The next time you're in or around Atlanta, you might want to consider taking the time to find out where singer/songwriter Juliana Finch is performing. A winsome young denizen of coffee houses and festivals, Juliana's music presents an image of of someone with wisdom well beyond her 25 years, be it performing her own material or breathing new life into Appalachian and Celtic ballads. After the show, you can ask her about anything from childcare tips (she's a nanny and a childbirth assistant by day) to her addiction to Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica. Our own Dustin Grovemiller recently talked with Juliana to find out what -- besides actor Tahmoh Penikett -- makes her tick.

At what point did you decide that you'd like to be a musician, and how did you discover your musical identity, as it were?

I don’t think I ever had a say in it. I’ve been singing to myself and making songs up in my head since I was a little kid, and playing music makes me happier than just about anything. I suppose I decided to take my music more seriously when I noticed that the stuff I was singing was affecting other people, too. More and more folks started asking if I had a CD out or telling me that a certain song either helped them through something or reminded them of someone they loved… and that’s when I realized that I might have to stop keeping it all to myself.

As far as musical identity is concerned, I still don’t think I’ve gotten the hang of describing myself as a certain “genre”. The most important thing for me is to only perform songs that have some sort of personal meaning to me or that I feel really strongly connected to. Whether that’s an Irish ballad or an alt-country rock song doesn’t matter as much as making sure it’s something that comes from who I am. I’m always working on my personal identity and personal improvement, and I guess my musical identity is the same way.

Have you had any formal musical schooling or training?

I was in chorus and in musicals all through high school but I’ve never specifically had voice or guitar lessons. I took piano lessons for a year when I was eight, and I still wish my parents had never let me quit. I’d like to start taking piano lessons this year.

Who are some of the artists that have influenced you the most, and is there one in particular that identify with the most as an artist?

My CD collection confuses people. I’ve got all kinds of things in there that don’t seem like they could be in one group. I love old school R&B/soul, country music, jazz standards and Celtic music especially, and I have a special place in my heart for songwriters with pianos. At this very moment, my six-CD changer is holding music from: Old Blind Dogs, Amy Winehouse, Diana Krall, Ray Charles, Jonathan Coulton, and Bear McCreary.

Also, don’t even ask about my obsession with Christmas music.

The songwriters I’ve been listening to the longest are Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles and Ben Folds. I don’t think I particularly sound like any of them, but I feel like they’ve given me a guide for crafting songs that are personal but ultimately relateable.

In terms of your song writing process, how do you work?

I joke to friends that I’m a “professional eavesdropper” and, by that, I mean that I’m always on the lookout for a good story. When I think of (or overhear) something that I think would make a great song I try to write it down – I usually have a notebook and pen in my bag, though occasionally I have written on napkins and receipts. I sometimes keep an idea in my head for months before the song actually gets written.

Ultimately, though, it’s about discipline for me. Every once in awhile a great song springs fully formed from my head in three minutes, but that’s rare. I need to create a space where I can write and just sit with my notebook and guitar and see what happens. I try to make time for it at least twice a week, and I try to write in my journal every morning when I get up. There are weeks where I’m really off and my writing is just crap, but at least it’s crap where an empty page used to be. If I don’t feel like getting up in the morning or I decide I want to relax after working all day I can do that, but I know that desk and instrument are waiting for me and I have a responsibility to keep at it. I write much better when I write consistently. The corkboard above the desk I used to have said: The only way to be a writer is to write. I should hang that thing up again.

If there seems to be one recurring theme throughout the album, it's love -- when it's good, when it's bad, when it's gone, and even when it's the love shown by an adopted child. How much of yourself do you inject into your songs -- is it always a personal story, are you writing characters, or is it a little of both?

How to Take the Fall as well as more of Juliana's music is available through the iTunes Music Store.

It’s definitely both. I’d say all of my songs come from a genuine emotion, a genuine place inside myself…but they are by no means all autobiographical. I’ve always been fascinated by folklore and great stories, so I feel more like a storyteller than a musician most of the time. In the song “Sarah’s Apartment,” for example, I write about characters that are entirely fictional, but the song came out of real feelings that I have about how to make love last and why we choose the partners we do. I don’t know if it’s possible for me to write a song that doesn’t have some aspect of myself in it. I don’t think anyone would relate to my songs if there wasn’t some truth at the core.

One of the more striking things is that all of the works on the album, save for one, were written by you, and yet there's a broad representation of song styles and there's a lot of diversity in the instrumentation. Were you really trying to paint with a broad brush on this release, or is Juliana Finch the person simply that eclectic?

I mentioned earlier that my taste in music baffles most people. I like anything that has good songwriting, that’s fun, that breaks or broadens my heart. I think all of the songs on the album reflect an aspect of me. We all have different sides; we’re all that eclectic.

How did the album evolve? Was it a case of knowing from the start what songs you wanted to release, or did that shake down during the recording process?

We did some pre-production where we narrowed down the songs I was interested in recording to the ten songs that we felt could go on this album together. There were about 16 songs I was considering, but I wanted the album to have some cohesion while showcasing my musical range. I told Danny that I know how pregnancy must feel, at least psychologically, because it grew out of months of great, hard work and by the time we were done I was so ready to meet my “baby”!

What was it like working with your producer, Danny Howes?

Danny was a godsend. He took some of the things I tried to articulate about the sound I wanted and just transformed it into even more than I thought it could be. He took some good songs and made them great tracks. Danny was extremely sensitive to the attachment I felt to many of the songs and he was able to bring out different “flavors” in them without running over their basic nature.
I met him in the Summer of 2006 when I was opening for an artist he plays with named Alice Peacock. I happened to be looking for a producer for this album at the time and we were in the right place and right time to make it work. I couldn’t have worked with anyone better my first time around and I would work with him again in a heartbeat.

What are some of your reflections on the studio sessions?

Honestly, I was worried that I wouldn’t like the studio. I thrive so much on my interactions with a live audience and the feeling you get playing live that I thought the studio would feel “dead”. I’m so glad I was wrong! Working in the studio was an extremely freeing experience for me. I was able to make the songs sound any way I wanted them to, and I could change it the next day if I felt like it. I loved getting up in the morning knowing that the only thing I had to do that day was make music. We worked really hard every day, but I loved getting the opportunity to fine-tune songs and rewrite and rearrange. I’m hoping to do it again soon.

Looking ahead, what are your immediate plans? Are you going to tour at any point, or are you already starting to think about another album?

I have a bunch of shows coming up in the Fall and I’m booking Winter shows now. I’m going to be up and down the East coast for now, but I’m hoping to make it out West in Spring ’08. I am already thinking about future albums, especially a certain project I’m trying to develop, but that stuff is going to wait until I get “How To Take The Fall” out there.

When you put on some music just to listen to while, say, cleaning the house, what’s that most likely to be?

Ray Charles and jazz vocalists, hands down. It has to be something I can sing along to and something that’ll keep me moving instead of thinking about the “work” I’m doing. If I’m bopping around to Ray, folding laundry is much less tedious.