For any musician, getting a record deal or traveling on tour with seasoned, successful artists are the stuff dreams are made of. For acoustic pop songstress Julia Sinclair, those dreams are already becoming reality. She’s opened up for artists like Mat Kearney, Ingrid Michaelson and Graham Colton and is currently working on her debut full length album for ATO Records. All of this before even turning 20 years old mind you! Julia tastefully mixes her classically trained roots and her appreciation for modern pop music to create a sound that is equally balanced between skill and soul. (For a great example of this merging, check out this video of Julia blending her original song “Get Up” with a little of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” thrown in for good measure.) After traveling the country and crafting her songwriting voice for the last couple of years, she’s recently planted stakes in Nashville to capture and release those songs onto her first record, which is scheduled to be released later this year. In the meantime, she’s joined up with NoiseTrade to release her new four-song EP, Slow and Steady.

NT: While preparing to record your debut full length album later this year, you’re releasing a new EP called Slow and Steady. What’s does that phrase mean to you personally and what specifically drew you to the four songs you chose to put on it?
Julia: Slow and Steady. A strong foundation that makes for a tall building in a New York skyline and deep roots that make for a beautiful oak tree. The idea is that in my personal life and my career life, even when it takes time, doing it right and digging deep will pay off more than just going for quick gratification. As for the song selection, it’s some of my most vulnerable work. Each song represents a season or a moment in the last two years of my life. Catchy guitar riffs are threaded throughout each song as well. I think guitar will always be an important part of my writing.

NT: You started classical guitar training at the age of seven and have added acoustic guitar, electric guitar, cello, piano, mandolin, bass and drums to your musical repertoire. Has learning these additional instruments been an intentional pursuit or a natural progression of your growth as a musician and songwriter?
Julia: I started my musical journey at 6 with the piano. I discovered the acoustic guitar at 7 and fell in love. The music that surrounded my guitar practicing was a natural progression. My parents advised me to learn some cello for the expansion of my understanding of arranging and composing for string quartets and such. They were very wise in that and I’m really grateful for them steering me in that direction!

NT: The shift from classical music to pop-based music can sometimes be viewed negatively as “a step back” or “dumbing it down.” How have you been able to successfully incorporate the two genres and find the most useful elements of each one?
Julia: I think the only time that people begin to think that way is when they forget that Mozart was “pop”. Each generation experiences a new pop culture, but it’s really just an exploration of chords, layers and arrangements surrounding a sensible catchy melody. I’ve always been drawn to pop, from Mozart through to The Beatles, The Police, John Mayer and KT Tunstall. There’s also plenty of other pop artists that I love and respect. There’s quite a bit of non-pop music that I get geeked about as well, but I tend toward the pop melodies. I’ve melded them together by using some of the unusual voicings from my classical training underneath simplistic melodies. I really do see that this has created something that has my “stamp” on it.

NT: In a relatively short amount of time, your talents have allowed you the opportunity to work with some incredible individuals like Babyface, Mat Kearney, Ingrid Michaelson, and John Alagia, just to name a few. What are some of the things you’ve been able to learn from them individually and from the overall experiences as a whole?
Julia: The summer of 2010 is when I learned the most important aspects of songwriting. I learned how to be vulnerable and how to take a chance. This vulnerability has given my material and my performance an undeniable force that is really empowering to me and to the people listening. It’s a conviction that people can sense. Even through some earbuds, they know it when it’s real. These wonderful artists, producers and writers also confirmed the reality that music tends to be a lifestyle. It’s something that really consumes you if you absolutely love what you do and the people you’ve listed certainly do!

NT: Over the last few years, you’ve lived in New York and Los Angeles, traveled with a national tour, and just recently moved to Nashville. How has seeing both the differences and similarities of the people and the culture of so many different locations affected your songwriting and your overall creative vision?
Julia: There’s a Bono lyric that I’ve grown to love more and more each day because it seems to become more and more relevant each day. “I knew much more then, than I do now.” Experiencing culture and society is extremely important because that’s where a lot of creativity comes from, contemplating history and contemporary culture! But the funny part is that the more you try to understand the more you realize you don’t quite have any brilliant answers. So you make music! The unanswered questions are put into songs that move the heart and soul in ways that we’ve never really fully understood and it’s compelling! Music is such a beautiful place to live! Of all the places I’ve lived, it’s my favorite.

You can find out more about Julia Sinclair at the following:
Website: www.juliasinclair.com
Twitter: @juliasinclair
Facebook: JuliaSinclairMusic
Myspace: juliasinclair

When writer Will Hodge isn’t stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again, you can find him running off at the keyboard about music, concerts and vinyl at My So-Called Soundtrack.