Juliana, writing on her newly launched Substack:
Some years ago, I wrote a book about my ten days in an eating disorder treatment center. It was never published, but now I feel like sharing some of it. I’m going to post random chapters to be enjoyed in little servings..
The first extract is available now and Juliana says she plans to share some of her other writing on a roughly weekly schedule.
The Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA has announced an event for January 8, 2016:
Harvard Book Store welcomes Freda Love Smith and her former Blake Babies bandmate, local singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield for a presentation of Smith's book Red Velvet Underground: A Rock Memoir, with Recipes.
The event is free. More info at harvard.com.
Speaking of Freda, there's a new Mysteries Of Life EP titled Bad Advice out now at Bandcamp.
Freda Love Smith, Juliana's colleague in Blake Babies and Some Girls, has a new book out - Red Velvet Underground: A Rock Memoir, with Recipes.
You don't see enough of the memoir / recipe genre these days.
From the promo blurb:
Red Velvet Underground tells the story of how Smith's indie-rock past evolved into her domestic present. Loosely framed around cooking lessons she gives her older son, her story moves back and forward in time as she recollects how she got started in music, and how her career in rock eventually dovetailed with her passion for cooking and, later, the growth of her family. The book intersperses forty-five recipes with personal stories about her music career, cooking, eating, and family.
Here's a bit from TheTalkhouse, where you can read a fuller excerpt:
The Blake Babies and the Lemonheads had formed in Boston at about the same time, discovered each other quickly and become fast friends.
Evan and his Lemonheads partner, guitarist-singer-songwriter Ben Deily, attended one of the first shows the Blake Babies ever played, at an arty café called She’s Leaving Home. Evan stood front and center, enthusiastically rocking out, and Juliana was smitten from that moment, and far into the future. Of course, it was hard to meet that golden boy and not be smitten. Few people will ever gaze upon a human more beautiful than nineteen-year-old Evan Dando. And Evan wasn’t just a pretty face —he was an uncanny talent with a killer voice, a knack for melody and great taste in music. I will love him forever for bringing his copy of Big Star’s Radio City over to the apartment I shared with John and Juliana. “You guys are going to freak out,” he said. “I promise.” He was right. When Evan agreed to join the Blake Babies after we had unsuccessfully worked with two other bass players, we were delighted. As it turned out, it was only the beginning of a long cross-pollination between the two bands. John would later join the Lemonheads on drums, and years after that he would return as a guitar player. After the Blake Babies broke up, Juliana was an integral part of the Lemonheads’ classic record It’s a Shame About Ray.
Juliana, having read an advanced copy, has said:
These are sweet, unsentimental scenes from the ever-evolving life of a woman of many shifting and balancing roles: mother, wife, drummer, student, teacher, friend, daughter, food enthusiast. It’s all tied together with tantalizing recipes that have been lovingly improvised and tweaked into a life-affirming doneness.
The book is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon USA and Amazon UK
There's also an Apple iBooks version.
"Maybe the music industry had spat me out, but now Sarah had invited me back in. I should’ve been heartened and encouraged by being hand-picked for the tour. Sarah’s invitation meant that all the other stuff (album sales, chart positions, record company support) didn’t matter. It was me, my unpolished, unglamorous music, that mattered. My music had its own intrinsic value and it meant something to some people..."
Juliana on Lilith Fair and sharing a stage with The Boss in a new unpublished book chapter, now online at Juliana's blog. UPDATE - since the removal of Juliana's blogs the unpublished chapters have become, well, unpublished. For now at least they are though available on Juliana's MySpace blog.
"As I drove, I thought, “Why am I comfortable only when I’m en-route? Why is it only in the opening between a starting point and a destination that I am at ease? It never fails: My restlessness and fear and longing fly out the window as soon as I hit the gas. I literally leave my troubles behind.”
'8/6 Cambridge to Cleveland' - a new unpublished chapter from When I Grow Up - A Memoir is now online at julianahatfield.com
UPDATE - since the removal of Juliana's blogs the unpublished chapters have become, well, unpublished. For now at least though they are on the blog pages at Juliana's MySpace site.
"A few unpublished chapters" from When I Grow Up are being made available in installments on Juliana's official site.
"Familiar Stranger" is available now. UPDATE - the chapters have since disappeared with Juliana's blogs but are, for now, available on Juliana's myspace blog.
Juliana's book reading / discussion at Northeastern University, Boston on 14 January 2009. A downloadable version is available on iTunes.
Pictures from Juliana's instore book reading / performance at L.A.'s Book Soup on 28 September are available on Flickr as uploaded by spiketop. Also atpinkisthenewblog.com
She read from three chapters of When I Grow Up and performed My Baby..., Forever, and My Sister.
Listening to Culture Club at 16, Lou Barlow's rock'n roll authenticity, and years on she's still defending Wilson Phillips! Juliana chooses and comments on a selection of songs to complement When I Grow Up - A Memoir in the 'book notes' feature at largeheartedboy.com
Juliana will be signing copies of When I Grow Up at Book Soup on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard from 7pm on 28 September 2008.
"I just don't want there to be any mysteries surrounding me."
Juliana, interviewed by The Phoenix.
The site also carries an extract from When I Grow Up covering Juliana's heartbreaking candour over the 1995 European tour cancellation.
"At heart I am a librarian, a bird-watcher, a transcendentalist, a gardener, a spinster, a monk."
More from Chapter 16 (Cool Rock Boys) of Juliana's new book available at Rolling Stone
