Sound Familiar? Ciera Julia’s Music Has Taken Her from Coffee Talk to Nashville
Around the Seven Mile Beach, you almost have to go out of your way to not hear live music. Performances are often enjoyed from restaurants, bars, farmers markets, and outside store fronts. For many of us, our dream of becoming the next pop sensation stops at belting at the top of our lungs over blaring music (which masks our voice) with our windows down, riding through the island. But some of the more talented locals are able to take their talents to the big stage.
Ciera Julia, who grew up in Avalon, has been working on her music as long as she can remember. Spending many years mastering the piano and numerous hours with her private voice coach, her passion for music has only deepened over the years.
At 14, Julia was given the opportunity to play her first gig at Coffee Talk in Stone Harbor, where Taylor Swift performed acoustic shows before she became one of the most famous performers on the planet. Coffee Talk owner Madlynn Zurawski approached Julia to sing on a Sunday. After her gig, she performed there every Sunday for the rest of the summer.
Eventually, her schedule was packed every summer with performances at Tonio’s Seafood Shack in Avalon, Westside Saloon in West Wildwood, and Goodnight Irene’s Brew Pub in Wildwood. She built relationships with each establishment and says she adores the tourists and regulars who come back over and over to see her play each season.
Now 25, the singer-songwriter this summer released her first recording, “Who We Are,” a five-track EP produced in Nashville, Tenn.
Looking back, Julia can attest that her first conscious decision to further her music career was enrolling at Chartertech High School for the Performing Arts in Somers Point. She knew she did not want to study anything else besides music and thought she might become a music teacher. But, over the course of her high school career, she became interested in songwriting.
“I started writing songs and loved having a whole new way to express how I was feeling,” she says. “That’s when I realized I wanted to be an artist.”
Her commitment led to her acceptance to Berklee College of Music. She fell in love with the campus and culture of her new Boston home. But, as she realized the school was flooded with talent, she felt like a little fish in a big pond. That being said, with her professor’s guidance and confidence, she was able to be unapologetically herself in her music. The staff inspired her to take leaps of faith and go outside of her comfort zone to say yes to opportunities she might not have considered before.
“One of the most important things I learned is, within reason, always say yes,” Julia says. “What I mean is, say yes to the gig, say yes to the co-write, say yes to being a part of your friend’s project, because you never know who you will meet or what will come from it.”
Graduating from Berklee College of Music with a degree in songwriting, it was time for the real world. Julia decided that heading to Music City would be the best place to start her songwriting career. Many of her fellow alums found their way to Nashville as well.
Julia has played at venues all over Nashville, but her favorite is a quaint, hidden place called Alley Taps. One of the reasons it brings back such amazing memories is because she played on stage with some of her friends. Realizing how much she liked collaborating with others, she began the process of recording an album.
She began by getting a few of her friends together where they planned, created, and recorded her songs, taking two years to finish the process. Being extremely hands-on during the process made Julia take on roles that she did not anticipate. Her label, Lazare Music Inc., was supportive in alleviating the pressure that she felt during this process. While Julia describes her creation of the album as magical, she also notes that it took some trial-and-error to figure out what kind of artist she wanted to be.
Julia says that when she first started writing, she loved female pop and folk music, and believed that her sound was in the genre of Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson and Joni Mitchell. But the soft acoustic sound was not her vibe and did not feel like her musical identity after she bought an electric guitar following her graduation. Her sound now has a harder vibe, reflecting rock roots and taking inspiration from musicians such as Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and The Staves.
The musical development for Julia is much like keeping a diary, in her eyes. She writes about relationships and worldly struggles while also being influenced by indie music and her artist friends.
Julia does not follow a strict writing formula; if she thinks of lyrics or has a tune in her head while driving in the car, she will record a voice memo and save it. She calls these “song seeds.” She begins with the seed, and as time goes on the seed grows into a beautifully intricate song.
“Who We Are” features a few songs she wrote in college. The songs “Rope” and “Even So” are about how she felt leaving her old life in Boston and beginning a new, uncertain life in Nashville. While “Who We Are” is available now, Julia is back in the studio working on new singles she plans to release periodically. Live music is at a halt for now, but Ciera Julia cannot wait until the spotlight is on her again.
“Who We Are” is available on all streaming platforms and YouTube. To stay in the loop, visit her website, cierajulia.com, as well as Instagram @cierajuliaofficial and Facebook page.
