Stereo Embers The Podcast 0518: Julie Christensen (Divine Horsemen, Leonard Cohen)

“Don’t You Push”

If Coleridge was right and friendship is a sheltering tree, then Julie Christensen lives in a very big forest. It’s true. She knows a lot of people and she has a lot of friends. When you listen to us chat you’ll hear organically how this Iowa native has moved through the world making friends everywhere she goes. Let’s back up. Julie first landed on my radar when I was a high school DJ and SST Records sent our thrash metal radio station records by her band Divine Horsemen. The fiery post-punk outfit who even now bring to mind The Gun Club, are only part of the story, so I’ll do what I can to fill in the gaps. After a stint in college and playing with the band Longshot who opened for John Prine and Asleep At The Wheel, Christensen left Iowa for Texas where she played with Passenger and did some more studying at the University of Austin. But it was her move west where things really picked up speed. She fell in with the rockabilly punk scene, joined Divine Horsemen with her husband Chris D of the Flesheaters, got divorced, found sobriety and then? You can tell I’m speeding along here because Julie tells her story far better than I can, but long story short, her old pal Roscoe Beck from Passenger became Leonard Cohen’s Musial Director and he suggested Christensen sing with the legendary bard. And that’s exactly what she did for nearly twenty years. Julie has a series of powerful solo albums like Love Is Driving and Where The Fireworks Are and her new single “Don’t You Push” is a reaction to the darkness and frustration of what’s currently happening in our country. As for her voice, well, putting it simply, Julie Christensen’s delivery is as towering as it is graceful. Filled with equal parts muscle and finesse, her phrasing is poetic, precise and riveting. And she’s a lovely person and just wonderful to speak to.

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Stereo Embers : The Podcast