Julie Gribble completes her Tampa Bay stop on her "Letting Go Tour"

Julie Gribble completes her Tampa Bay stop on her "Letting Go Tour".

TAMPA BAY: National recording & touring artist, award winning singer/songwriter, and motion picture actress, Julie Gribble, made several appearances here in the Tampa Bay area this weekend. Julie’s 4 day stop over in the Tampa Bay area was part of her nation-wide "Letting Go Tour" to promote her latest album "Letting Go". This also marked Julie’s first time visiting the Tampa Bay area as well.

Julie’s first stop in Tampa Bay was on this past Thursday, January 27th when she performed live at the Banana Boat Too in Clearwater. The show was presented by Sarasota Promoter Mario Vitali, Bay Area Band Source, and the St. Petersburg Live Music Bar Scene column.

The 3 hour long show started at 9:00pm, following "Magic Mike" who was the opening act. After "Magic Mike" introduced me up onto the stage, I then had the extreme honor of getting to introduce Julie onto the stage myself. The turn-out for the show was a decent sized one, considering it was on a Thursday night, and had very little promotion due to time restraints. Among the crowd that showed up to see Julie perform that evening were several Bay area musicians and personalities, including: Jeremy Strait & Eileen Hensler of Decepcion, Chad Henderson formerly of Rebel 5, Dina Mead of Bay Area Band Source, and Sarasota promoter Mario vitali. Tampa Bay music photographer, Paul Marsik, also attended the show to take some pictures.

For 3 amazing sets, Julie performed her Americana style music at the popular Clearwater bar...her voice sounding just as amazing live and in person as it does on her studio albums. Julie, along with the help of her supporting band consisting of guitarist Tony Wilson & drummer Sean Bennett, performed much of her catalog including three of my favorite songs of hers, "It’s About Love", "The Old Way." & "More". Along with her originals, Julie also played some cover songs as well. Among the cover songs she performed that evening was an amazing version and unique arrangement of the Black Crowes hit song "She Talks To Angels". Julie truely showed off her talent and ability that evening. She has a very melodic and soothing singing voice. Once you hear her, it is easy to tell which artists have influenced her when it comes to singing. yet at the same time, she has a very unique voice all to her self. When it comes to sustaining a note, her voice is amazingly steady and strong...powerfull, yet not overbearing. This becomes even more evident once she starts to climb into a higher octive. Without a doubt, Julie Gribble is a near perfect example of why I favor female vocalists over male vocalists. Julie is an amazing and talented singer, and she more then showcased that at her performance on Thursday.

Right before the beginning of her 3rd and final set of the evening, I once again got up on stage to present Julie with a bouquet of flowers along with an autographed St. Petersburg Live Music Bar Scene column plaque, thanking her for the interview she gave to me a week earlier, and for choosing Tampa Bay as one of her stops on her nation-wide, "Letting Go Tour".

After Julie’s performance at the Banana Boat Too on Thursday, Julie headed further South to Holmes Beach for a performance at Mary Ann’s Hair Saloon....that's right, I said Hair SALOON! On Friday, January 28th. That same evening, Julie then traveled to Sarasota where she headlined the Sarasota regionals of the "Battle For America" band competition at the Pastimes Pub.

Saturday morning, January 29th, Julie headed to the WMNF 88.5 fm studios in Tampa for an 8:30am live guest appearance on the "Florida Folk Show" where she performed her two songs, "It's About Love" & "Dolly's Words and Tammy's tears", live in the studio. After her on-air appearance on WMNF, Julie headed back to Holmes Beach for her second performance at Mary Ann’s Hair Saloon.

On Sunday morning, January 30th, it was back to Tampa where Julie stopped at the WFTS studios for an 8:30am live appearance on the ABC Action News program, delivering a brief on-air interview and performance.

With the Tampa Bay leg of her tour now over, Julie and her band now heads up to her home state of Georgia for performances in both the cities of Columbus & Atlanta.

I would once again like to publicly thank Julie and her band for choosing Tampa Bay as one of her stops on her tour. As I told Julie and her band privately at her Banana Boat Too show, Julie is probably the most humble, down-to-earth, ego-less musician that I have ever met in my 20 years of working (on & off) in both the local & National music scene. As a matter of fact, I have experienced local musicians that have had bigger egos then Julie has.

If you missed one of Julie’s amazing performances while she was here in the Bay area, you will get another chance. Julie is expected to come back down to the Tampa Bay area for a second short tour sometime in April.

Julie will also be seen in two movies due to be released soon..."Quarantine 2: Terminal" (Sony Pictures), where she has a supporting role in, & "2 Girls + a Guy", whch she has a stariing role in.

To read the Julie Gribble interview that was published in my column, please click here.