Julie Corbalis: News

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008
Hi there,
Another weekend, another KOA, another incredible gig. Last Saturday night Sculls and I drove up to Franklin, NY, for the 2nd annual Kampertainment evening hosted by yours truly. I'm not sure where to even start. Kath and Mike greeted us in the shop with smiles and a positive attitude. We talked Olympics, of course! Turns out Kath's brother is in China as a coach of one of the American track stars: Lopez. Lopez was one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan, having been kidnapped at 6 years old and then having escaped, placed in an orphanage, and eventually sent to the US. His story brings tears to my eyes, tears of joy and sorrow, even now just thinking about his incredible journey. It's just unimaginable to think that people live these experiences throughout the world.
After the introductions we got right down to business setting up for the show. Two beautiful little girls, Emma and Haley, instantly took a shine to Scully and I, offering their services as roadies. At around 7 and 5 years old, they were adorable doing mic checks, setting up the music stand, and tuning the guitar. The show went well from that point on. A small groups of girls, all between 6 and 11 years old, kept us entertained in the early hours, getting up to sing Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana tunes. I joined in where I could. They were so cute!!! The kampers were interested in both original and cover tunes, and we had a lovely evening under the stars. Just as it was getting dark and nearing my bedtime, I spotted a couple of teenagers sitting down in front that I guessed were into music. One fine young gentleman, Cory, took the bait and got up to sing and play a few tunes, and man, was he awesome! Cory played a fine rendition of Pearl Jam's "Better Man" and we even dueted on Damien Rice's "Volcano". A second fellow, Braiden, appeared from the darkness just outside the tent, and he equally floored us with some fancy fretwork, covering a Canuck with the surname Ross. (His first name escapes me at the moment). Then, just when it seemed the night couldn't get any better, Mike, chief at the KOA, leaned in to Sculls and I and informed us that Braiden, was, in fact, a fiddle player and had one in his car! Well...Braiden was not going to get out of this one. He must not have realized what the "Julie Corbalis" gig is all about - if you can play, you WILL play! Braiden ran for the fiddle and returned to play an unbelievably gorgeous tune (one of my favorites!) called "Ashoken Farewell." This is a fiddle tune that was written for the Civil War PBS series a few years back. It stops me in my tracks every time I hear it. It was the perfect end to a spectacular evening.

Once again, thank you so much to the folks and families at the Franklin, KOA. We really felt like part of the family.

Jules

Sunday, August 3, 2008
Good morning!
I have gotten over my jetlag and now we're back on the road. Sculls and I headed up to the KOA Cooperstown in Upstate New York on Friday afternoon. I had a fun gig and met some great people, including the 2 Mikes, Colin, Richie and Patty, the owner of this KOA. Imagine our delight when we discovered that not only was this the Baseball Hall of Fame town, but also the home to various Belgian beer festivals! What luck! The Mikes were hysterical, showing up to the show in their monk robes - they brought the appropriate apparel for a beer festival! And Colin was the quiet good sport who made sure no one got hurt. And Richie was awesome too - a teacher and Cubs fan from Arkansas travelling with his father to see the Hall of Fame and some more of America on the way. It was wonderful to be immediately welcomed in a far away town...once again it was baseball that saved our day. We can always talk baseball with new folks when we don't really know what else to say. Finally, a big thanks to Patty for putting us up (and putting up with us!). We'll be sure to visit and get to that Hall of Fame next time around.

We woke up at 5AM in Cooperstown and hopped in the car to get back down to Hartsdale, in Westchester, NY. Grey skies loomed overhead, but I am happy to report that we actually got some sun and got the whole gig in before the heavens opened up and swallowed the Tri-State Area for the rest of the afternoon. Here, once again, we met the wonderful Lee, the man who oversaw the music at this farmers' market. Lee videotaped a couple of tunes at the market and should have them up on YouTube shortly. I will let you know when that is all set.

Now we are settling in for a quiet week before heading back upstate to Franklin NY, near Oneonta, for another fun evening at the KOA. If you are into camping, I highly recommend joining us!

Thanks! Have a great week, Jules

Monday, July 21, 2008
Good morning from New York City! It is 4:24 AM and I can't sleep. I guess I'm having a little trouble getting back into the routine after 3 weeks away in the awesome country of JAPAN! I returned to America on Saturday afternoon with a mind full of memories and camera full of the accompanying pics. I don't know where to begin - Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Hiroshima were all incredibly beautiful, bustling cities. Each one deserves its own paragraph, and maybe in the next few days, if I'm up at 4AM again, I'll write a little something in more detail. As far as the highlights go, let me start with this one: our group met the wonderful Mr. Sasaki-san in Hiroshima. Sasaki-san is the brother of Sadako, the 12-year-old young lady who folded over 1,000 paper cranes in 1955, whose only wish was to recover from the leukemia she was diagnosed with following the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945. Sadako passed away in 1955, but Sasaki-san has kept her memory and message for peace alive. He is an extraordinary man, and I am so thrilled we got the chance to sit and talk with him.

Maybe I can't sleep because I have so many amazing memories like this one floating around inside my mind. I've written 2 more little entries on my myspace page (www.myspace.com/juliecorbalis). Go check them out if you can't sleep either :)

Have a great week! I'll add some more pics and stories over the next few days.

Thank you to all my new friends in Japan! I cannot wait to come back and visit, and pick up where we left off getting to know each other and truly making all of our lives so much better.
Jules

Sunday, Jun 22, 2008
Hope this homepage finds you well! Things have been pretty great around here, however I am finding the limits to which I can stretch myself and still get things done. I've been double booking like crazy lately, and it is finally getting to the ones I love. I'm sorry! It's getting to me, too. I'm not making excuses, but here's what's been going on: #1) I'm leaving for JAPAN a week from today. I'll be on a teacher study tour throughout the country, visiting cities including Tokyo, Nagoya, and Hiroshima. Since March I've been in Japanese history and language classes many weekends. I have already met a bunch of wonderful people and I can tell the trip will be one of a lifetime. I will be keeping an updated blog with photos while there, so please check back often and write to say "Konnichiwa!" #2) I am finishing my solo record THIS WEEK! I've got 3 sessions scheduled with Fred to clean up some odds and ends, overdub some tambo and shakers, and then it's over. Wow. I'm really happy with the organic sound the songs have grown into. For me, and hopefully for you too, these babies are a nice bunch of old and new tunes. Most of the old ones have gotten facelifts, too, which is awesome because they all needed that little something that kept them off of previous records. #3) Teaching ends this week! And while I am sad to see some of my 8th graders go on to bigger and better things, it is definitely time to move on :). This school year has been a life changing experience for me, in terms of recycling. I have learned more about the earth and our environment than ever before, and I'm loving it. We bought my folks a compost bin for their anniversary (how romantic!), and while mom was a little skeptical she pointed out that her grandmother ("gramma on the farm") used to compost naturally, putting old veggie scraps and what not back in the soil of the garden. Who knew gramma on the farm was so hip to saving the environment? :) So yeah, these things and others have kept me hoppin' more than usual throughout the Spring. I'll be glad once I'm in Japan to be forced to just concentrate on the sights and sounds of Nihon...and who knows? maybe a "Japan Song" will be inspired, much like my experiences in Greece and Belgium!

OH! And two more things: the pic above is a part of the new album. Thank you SO MUCH to Amber and Juice Imagery for making me look good!!! And, check out 2 new videos of Fred and I from the Old Iron Spring Festival on the Music/Video page.
Keep in touch!
Love Jules

Saturday, Jun 7, 2008

Hello!!! Just want to quickly say THANK YOU SO MUCH to our wonderful hosts at the Old Iron Spring Festival. Fred Gillen, Jr. and I played a very fun set of some of my tunes, some from Fred, and a couple from Woody Guthrie! It was a gorgeous day, and it was so awesome to see so many familiar faces - Andy, Dan, Natalie and the gang, and Ann Marie! We videotaped the show and I am hoping to post a video or two from the afternoon before the weekend is out.
More soon!!!

Monday May 12, 2008

It's been while since we updated, but only because things are going so well!!! All of the shows have been a fantastic success, Pat is making great progress in the studio, and we are enjoying the last few days our friend will be in the U.S. We'll be sure to write up a long summary of this crazy month sometime in the near future....

Check out the updated PICS from all the shows!
Border Radio is available from CD Baby!! and iTunes

Thursday May 1, 2008

So, a few more great shows this past weekend! We'd like to thank everyone who came out to The Peekskill Coffee House on Friday, and those of you who came to the show on Saturday at Murphy's! What a great turnout at both places! We had such a wonderful time. Can't wait to see you all again!
As I write this,our friend Pat Kelly is up at Woody's House Studio with Fred Gillen Jr. laying down the foundations for his new studio album. Everything seems to be going just as planned. I can't help but think that some incredible music will be coming out of these sessions!
Don't forget that tonight will be Julie Corbalis, Pat Kelly, and Andy Mullen at Desmonds!! - (and that's just the beginning of another full weekend of shows!) Check out the CALENDAR for all the details!
We'll try to keep everything updated as time permits. Hope to see you all at the shows!

Monday April 21,2008

Thank you to EVERYONE who came out to the shows this weekend!! We are having a great time playing music and just hanging out with our great friend Pat Kelly! You have all made it a very friendly and welcoming experience for Pat, and we can't wait to see you at future shows. More later...

It has been a lazy weekend! A very welcome change to the last few weeks. The PICS are updated from last weekend's gig at Sunset House: Kerri, Stacey, Liz, and Jeff's B-Day Bash! I thoroughly enjoyed this acoustic set...JL is really something special on his acoustic guitar. He is too modest to agree with me, however, I just love it when he plays acoustic lead. And, as usual, Chris Corbalis rocked the house on acoustic bass. I wasn't sure we could fully rock out "unplugged" but we did just fine, and even sold 5 cd's in a town where I was sure we had given everyone a free disc long ago.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Some of the Pics from Desmond's, and from Swig, have been updated! We're still waiting for more, so if you have some send them over!

Don't forget tonight we will be playing at Sunset House in Peekskill! Check out the calendar for details.

It's been a long and crazy week, so we will update more later.

Saturday, March 8, 2008
SEE YOU TONIGHT AT DESMONDS! 28TH AND PARK, MANHATTAN, 9PM!


Friday, February 29, 2008
We're finally back in the U.S.! Sorry it's taken so long to update, but things get crazy. Just a quick note until we can pull it all together...
We had an amazing time in Belgium!! A big THANK YOU goes out to all of our friends (new and old) who made this trip not only possible, but one we will never forget. Benoit, you are a true friend. Can't say enough... See you in August! (hopefully) Pat Kelly, you are the BEST!! Hope we can provide the hospitality and friendship that you continue to show us! All of you in Belgium... thanks. OK more later.

Check out the updated PICS !!!


I recently updated the CALENDAR and cleaned up the LINKS, so go check them out!