This is JuliLa! & me and MaCello (and little LeLe) are the creation of Julia Palmer-Price, singing cellist extraordinaire, mystical musician, teacher & composer of upLifting ditties. To bring songs through is my greatest joy and indeed a privilege and pleasure beyond measure. 

 Born in 60’s London, with a musician for a mother, I began composing silly songs from an early age. Our good Christian family was locally known as the Von Trapp’s of Sydenham. All four of us siblings played all sorts of instruments, often together, and entertaining was our ‘go to thing’ especially around the Church calendar. I attended St.Phillips ‘religiously’ every Sunday morning with Simon, Ben and Jo, till, deciding upon a classical career, I left home to study cello in 1980.  

 At the RNCM in Manchester tendonitis soon put paid to my classical aspirations and I began exploring other styles of music. My opera singer friend Viv and I became backing vocalists for the Biting Tongues and began experimenting with co-writing songs together calling ourselves the Wild Women of the Wongo! And I still sing a co-penned song Listen today.

 On graduating a tour with The Sadista Sisters was followed by a BBC Play for the day called Rachel and the Roarettes (incidentally starring a young Gary Oldman) which, via Pebble Mill Studios, brought me back to London where I sessioned as a cross-over cellist in, glamorous 80’s pop band, Hollywood Beyond. Becoming the Dinner Ladies with Mick Jackson, Lorraine Bowen and Ben Davies, we were signed by Joe Boyd to Hannibal Records and, in1987, released a single Muscle in the Bud and acclaimed album, These Knees Have Seen the World. A live session on Andy Kershaw’s Radio1 show saw us go on to prestigiously perform at Sadlers Wells Theatre, the Cambridge Folk and Edinburgh Fringe festivals and record at famed Hansa Studio in Berlin. Until, totally enchanted by his eclectic songs, I joined Roddie Harris to form Mirò while continuing to be in demand as a session cellist for, most notably, Billy Bragg, Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs), Irishmen Gavin Friday & The Man Seezer and the Rainbirds in Germany. 

 Arrangements for Mirò songs were honed through improvisation during the Acoustic Night’s we hosted in Earls Court. The basement of the Troubadour Coffee House had been ‘dark’ for a decade and, not fitting into any of London’s Rock, Jazz, Cabaret, Funk or Folk music scenes, Roddie started up London’s first ‘Acoustic Club’ there! Reviving the folk cellar, reached by going downstairs via the kitchen. With Mirò as the house band our legendary Wednesday nights were folk club ‘in style’ however, musically everything was welcomed! Our policy was inclusive as long as folk played at the level of, or behind, the human voice. Consequently the pin drop quiet audience and players of every conceivable level and proficiencey learned their craft as they  listened to each other with respect. It was like Church! Sometimes 24 floor spots would play before the billed act. And week after week we witnessed inspirational performances by Pooka, David Grey, Tylor, Dave Russel, Johnny London, Beth Orton, Keziah Jones, Praying for the Rain, Ade Sweet, Sonia Kristina, Bob Cairns and The Sons of Fat Harry, The Hank Dogs, 99% Love, Sam & Mano, and many more performance artists and poets. It was an incredibly inventive, wildly exciting and creative time. 

 Incidentally, all the while in London, I was furthering my cello playing, exploring posture and the mechanics of my craft, via first the Alexander Technique,  then Tai Chi and Qi Gong and  Iyengar Yoga. To  compliment my natural teaching ability inherited from my mum,  I also discovered and studied the Kodayli Method with David  Vinden while completing a ‘Whippersnapper’ Early Years course.

 Meanwhile, being in Mirò was all consuming, our band’s epic performances were dynamic, intense and frequently feisty as Roddie and I played out the drama of our sometimes dysfunctional partnership on stage, dramatic conflicts always having a big-hearted resolution! Our music was unique and totally fulfilling, highly vibrational and never dull! From 1987 to 1994 we became a cult band in Italy, which supported the self-release of 3 Mirò Albums on our own Secret Heart record label, Angel N1, Grain of the Voice and The Circus of Electrifying Possibility. We also put out an E.P. Greetings from the Golbourne Rd. and a single, The World in Maps, for which we made an animated video starring the legendary Sam. Always looking to inspire and fire up our Acoustic Scene we put together a compilation of Various Artists, In the Beginning Tommy Steele, and hired big venues like the ICA, Bloomsbury Theatre and the, then, Town and Country Club in Kentish Town for specials and launches! 

 Devastated when Roddie and I finally split as a couple though we tried to continue with the band, having just sold out The Bloom Club in Milan, it became impossible and, I had to leave. This ending was the beginning of my spiritual awakening.