May 14, 2019
Since
the age of six, Juliette Tworsey knew she wanted to sing. Growing
up in Chicago, she attended a small Catholic school with a really
small choir. As she tells it, "there were like three kids in the
choir".
In her
teens, Juliette worked up the courage one day to sing with the
'basement band' in her neighborhood. A group of kids, playing for
other teens in her neighborhood. That lit the fire and Juliette
began the process of trying to start her own bands, which she
describes as difficult, being a woman, particularly a woman who
wants to sing rock music without the trappings of the stereotypical
female singer. There was a time Juliette's music was
back-burned, devoted to work with no time for band practice,
securing gigs or playing out. But, as a bartender at a Chicago
blues bar, every once in awhile, near closing time, Juliette would
get on stage there and belt a few tunes.
Eventually, Juliette met her current band mate
and life partner, Jules Shapiro, who'd been in a band that had a
song called 'Firebug'... and their own band, Firebug was born. They
left Chicago for Los Angeles landing in the Silverlake area. After
a number of years, including playing at LA's famed Viper
Room, they headed to New Orleans, getting into the music
scene there and trying on being street musicians, to slide into the
NOLA street culture. In this episode, Juliette explains this was
not only a great way to meet other musicians, but also to try out
new material to see what resonated with the crowds.
Though
she loved New Orleans, she and Jules found they missed the West.
Remembering their time recording at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua
Tree, they decided to come to the hi-desert, where they could live
more affordably while pursuing their passion. Juliette is
currently studying web and software development, affording her the
opportunity to work from home, like many do here in the desert, to
meet expenses and play music.
Photo
credit Jules Shapiro