By the time Julie and John Pennell met at an Ontario Bluegrass festival, they had both begun putting down deep roots in Bluegrass. John played with Vassar Clements and in the early years with Alison Krauss and Union Station.
Growing up in North Bay, Ontario, Julie came from a big musical family. Her dad played and traveled with a bluegrass band, and a number of cousins became award-winning musicians, so naturally they were playing and singing at family gatherings.
Both were also accomplished songwriters by the time they met. Songs John wrote or co-wrote had been performed by Alison Krauss, Sam Bush, Alan Jackson and more. Julie’s songs have received awards from the Central Canadian Bluegrass Association.
The two married in 2004 and began performing as a duo in 2010, the year they released their self-titled album. Their latest full-length project Keep on Walking, released June 5, 2020, showcases their songwriting skills and their vocal chops. With the exception of Irving Berlin’s standard, “Blue Skies” and “Sittin’ by a River” (by Bob Marion and Jeff Michel), every song is written or co-written by Julie, John, or the pair.
Julie’s clear, pure voice takes the lead on most of the songs on the album. Her sweetness is offset by the darker undertones found in many of the lyrics. The opening track “You Can’t Have It All” sets the stage with its challenging, echoing lyrics. John adds his simple harmony throughout.
“Don’t Think Less of Me,” written by Julie, has a confessional quality, in the voice of a strong woman whose present is touched but not defined by her past, as she declares:
My greatest sin was trusting in
someone who did not love me.
I can’t go back; I’m hoping that
you will not think less of me.
John sings lead on “South State Street Road,” which laments the changes that take place as farmland is subdivided into building lots as the city limits expand:
I never wanted to live in the city.
That isn’t where I wanted to be.
Now I don’t understand Lord
and I’ll be damned
if the city didn’t move to me.
The thread of wandering runs through the album, from the title track “Keep on Walkin’” and “Gonna Hitch a Ride” (co-written by Julie and the CD’s producer Stephen Mougin) to “Sittin’ by a River,” a bass-driven song with John on vocal lead, asking:
How much can you carry
down a railroad track?
How much can you ask for
when you might not be comin’ back?
If one is known by the company he or she keeps, Julie and John are certainly standing in good stead. Among the musicians playing on the recording are Bluegrass icons Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, and Ned Luberecki. Stephen Mougin, who produced the record and recorded most of the tracks at his Dark Shadow Recording Studio, also plays guitar on the CD. Versatile musicians as well as singer-songwriters, John and Julie play everything from trumpet—John’s first instrument—to mountain dulcimer.
The last track on the CD “From Our Wandering,” describes being called back home, ending the song and the CD with fade out vocals from the Pennells daughters Eva and Nicole, closing on a sweet and hopeful note.
