Julia Harris was born in Cardiff but spent the first few years of her life in Cape Town, South Africa whale watching and riding on the cable car up to Table Mountain. Life growing up in South Wales was full of adventure too, camping, singing around bonfires, mud sliding down hills in the country and putting on talent shows for the local kids in the street. At 7 Julia was given a Casio VL-1 Keyboard from Santa and started playing along to her parents record collection. Zeppelin, Floyd, Squeeze, Paul Simon and Motown classics made a big impact on her. At 13 Julia bought her first guitar from an old lady called Peggy for £25 and started jamming along to Tracy Chapman and writing her own songs. A friend of the family gave her free guitar and bass lessons and introduced her to alternative tunings. By the time she was fifteen, Julia had joined her first band playing bass guitar and singing backing vocals. They played mainly covers, 'Foxy Lady' being their trademark song, and performed in youth clubs and cafes around Cardiff. She later played for a 12 piece blues band in college and took a lead singing role in the production of Godspell. Undecided about University, Julia got a job and continued writing her own material whilst playing bass for '3 Pin Plug'. She fell head over heels in love with the drummer, and then decided to move to London to do a songwriting course for 2 months. On returning, Julia and boyfriend Ben joined a successful local band called 'Westgate Street', gigging every week throughout UK and made frequent visits to Ireland. Julia also spent time traveling, living for three months in Seychelles with her sister, jamming with locals and busking at the various airports she passed through, Nairobi being a specific highlight! On coming back home to Wales to record for the band, Julia realized that she wanted to take her music more seriously, so auditioned at The Welsh College for a Performing Arts and Music course. Overwhelmed at being offered a place, she knuckled down and started recording her own material, learning about the music industry and by the end singing at her own wedding with new hubby Ben! Encouraged to start gigging solo, Julia and a friend hired the Norwegian Arts Centre, Cardiff, for a debut gig in January 2003. She went on to release a live recording of the gig called 'Everything Under The Sun' selling all 500 copies in a matter of weeks with the help of HMV, Cardiff. For the next six months Julia played solidly all over Wales, supporting the likes of Damien Rice and Welsh songstress Amy Wadge and building up a fan base all of her own. On moving to Dublin In July 2003, Julia became quickly immersed in the Dublin Circuit, playing along side Declan O' Rourke and The Hot House Flowers. She worked as a Music and Art teacher by day and gigged by night, jamming with her guitar wherever she could. In the summer of 2004 Julia walked away with an Avalon guitar, taking 2nd place at the Avalon singer/songwriter competition in Belfast. She regularly featured live on radio, and won best act at an open mic competition in Dublin City- the money going towards a ridiculously high Gas bill! In November 2004 Julia released 'Swansea Sessions', a self funded CD of which she has sold over 1000 copies. With flying back to the UK every 6 weeks to tour, and getting such a great response to her music, Julia made the decision to move back to Wales in March 2005 and set up her own label 'RedCase' and went self employed as a musician. In April 2005, Julia made her yearly trip to Bulgaria, volunteering in two orphanages in the North West of the country, teaching guitar, singing songs with the orphans, and supporting local teams who provide clothing and education. She has recently fundraised for Cardiff Charity 'Street Life', and supports Amnesty International, Women's Aid, Fair-trade and eats Organic wherever possible. The last year has seen Julia constantly touring around the UK, receiving rave reviews and regular airplay across South Wales. This 'dreadlocked angel' is fast carving out her own unique sound and attracting an array of fans from all over the country. She has already co-produced an EP that is set for release in May under the title track 'These Days', and is planning to start work on her much anticipated debut album during the summer. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.