Reviews



REVIEWS AND COMMENTS FOR LIVE PERFORMANCES: "We very grateful indeed to you for your inspiring concert to support Fairtrade. The music was hugely enjoyed by all present and the quality outstanding. You have made a great contribution to our campaign to add Burgess Hill to the growing list of Fairtrade towns in the UK and hope that we can work together on similar projects in the future" – Chairman of the Burgess Hill Fairtrade steering group, Oct 2005 --------------------------------------------------- "We were thrilled with the evening, and there was alot of appreciation for your singing Julie, and for Rob's poetry...the cream of the cream!" – Rev S Reading, Worthing Baptist Church --------------------------------------------------- "This was one of those gigs that leaves one with mixed feelings. One was gratitude that one had been there, the other regret that one did not have the ability to wind back time two or three hours, and then, armed with foreknowledge, run into the street, accost strangers and flag down passing cars, to persuade folk that something was about to happen that they simply should not miss. It was that good. Neither Julie Hall or Rob Halligan are household names - yet. Julie is I suppose folk; she sings and plays keyboard beautifully; the songs deal with the biggest of all themes, life, death, man and God, but were subtly flavoured with traditional folk motifs - the ploughman, woodlands in spring time ("Bluebells rising" was particularly memorable) and the words of medieval Norfolk mystic, Mother Julian of Norwich. And the venue - candle lit ambience and a great fair-trade message was really excellent as well." – Hexham Courant, Northumberland, May 2005 --------------------------------------------------- "Folk Gospel can be boring to my ears - all sounding like 60x protest songs and difficult to follow - not Julie. She has a superb voice, reminiscent of Eddie Reader and perhaps Eva Cassidy. Julie introduced her songs so we could follow them, sometimes accompanied by her acoustic guitar only, sometimes with her band of guitarist, flute and mandolin. Her ballad "Bluebells" stands out for me - though listening to her cd afterwards, she and her lyricist clearly form an accomplished team as they all seem of hight quality and sufficiently different to keep the interest. The clarity of her voice left me with the impression that her career could go far. I must thank Martyn Ryan for putting on such a superb concert. As an evangelical event I think a gospel concert is an unthreatening way of getting the message across. Please can the church do this again?" – Gospel on the Green, Beyton Village Green, August 2005 REVIEWS FOR THE ALBUM "BLUEBELLS RISING" "Julie, along with songwriting partner Robert Eggleston have produced this debut album to benefit West Midlands charity Saltmine Trust. Now as a former Saltmine team member myself I'd better be careful what I say about this, but there's no need to worry because Julie is fearsomely talented (graduate of the Royal Norther College of Music and a professional violin teacher). Soft keyboard tones and gently acoustic guitar accompany Julie's fine folky voice through 9 inspirational selections, some of which are embellished by Julie's aforementioned talents on the violin. Julie reckon this album won't just appeal to christians, despite the heavily scriptural bias, and I'd say they'd be right, because this is both beautiful and inspiring." – Steve Best, for Crossrhythms magazine september 2004 --------------------------------------------------- "This is a collection of nine songs performed by Julie in her unique style. The lyrics range through the sadness and pain of recent and raw grief, and the complexity and vulnerability of human relationships, but throughout there are messages of the hope that is to be found in the constancy and promises of Christ's love. This is by no means a dismal collection..the opening song has an Irish celtic feel to it but other songs show Julie's amazing vocal versatility - all done so well and so easily. It is a joy to listen to." – Connexions magazine, Autumn 2004 --------------------------------------------------- "A lovely piece of work, a great voice." – Martyn Joseph --------------------------------------------------- "Songs that are beautifully crafted with melodies that uplift and remain in your mind..a unique and beautiful talent that deserves to be heard by many." – Simon Richardson, christianbands.co.uk