Julissa Neeley

Julissa Neeley writes for Edge about the process leading to the creation of her album The Sweet Bye and Bye.

 I have always loved music and the creative process, and am always thankful for the chance to create something new.

Growing up, I gravitated toward jazz and blues music. I loved Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and even Patsy Cline— the only country singer I loved in my early youth. My mum exposed me to all of these artists and others she considered great. Each had an impact on me. The way they could interpret a song and carry the listener into the deepest parts of their souls, giving a glimpse of their dreams, sorrows and stories inspired me in my own interpretations of a song.

I had a somewhat unusual childhood, which would eventually influence my songwriting. My parents were missionaries and I was a result of an unplanned pregnancy. Rather than change their travel plans around my birth, they departed on a trip to Africa when I was only six weeks old. By the time I was three years old, I had been around the world three times. To this day, I have a strong inner drive to travel and see new places. My family has been a part of the Calvary Chapel group of churches for many years and due to this affiliation, I have performed in churches all over the US and even in the UK.

My first few projects included songs of self-discovery, and my journey to know God and learn His will. In 2004, Eli Thomson and Richard Swift co-produced my album Angels Watching Over Me, which was a collection of my favourite old hymns. This album was an important musical shift into a new and happy phase of recording spiritual songs with the instrumentation and authenticity I had been missing in my prior projects. I really loved the album and the inspired arrangements they came up with.

The Sweet Bye and Bye is my latest project of original hymns to God.

I wanted to be like a child using simple language without fear and doubting, as the Bible says. If some of the songs sound like they were written 40 years ago or like an old-time camp-meeting, I am glad.

Most of my friends do not even know what that is—I do because both of my grandfathers were preachers and actually held campmeetings when they were young.

The album is the second of four projects I am working on that focuses on the themes of redemption, reconciliation and restoration—the “three Rs” of Christianity. I am bored with writing from my own brain.

I now prefer to begin with an attitude of worship and see where it takes me, without worrying about song structures and hooks. I also want to marry my love of American roots music with my love of the gospel and the story of Jesus, which has been told in so many different ways from generation to generation.

I believe the contrast of light and shadow within the soul is part of how we learn our nature and our need of some kind of redemption.

From the twisted forms of Picasso’s creations, to the deep mystery and gravity in the works of Michelangelo—we learn of our humanity. The contrast in interpretations between Johnny Cash singing “Personal Jesus” with a hopeful, almost childlike, vulnerability is so uniquely different than Marilyn Manson’s version of the Depeche Mode original. Hank Williams’ observation, “I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold,” and Blind Willie Johnson’s question “Won’t somebody tell me, what is the soul of man?” Each display the deep existential cries of the human soul to know who we are, what we are here for and what we must do to fill the empty places.

This has also been my journey—singing my own laments to seek these answers, to find this peace, to learn this joy of knowing my true self without fearing what I must face. I have found this love, grace and acceptance in Jesus.

The Sweet Bye and Bye can be found on iTunes, NoiseTrade (<http://www.noisetrade.com/julissaneely>) and through The Artists Collective (<www.theartistscollective.com> <http://www.theartistscollective.com>).