The woman who dares. She had found out which hotel Bob Dylan would be staying at, back then in Bonn. And she not only had her demo CD and a guitar with her, but also outrageous luck. "Mr. Dylan, would you have a second?" Julia A. Noack boldly asked the god of all songwriters as he stepped out of the elevator – and incredibly, but true: She was allowed to play her songs for him. At one point, even his own: They sang "Blind Willie McTell" together. He tuned her guitar in between, praised her songs, gave her tips – and felt reminded of Emmylou Harris by Julia's voice. "That was something special," she recalls of this unforgettable encounter in 2003. But it was much more: It was a knightly accolade. Afterwards, she recorded two studio albums – a girl from Berlin with a guitar; a folk lady who had already played with Dylan. To this day, she receives a backstage pass when he tours Germany. The folk lady has made an impression on the king of folk.
The axis Berlin–Vienna
Meanwhile, Julia A. Noack has come a long way and her album "The Feast" is the next step, a big one: With the Viennese producer Alexander Nefzger, she connects to the international indie scene. Following Christiane Rösinger, Ja, Panik, or illute, she too is now utilizing the synergy effects of the Berlin–Vienna axis. With Nefzger, who became known for unusual productions for Clara Luzia and other Austrian indie artists, Julia A. Noack developed experimental arrangements for her lyrical song poems, for love songs without the word "Love", for nature-inspired metaphors like "silver whisper in the trees". It was the intense collaboration of two creative power centers: "We were in a musical bubble." The result: trombones, electronic disruptors, crackling percussion, A- and E-guitars, and at the center of the sound painting, Julia's voice, from which Nefzger extracts everything – and which (sorry, Bob!) has nothing of Emmylou Harris. "The Feast" has become exactly what its title promises: an acoustic feast. A banquet of sounds, loops, and timbres, of poetry, grand melodies, and choruses that become pop mantras. An album that shimmers and sparkles with ideas and inspirations.
Looking ahead
With "The Feast", Julia A. Noack is no longer just a folk lady, but an indie pop artist. She has shed the corset of a genre that has become too tight for her. She has reinvented herself. "Still, I would like to be even bolder," she says. But what could be bolder than approaching Bob Dylan in a Bonn hotel and jamming with him for hours? The whirls the master made while tuning her guitar, she immediately taped with Tesa. That preserves his fingerprints. Because even if Julia A. Noack now only looks forward: A little nostalgia is allowed. [Matthias Wagner]
JULIA A. NOACK live
presented by kulturnews and Gitarre & Bass
11.09.2013 Berlin - Privatclub
(Record Release Concert)
17.09.2013 Hamburg - Knust
21.09.2013 Magdeburg - Moritzhof
31.10.2013 Haldern - Haldern Pop Bar
01.11.2013 Witten - Werkstadt
03.11.2013 Cologne - Lichtung
04.11.2013 Aachen - Domkeller
15.11.2013 Salzburg (A), Denkmal
16.11.2013 Vienna (A) - Blue Bird Festival
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