Photo:(c) Chae Kihn

Originally from Hopkins, MN, Julia Douglass, former French horn player of The Duluth Symphony, moves to New Haven in 1988 to get her Masters of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, planning to embark on a path as a career academic.

Upon receiving her degree in the French Horn, in 1990, she immediately quits the French Horn and moves to NYC, taking up Salvation Army digs at the Brandon Residence for Women on the Upper Westside.

Inspired by the colorful characters that made up her new community, she started writing songs and working by day as a secretary. She had her first performance in the Spring of 1991 at McGovern's Bar in Tribeca, where she stormed the stage singing her cult hit "My Boyfriend is a Genius". They asked her back, and a career was launched.

In 1998 she released her debut album "Fetish for the Underdog" (Stylus Records) to great reviews and an enthusiastic audience. "In Scarsdale" (Smirk Records, 2003) her second album was released, based on that "awful moment when you realize you have to leave Manhattan and move to the 'burbs". In the Spring of 2003 she had her national radio debut on the renowned radio show "Mountain Stage" (PRI, NPR) hosted by Larry Groce.

In 2004 she and moved back to New York City where she lived with her husband, the writer Marty Kihn. Her third album "Poor People On TV" (Smirk Records 2007) was produced by Steve Addabbo and is available on cdbaby.com.

By 2010, after twenty years of the big city lifestyle, Julia moved back to her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She played a two-year residency with Mother Banjo at Honey Lounge and worked up a batch of new songs. The best ones are collected in her fourth studio recording, a six song EP called "Black Watch Kilt." Written and recorded in Minneapolis in 2013, with more of a chamber pop style than her previous recordings, it was produced by Andy Thompson and released in January 2014.