Julie Christensen
| Julie Christensen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 21, 1956 Iowa City, Iowa |
| Genres | Rock, Alt-Country, Roots, Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Associated acts | Stone Cupid, Leonard Cohen, the Divine Horsemen |
| Website | www |
Julie Christensen (born January 21, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for her versatility, Christensen's music has been described as conveying "the beauty of suffering with a subtlety that cannot be faked." She has released five albums as a solo artist, and in January 2016 released The Cardinal with her band, Stone Cupid.
Christensen, a founding member of the Divine Horsemen, has toured extensively with Leonard Cohen. She has performed with artists including Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop, Public Image Limited, Van Dyke Parks, John Doe, Exene Cervenka, and k.d. lang.
Christensen was born in Iowa City and grew up in Newton, Iowa. Her father was a pharmacist and her mother, a nurse, played the organ at local Protestant churches. The oldest of four children, Christensen's three brothers were also musicians. Two of them played together in a band, Jonesin', who were inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
A lyric soprano, Christensen began singing while she was a child. She performed at churches and appeared on two television talent contests, the first when she was 11. She learned French in high school, which came easily to her, and following her graduation, she enrolled at the University of Iowa. She planned to learn Chinese, and majored in Asian studies.
During her freshman year at the University of Iowa, Christensen joined Longshot, a country rock band; in order to tour with them, she dropped out of college. In 1978 she began singing with a show band, and after a year on the road, she moved to Austin, Texas. In Austin she performed frequently with jazz artists including Roscoe Beck of the group Passenger, who would later introduce Christensen to Leonard Cohen.
In 1981 Christensen moved to Los Angeles. While still performing from time to time with jazz groups, she began to sing with the underground bands of the early Los Angeles punk scene. In 1982, while sitting in with Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs, she met Chris D., a producer and the founder of the seminal LA band, the Flesh Eaters. Impressed by her voice, he booked her as a backup vocalist for a Top Jimmy session he was producing. By 1984, Christensen and Chris D. had founded the Divine Horsemen; in 1985 they were married.
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