2024 Photo Wrap Up! Through Trials and Triumphs!

2024 Wrap Up! Moving forward through Trials and Triumphs!

Join me on a journey in pictures through the joys and trials of 2024, from Germany & Iceland adventures to Black Mountain recording sessions, vocal workshops, loss of friends, wonderful worship to blessed family times! What a year!

2024 was certainly full of ups and downs for me and mine. We lost some beloved friends like J. Brian Craig, wonderful worship leader, songwriter, artist, evangelist and father, and wrote the foreword to my book, Vocal Training for Praise Singers! He will be greatly missed!

My mother in law, Gisela, aged 97, scared us when she fell and broke her hip! But praise God, she didn’t need surgery and has recovered well! My own father, Paul (91), has also had some health scares. It is hard to watch our parents age! 

We also watched hurricane Helene attack the Florida coast where Ralph’s sister, Renate lives! And also hurricane Milton ravage the Asheville, NC area where I have spent so much time myself recording my latest album this last year. But Praise God again, Renate made it through and though there was certainly devastation, none of my friends in the Asheville Church Network or the musicians on my album lost their lives! 

But oh the joys of 2024! What a Marvelously Musical Year!

At the end of the year, as you all know, I released my first ever Christmas single, “Our Sweetest Gift” this Thanksgiving (Which now has over 30k streams on Spotify!) 

Listen Now

And we got an incredible review from CCMMagazine.com! READ HERE

I not only got to work with my amazing producer, Neal Merrick Blackwood, but lots of other delightful and talented musicians including pianist/ guitarist Chris Rosser

&  Bass player Zack Page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Violinists Linsey Pruitt (lower left) and Ginny Luke (lower right) and String master Cremaine Booker and his quartet! (top)Saxophonist extraordinaire Juran Ratchford (upper right) & Mandolin Master Darren Nicholson! (bottom)

& Marvelous singers from the Brighter Day Community Choir (top right), as well as Max Dasher (lower middle and right), Ginny Grindstaff (center lower right), Payton Adkins (lower right), Gabriel Paradis and Diana Botello (The last two from my church family and The Harmony Jewels on the right picture but lower left)

I will be releasing singles one at a time for a while… culminating in the entire album by next Christmas (God willing)! Lots to look forward to! The next single to be released on Valentine’s Day is “You Care For Me”- a mid-tempo, contemporary Christian pop song about God loving me, us, despite what we have done!

Here’s a live clip from a Porchfest performance last fall:

I Hope to drop the rest of the album on vinyl, CD and some other creative media before Christmas 2025? CD Release concert maybe in January 2026?

Not sure yet The whole experience was exciting and fun… and a bit crazy (writing vocal parts for “Our Sweetest Gift” over night on 4th of July in my adorable cabin on Black Mountain!)

– I loved working with Neal and all the wonderful musicians he found for me! I am SOOOOO very excited about the music we have created!

I also loved spending time in Black Mountain – getting to know Taryn (Neal’s wife)- and the folks at the Ashville church Network- the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains!

      Neal with wife Taryn.

Of course I continued to teach both privately and at Berklee College of Music all year; I love my students! Teaching is a marvelous way for me to pass on what I have learned in a meaningful way. It is such an honor to teach such talented young singers both at school and in my private studio. I got to lead two student concerts in 2024: BNOW (Berklee Worships2) and the Summer Singer Songwriter Soiree! 

Both shows will likely be an annual event. BNOW, co-directed with my colleague and father in the faith, Jim Peterson, was in its second year. It featured a wonderful International cast of student worship leaders. I was so proud of them and it was such an honor and joy to bring contemporary worship tot he Berklee stage!

The Summer Singer Songwriter Soiree was an all acoustic show featuring student songwriters. They were so wonderful! Here is a picture of Marta Duarte D’Almeida, an astounding talent and now a new friend as well!

I was also blessed to direct another faculty concert:
The Fabulous Faculty Collaboration Concert October 21st, 2024.

 

 

And of course I have continued to promote Vocal Training for Praise Singers book and class!

And even had the chance to teach a wonderful Vocal Training Workshop with Carl Ayllene for the churches of Christ!

 

And I made many new friends and connections at the NATS National conference in Knoxville in June while I took my talented student Emily Baird to compete in the NATS National vocal competition!

Beyond Berklee and Black Mountain the music was following every week in worship at the North West Worship Center of the Boston Church. I love being a worship leader there! I always enjoy playing in the worship band with my husband Ralph on Keys and longtime family in Christ like Bryan Pitts, John French, Kayla McGarr, Kristen Lamb, Adam and Niles Radl, Gerry Yurko, Nic Petre, Crystal Lazama, Crystyna Cooney and newer members like Jesse Price, Daniel Sharma, and more…

And it was extra special this fall to have my son Caleb on the worship team with us while he was back living at home while doing a coop job at a bio-medical firm for the semester from Wentworth Institute of Technology! It was so special!

I was blessed to play guitar for an all church event at the Lowell memorial auditorium in October, 2024:

 

 

 

 

And Ralph and I also played for the Leominster outdoor service blow out in the summer with our friends Joe Galeota & Jonny Vicaire (both on my Let My Light Shine Album), John French, Christine Arsenault, Bryan Pitts, Jenn Evans and of course the ringleader: Rich Evans!

The worship extended beyond our own church this year, too! Ralph and I began a regular appearance leading worship for   Reverend Alex Chinonso and his monthly live prayer and teaching broadcast!

I also was honored to lead the worship for a youth retreat led by the family of some of my former guitar and voice students! The lead guitarist in the band was a young man Joshua George, who had been my guitar student when he was a kid! That was SO fun!

Happy Julie and the Harmony Jewels were also very busy in 2024!

 

 

And Ralph and I played for lots of Porchfest Gigs, too

 

 

 

 

Ralph and I got in some trouble for singing some Christian songs at some porchfests…

But it sure was fun playing with Ralph and premiering some of my new songs!

 

 

What a musical year!

Special shout out to our beloved family group in Boston:

 

And a great year for family, too!
Hannah, Ralph and took an amazing adventure to Germany and Iceland in May 2024!

 

 

 

Family in Portland Twins’ birthday 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    THANK YOU to all of you that made 2024 an incredible year!