Ir-Trad List-Serve, Nov. 1997. I just spent some time this weekend with Julie Henigan, a fine singer (also plays great DADGAD guitar, fiddle, old-time banjo, and Appalachian dulcimer) and folklorist who lives in Missouri. I first met Julie this summer when she was performing at the Oatlands Celtic Festival in Virginia and she came to a gig I was doing with Clare concertina player Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin and sang during our break. She's the only American singer I have heard who sings in sean-nós style convincingly (there may be others, she's the only one I have met). Gearóid, who is a native speaker, was impressed. Not only that, but she translates the songs in English in poetic verses, so that she can sing the songs alternating Gaelic and English verses--apparently, this has some basis in the native tradition. After spending a few months in Ireland [and the U.K.], Julie was back in the Washington area last week and she came to our local céilí, played fiddle all night with us, then did a presentation on Sunday for the local chapter of the Gaelic League on Donegal sean-nós, her specialty. Julie gave me a copy of her new CD and, although it is not just of Irish music, I just had to tall you all about it because it is well worth looking for. It's very simply produced, just Julie and her guitar, banjo, and dulcimer, no overdubbing, special effects, didgeri-doos, just what you'd hear her do on stage or in your living room. She's that strong of a performer. And it reminded me of why I got attracted to folk music in the first place, that apparent simpli-city, home-grown quality, immediacy--or whatever you'd want to call it--which so many Irish players or bands seem in danger of losing nowadays. Another thing that I found quite amazing about this recording is that Julie can go from American-style traditional songs like "Going Across the Sea," learned from a 1929 recording by Burnett and Rutherford and accompanied with clawhammer banjo, to "Thug Mé Rúide," learned from Gweedore, Donegal, singer Caitlín Nic Níollais, and be equally comfortable in either style. Also on the CD are some classic Irish songs in English like "Green Grows the Laurel" and "The Streets of Derry," American versions of Child ballads like "John Randolph (Lord Randall)" and "Pretty Polly (Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight)," and some instrumentals on DADGAD guitar, including a medley of polkas opening with Mick Hanly's great "Jessica's Polka." -- Philippe Varlet
The Living Tradition No. 27, 1998. This excellent album of traditional music is a reissue of Julie Henigan's cassette 'American Stranger' with the addition of four previously unissued tracks. Julie lives in the USA but she visits Britain fairly regularly and is well known in some areas. On the basis of this album, which is a faithful reflection of her live performance, she should be booked wherever audiences enjoy a true and uncluttered approach to traditional music. Julie convincingly spans the North American, Irish and British traditions. On this album she sings in Gaelic (accurately, I'm told) and in English and she plays very tastefully on five-string banjo, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer. She's also a decent fiddle player, though for that you'll have to catch her live as it's absent from this album. Julie has an ear for excellent versions of traditional songs and she's pretty handy at finding them. Here she also reveals a skill in composition on several tunes and an attractive 'farewell' song. Particular highlights on the album for me are Adieu My Lovely Nancy, an unusual version, beautifully sung, The Hare's Dream, Blue-eyed Boy, Going Across the Sea, with a great banjo part ... I could include more. This is rich material, thoughtfully and skillfully performed. Live or recorded Julie Henigan's music is well worth tracking down. --Jon Scaife
Andy's Front Hall, Fall 1997. Here's a sleeper, folks. Sixteen songs ranging from English balladry to Appalachian mountain stuff accompanied by none other than Julie herself on guitar, banjo and mountain dulcimer. Her interpretation of these varied pieces is so natural, so simple and so right that you'd swear you were listening to...well, listening to "real" singing, as opposed to the imitative stuff learned from recordings that so many singers do. Her instrumental work is absolutely superior and totally appropriate. Titles include American Stranger, Adieu My Lovely Nancy, Green Grows the Laurel, Pretty Polly, and her own Farewell Song. It seems that most of the great new singers lately come from the British Isles...well, here's my latest heroine, and she's from Springfield, Missouri! Ah, the midwest. Highly recommended.
-- Bill Spence
Acoustic Guitar, May 1998. This is a stunningly beautiful collection of traditional and traditional-sounding songs. An expert at employing DADGAD (she has completed a DADGAD instruction book for Mel Bay), Henigan shows how this tuning can be an effective alternative to standard tuning. Her creative playing and singing is intimate and fresh, with guitar and banjo work that is clean and assured--expressive, yet tastefully restrained. That may be the key to the album's success. Henigan never over-performs songs or caricatures traditional performers of the past. --Roger Deitz
Rock 'n' Reel, Autumn 1997. Adopting a different approach altogether, Julie Henigan's re-released 'American Stranger' (now boasting four new tracks) is very much within and of the folk tradition. The collection includes a handful of Henigan originals, the occasional tune and a rich crop of trad material from the American, English and Irish repertoire.
Missouri-based, Henigan has spent considerable time in the UK and indeed, at the time of writing, is currently making her way round the folk clubs and festivals of Britain and Ireland. Described by Waterbug label boss as a true 'keeper of the flame,' Julie is far from being some crass Yank, getting back to her roots musically while missing the whole point. Far from it. An impressive instrumentalist with a fine versatile voice, strong and sweet, Julie has a genuine love of--and knowledge of --the folk tradition, as her Master's Degree in Folklore testifies. Nor is she some dry as dust academic who, while well versed in the concepts, fails to capture the heart and soul of the music. Her live performances, plus this collection, provides firm evidence to the contrary and, with performers of the calibre, passion and sensitivity of Julie Henigan, the tradition is in safe hands. Incidentally, alongside such material as 'The Cowboy's Girl (Early, Early in the Spring')-- originally an English song about a sailor and his faithless sweetheart--and 'John Randolph'--a Virginian variant of 'Lord Randall'--there's a lovely Ozark version of 'Adieu My Lovely Nancy', and the title track is actually a Staffordshire song (also called 'Rambling') which Henigan adopted as her 'theme song' during her 1980s residence in England. -- Dave White
Dirty Linen, April/May '98 #75. But there's one more CD I'd like to tell you about before I go. Many moons ago, way back in Dirty Linen #50, I reviewed a cassette by Missouri's own Julie Henigan, titled American Stranger. At the time I called it "a very impressive little album" and "one of my favorites." I never thought I'd find an album that makes it obsolete, but I have. What is it? Why, it's... New, Improved American Stranger! In addition to all the great traditional English, Irish and American songs and tunes that were on the cassette, this features four extra tracks, all traditional songs. Henigan's strong voice and her exemplary skills on open-tuned guitar and five-string banjo are just as evident on the new songs as the were on the cassette. Anyone who likes traditional Irish, British and American ballads and songs will love this CD. --Steve Winick
Singout, Vol 43 #1, Summer 1998. Julie Henigan's American Stranger makes a bold statement. In a world in which folk music releases are dominated by singers singing their own songs, Waterbug has released this mostly traditional set of songs expertly performed by a woman who obviously knows what she's singing about. In a climate of highly produced and full-band arrangements, Henigan brings out the power of these songs with the simple help of a pure, unaffected voice, guitar, banjo and mountain dulcimer. The result is a trip to that exquisite place where the ballads of Ireland and England meet in the Southern mountains of America.--Matt Watroba
Taplas 86. A LOOK at the track listing had me thinking, "I'm going to like this." Titles like "The Cowboy's Girl," "John Randolph," "Pretty Polly" spoke of an artist well in touch with traditional material. The question was, "Can she sing?". She certainly can--put her in line with Jean Ritchie, Sara Cleveland, Sara Gray, Hedy West, Debby McClatchy. She CAN sing. She has the voice, she has the style, she tells the story with firm conviction and never wastes a note. A most welcome American Stranger--oh yes, I liked it. --Roy Harris
All Music Guide. Using five-string banjo, mountain dulcimer, and DADGAD-tuned guitar, Julie Henigan injects a good deal of Appalachian spirit into songs of mostly British and Celtic origin, as well as a few originals. Utilizing a versatile singing voice that falls somewhere between Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Natalie Merchant, Henigan adds an element of mystery to tracks like the eerie mountain dulcimer tune "The Cowboy's Girl" and the haunting title track. A massive talent, Henigan's intricate performances on five-string banjo, as on the original instrumental "Hanover," and on guitar, as in the DADGAD-tuned "Hoban's Hill," show an impressive level of accomplishement. The ghostly victim's lament in "The Hare's Dream" and the picturesque "Green Grows the Laurel" reveal a depth found all too lacking in most contemporary folk. The Irish Gaelic "Thug Mé Ruide," sung in sean-nós style, is further proof of Henigan's diverse talents. In short, American Stranger is the type of authentic traditional folk album that just isn't made all too often anymore and warrants much more than a passing listen.--Matt Fink.
