee. She attended the University of South Carolina-Lancaster for two years before transferring to Nashville’s Belmont University to focus on her music.
She performed in local clubs and restaurants until graduation, after which she landed a job as the assistant to Luke Lewis, Chairman of Universal Music Group Nashville. Without telling any of her co-workers, she began working during her off-time with producer Brent Rowan, who eventually played Roberts demo to Lewis without telling him who it was. Floored by the demo, Lewis asked to meet the singer, so Rowan directed the surprised music executive to the young woman sitting just outside his door.
Entertainment Weekly awarded her self-titled debut CD an A, calling it one of the most auspicious debuts in years. The New York Times said Roberts aching and resolute hit “Break Down Here” was one of the year’s best country ballads. The album was certified gold and led to two Horizon Award nominations from the Country Music Association, Top New Artist and Top New Female Vocalist nominations from the Academy of Country Music, as well as a Breakthrough Artist nomination from the CMT Awards.
In 2010, Julie took a hiatus from music to recharge her batteries and to confront several personal challenges. Today, she is back, singing better than ever.
In 2011, Julie Roberts revealed that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She had a hard time getting anyone in the music industry to work with her at first, but Sun Records signed her to a recording contract in mid-2013. Her album ‘Good Wine & Bad Decisions’ was the first full release for the label in 40 years.
Julie’s next release is produced by Shooter Jennings, son of Country Outlaw Legend, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter as well as a Music Star in his own right. One song has already been released titled ‘Why Can’t I Have You.’ She also recorded a song written by Jessi.
Knowing she is truly blessed to be doing what she loves, Julie spends much of her time, when not working on music, sharing her talent with several charity organizations close to her heart. She recently joined with the organization Magdalene as the first female country artist to embark on a women’s prisons tour…performing, sharing her story and providing hope along the way.
Many doors have opened changing the life of the petite blonde who has fond memories of singing along to the country songs blaring out of the radio in her mother’s white truck in Carolina. She’s learned a tremendous amount about life and herself on this remarkable journey, from white trucks to red carpets… and it is just beginning. She recently got married for the first time. Julie’s first book titled ‘Beauty In The Breakdown’ about her personal struggles is being published on September 18.
Photo: Alan Mercer
Alan Mercer: Julie, how did you get involved working with Shooter Jennings?
Julie Roberts: Shooter and I met years ago at the beginning of our careers. We were both under Universal. Then we saw each other at a music festival in Columbia, South Carolina playing the show back in 2007. He came up to me and said he wanted to record a song with me.
AM: I never heard a duet song from you two.
JR: We wanted to record the song, but we were both so new in our careers that the label wouldn’t let us do it…but I saved it all theses years. I loved this song, so I saved it.
AM: Wow, that’s amazing.
JR: Then, a couple of years ago I was driving to this farm to pick up some vegetables for Mama and me. We lived together in a townhouse back then. So, I was driving out to West Nashville to the farm and I was listening to Outlaw Country. The song that came on the radio was ‘Good Ol Boys’ by his dad and I sat in the car singing along to it. I grew up on that music. Listening to those songs is what makes me really happy.
AM: Me too. Any song from my childhood makes me happy too.
JR: Yeah! The good part of my childhood was Country music, the real songs with real lyrics.
AM: You faced a lot of challenges for a while.
JR: We lost the townhouse to the flood of 2010. We were rescued by boat. I knew that God had saved me for a reason. At that point is when I told my fans and the industry that I had MS. I had been trying to hide it. That’s also when I started my record label. I lost my booking agent, well I lost everything during that time. People were afraid I wouldn’t be able to finish a show with MS.
Photo: Alan Mercer
AM: That is awful. What did you do?
JR: I knew how to work a computer, so I started my own company. I started booking myself for those years. Then one day I checked my email and I got one from Shooter and he said he wanted to help me make my ‘career record.’
AM: Wow! That must have been exciting.
JR: He knew I had MS and he knew I could still do this. I thought it was a joke with somebody pretending to be him, so I waited a few days. I was in a Houston hotel and I wrote him back. I told him I had spent all the flood insurance money on my last release and I couldn’t afford another record, so he told me to get out to Los Angeles and we will record one song.
AM: One song!?!
JR: I told him I still had the song he had given me a long time ago, so we decided to record two songs and that turned into fifteen or sixteen songs. We over recorded.
AM: You wanted to make sure you had what you wanted I guess.
JR: We had a lot of fun. It’s the way I like to make a record. We work on it because we both love the song, not because somebody is telling you to do it. I had more fun making this record than any other since my first record, which was fun because it was the first.
AM: Sounds like the recording experience with Shooter was relaxed.
JR: It was a real laid-back experience. I’d come over after lunch and we’d work until three in the morning sometimes. I get creative late at night and so does he.
AM: Your Sun records album is a masterpiece.
JR: Thank you.
AM: All your albums are great.
JR: Thank you. I am proud of my first album. I didn’t listen to the second one for about a year. It was difficult since I had just been diagnosed with MS. Every time I’d hear a song from that album it kept taking me back emotionally and I didn’t want to accept it. After I accepted it I could listen to the album.
AM: How do you deal with all the disappointments and hardships in the business?
JR: I have a very strong faith. I know that God will not give you any more than you can handle. A lot of people say this, but I really believe it. He has always helped me.
AM: I get it. I believe as well.
Photo: Alan Mercer
JR: I’ve asked God, “What do you want me to do now? Am I supposed to be a veterinarian? I love and rescue dogs, but then the next day I will get an email from Shooter.
AM: Exactly!
JR: I had been praying for God to send me someone in my life that believes in me and can help me make a record. I know that Shooter is the answer.
AM: When you make a prayer request, do you feel the prayer being answered?
JR: I try to feel the receiving.
AM: That’s the secret. You must feel it before it manifests.
JR: You are supposed to do that. It’s called believe it and receive it.
AM: You’re just now getting to the time in life when it’s really good.
JR: Seems like now things do make more sense. Also, I just finished my autobiography for Harper/Collins. It will be out September 21.
AM: That is really exciting!
JR: I worked with a co-writer named Ken Abraham. He’s had a bunch of New York Times best sellers. We have spent hours and hours and days and days together. I feel a lot stronger now.
AM: Was writing cathartic?
JR: Yes, it was like being in counseling every day. I was able to close chapters in my life. I feel a lot stronger in a lot of ways.
AM: You have faced challenges that would destroy many people, but you keep coming back.
JR: I can’t stop. I feel like I am not supposed to stop. Music is the one thing that keeps me going. When I’m on stage I know that’s what I’m supposed to do. I also do a lot of motivational speaking in between shows and it gives me the same feeling.
AM: Sounds like you discovered your true purpose.
JR: Now I know that I have two purposes, one is to sing and the other is to help people keep living their dreams. That is very fulfilling to me. In that one sense, I am glad I live with MS, so I can help others.
Photo: Alan Mercer