Juliana Hatfield (Blake Babies/Some Girls)

Name: Juliana Hatfield
Born: 27th July, 1967 (Wiscasset, Maine, USA)

Profile: She is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands "Blake Babies" and "Some Girls".

History: She acquired a love of rock music during the 70's, having been introduced by a babysitter to the music of the LA punk rock band "X", which proved a life-changing experience. She was also attracted to the music of more mainstream artists like Olivia Newton-John and "The Police", perhaps explaining the contrast in her later music between sweet, melodic pop songs and more hard rock oriented material.

Visualizing herself as a singer since her high school years, where she sang in school choirs and briefly played in a cover band called "The Squids", which played "Rush" songs.

After high school, Hatfield attended Berklee College of Music in Boston as a piano student, in the hope of finding a band with which to sing. There she soon met Freda Boner (Freda Love) and John Strohm, forming the "Blake Babies" with them in 1986, at the age of 19. The band, with which she sang and played bass guitar, was signed to 'Mammoth Records' and received a fair amount of airplay on college radio through the early 90's. The group toured the US several times, performed in Europe, and made several music videos.

Although the group's early work was essentially punk-oriented, they quickly settled into a sunny, melodic, and slightly jangly pop style reminiscent in style of early "REM" and Neil Young. Hatfield and Strohm shared songwriting credits and often sang together in harmony or octaves, creating a memorable "boy-girl" sound rarely encountered in rock.

Hatfield began her solo career following the "Blake Babies" breakup in 1991, releasing her first solo album 'Hey Babe' in 1992. The album was one of the highest selling independent albums. Hatfield recruited a rhythm section consisting of Todd Phillips and bassist Dean Fisher, and thus becoming "The Juliana Hatfield Three".

In 2001, she joined with Freda Love and Heidi Gluck to form the trio "Some Girls", with which she performs in addition to her solo work; the group has toured the US twice and has released two albums. The trio is another outlet for Hatfield's more lighthearted material. Their first album, entitled 'Feel It', was released in 2003. The lead single 'Necessito' is a funky affirmation of the power of music, sung in a mixture of English and Spanish. "Some Girls" second album, 'Crushing Love', was released in 2006.

In 2005, Hatfield toured the US with the band "X", whom she idolized during her teenage years. In 2006, Hatfield released her first live album 'The White Broken Line: Live Recordings', the album featured performances from her tour with "X". Hatfield's latest album, 'Peace & Love' was released on 16th February, 2010. The album's composition, arrangement, performance, production, engineering and mixing is solely credited to Hatfield.

Influences: Neil Young, Olivia Newton-John, X, The Stooges, the MC5, The Police and The Replacements

Axology: Gibson Les Paul Standard and Gibson SG

Signature song(s): My Sister - The Juliana Hatfield Three (Become What You Are,1993) and Necessito - Some Girls (Feel It, 2003)

Link(s):

http://www.julianahatfield.com (Official website)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc7qCdy3Bc4