Album Notes

When we’re teenagers, we can’t wait to get as far away from home as possible. We move to far off cities and build our new identities. For most of us, it doesn’t take that long for home to follow us whether we like it or not. It creeps back in and tugs at our instincts. This supplies the drive to plant roots and to find home again. We look to our surroundings, our friends, loved ones and within ourselves for whatever was lost along the way. This explains “The Sense in Tying Knots”. The title of Tea for Julie’s second album not only sums up this motif that runs throughout it’s lyrical content but also marks the experience for the generation experiencing it. On this record we see invaluable addition of Travis Stanek to the band’s line-up and the help of producer Ken Erlick in the Studio. The songs touch on many genres and influences but denote a common mindset and life experience. They show great depth and maturation from 2005’s Division. This is clearly an album where the song comes first. The success of Tea for Julie’s first album “Division” was a quick surprise. It was self-released, produced and funded. Within months, KEXP, Seattle’s favorite indie radio station had not only discovered the record but had become smitten. In reaction to overwhelming listener support, “Division” rose up the charts sitting for seven weeks on their top 90.3 Albums, 6 weeks on their top 10 NW Albums, and 3 weeks as #1 on their NW chart. After on on-air performance during the noon hour and a series of supporting shows, “ Division” settled at #66 on KEXP’s Top 90.3 Albums of 2005, beating out established acts such as Bright Eyes and Queens of the Stone Age. The song “Hello” was featured on KEXP’s first ever pod-cast and they’ve been featured on two out of the first three PDXPOPNOW! Compilation cds. In support of “Division“, the band performed up and down the west coast and played alongside Evan Dando (Lemonheads), The Ocean Blue, Jen Wood (Postal Service, Black Heart Procession), Menomena and Stars of Track and Field. They played Portland’s Rose Festival on the KNRK 94.7’s stage, two PDXPOPNOW! Festivals and NW Folklife Festival at Seattle Center to a crowd of 15,000 for Seattle’s 107.7 the End. The album’s first track was used in a television commercial for Oregon State University that went into heavy rotation in the Pacific Northwest and another track was featured in an independent film that went to Sundance. At the same time the band was selling out of cds, they were flowing over the brim with new material. It was time to record the next record. In the early fall of 2006, Tea for Julie followed the Shins into Supernatural Studios to record “The Sense in Tying Knots”. This endeavor surpassed all hopes! In the months that followed, the band has opened three sold out shows at the Crystal Ballroom with Snow Patrol,The Thermals and Great Northern for Intercom station KNRK 94.7, where they’ve gone into light rotation and have played support to Matt Pond PA at the Wonder Ballroom. This is the new album!