Julia Fordham’s Lessons Learned

Julia Fordham: “I was completely out of my comfort zone and sometimes that can be an important lesson.”

Her contemplative new album provides the opportunity to both showcase her songwriting prowess and look back on her songwriting journey

Making her name in the late 1980s with her self-titled debut album and Porcelain – both of which reached the Top 20 in the UK charts – Julia Fordham is a British singer-songwriter who has forged a career out of the strength of her music, her powerful vocals, and an ability to coherently unite different styles.

Fordham’s new album, Earth Mate, is exactly the type of record you hope for from an artist with over three decades of releasing music behind them. Reflective without ever tipping into the maudlin, the songs showcase both Fordham’s impressive vocal range and lyrical authenticity. It also provides her with the chance to bring together musical allies such as Gordon Giltrap, Ryan O’Shaughnessy, and Greg Johnson.

With a career spanning over three decades, we asked Fordham to share with us five of the lessons that she’s learned along the way…

Read more ‘Lessons Learned’ here

1. EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE

It’s true what they say, everything must change. I don’t think anyone said or sung it better than Paul Young on his killer co-write with Ian Kewley on their classic, Everything Must Change. What a song, what a record. I think as a songwriter this is an important lesson to learn, knowing everything can and will change, including you as a writer and singer and human. Isn’t it wonderful though that something that can’t be changed is our original recordings!?

Currently playing this track on a loop, it’s faultless, glorious production, capturing the mid-80s heydays of that sound. It’s not possible for me to hear anything Pino Palladino plays bass on without being moved to tears. I first heard Pino play when I was standing backstage at a gig, Paul was singing his heart out and blowing all of our socks all the way off, while Pino was making that extraordinary, exceptional and emotional sound that only he can make. What a winning and moving combination. That live rendition of Wherever I Lay My Hat has lived on in my soul for all these years. The fact that Pino has played on some of my songs is actually an example of the lesson that sometimes dreams actually can and do come true.

2. REMAIN OPEN

I am rather stuck in my ways as a songwriter. I tend to like to wait for songs to come to me, and they do. Usually, when I am doing something else, they just burrow their way in until I give in to their urgent request for attention. The melody and lyrics tend to come together at the same time. On my new album Earth Mate, I have tried four new collaborations just to jolt me out of my familiar ways. Another writer/musician can bring a fresh perspective.

An example of that would be, guitarist extraordinaire Gordon Giltrap, he reached out to me and asked if I wanted to work together. I loved a particular part of one of his instrumental pieces, a lovely, lilting guitar riff and an idea came to me that sat perfectly into the spaces. That was a springboard into a new song called Chair On The Porch. We had both been through the recent loss of family members and I tried to honour and weave that sentiment into the fabric of the song. I was completely out of my comfort zone and sometimes that can be an important lesson as I am honestly so delighted with how it ended up.

Julia Fordham: “Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege.”

3. YOU’VE GOT TO HOLD AND GIVE

Knowing when to hold your ground and when to let go is a lesson that all writers are always in the middle of learning. I think this applies to any creative process. Some songs just flow and grow wings and go on their merry way around the world and then fly back home with accolades and awards. Others are more earthbound and tend to need more shoehorning into the right space and place. There is a knack to knowing when to hunker down and commit to the completion of the song and when to file it under ‘just leaving it there in a cosmic no-man or no-lady’s land’ and returning to it if and when it calls.

4. LIVE AND LET LIVE LIVE

Finding peace with the live rendition not necessarily being the exact same key and tempo as the actual original recording is an important lesson. Once the recording of the song is complete and released, the song will need to sing in it’s way in front of an audience and adapt accordingly. I am currently getting ready for a tour of the UK in November and I am planning on doing some songs from my very first album and also including some of the new songs from my new album Earth Mate. I do think at a gig, when folks have paid their hard-earned money for a ticket, it is important to give them their faves and your hits and of course bring some of your latest songs along for the ride too.

5. EMBRACE THE MAGIC

I think all songwriters need to be reminded that there can be something supernatural about what we are daring to do. I loved the book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert as it grants permission to lean into that concept. I can’t say it better than Liz, so here’s a direct quote: “Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred. What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all. We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits. We are terrified, and we are brave. Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege. Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us. Make space for all these paradoxes to be equally true inside your soul, and I promise – you can make anything. So please calm down now and get back to work, okay? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”

Julia Fordham’s new album, Earth Mate, is out now – listen at slinky.to/EarthMate – and she tours the UK throughout November – for full dates visit juliafordham.com

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.