Julie Winn on the Taz Michaels Show
Words by John Howland. Photo by Lily Chau.
Julie Winn, the Burlington-based trip hop artist prominently known for her work as founding member of Coba Stella cruised into the Taz Michaels show this week and brought a few friends with her. The singer, keyboardist and beat-maker dropped in to hang out and talk about her newest project while Coba Stella goes through a transitory period. Winn, just off two years of solid gigging, is taking the time to relax and rewind — the artist is going back to what started it all and has pulled out the acoustic guitar she started writing folk songs on years ago.
The politically-charged artist is putting down her engineering skills and pulling out a whole host of songs she wrote before discovering trip hop. Winn said, “I started out as a folk, singer-songwriter, then I got into electronic. They have different vibes and different ways for me to express myself; it’s like wearing two different masks.” Winn, with help from her Coba Stella bandmate and husband, is beginning to piece together the equipment necessary to self-record her acoustic personality. Accompanied by talented friends, Amy (french horn) and Connor (guitar), the trio performed some of the songs Winn looks forward to recording: Tunes like, ‘"Rain Keeps Falling" and "Stone Pillows," a song she wrote about a late client she had while working for COTS in Burlington.
“Coba Stella is my baby,” Winn said, eager to let her audience know that it will only be a matter of time before the trip hop mask is slid back on. The band is taking a break to write and engineer new songs, as well as find some new members. “We played about eighty to a hundred shows in the past two years,” Winn said, so Coba Stella is definitely enjoying a little down time and some redirection.
Winn, despite being busy with her musical endeavors is a self-proclaimed political activist and has been busy supporting various projects like the screening of the inspiring documentary 'THRIVE,' — which will be questioning the way we lead our lives and interact with our planet — at the Roxy, in Burlington, on March 15th. Winn will also be performing a few shows in the near future, starting off with acoustic set at the Radio Bean on March 31. More information on Julie and her electronic love, Coba Stella, can be found online at: