When Julie Byrne moved to New York City from her hometown of Buffalo in 2016, she took a job in Central Park, where her love of nature intersected with a desire to find isolation and solace in a hectic metropolis. Byrne's songs trace the inner self like a cartographer sketches maps, taking influence from 20th-century American poets like Frank O'Hara and songwriters like Leonard Cohen. She plays her father’s old guitar, drawing on his own finger-style that she heard in childhood; her sound is an ethereal style of American folk, classic rock, indie and downbeat pop, confessional and conversational. In this Fireside Chat, the singer and songwriter discusses her earliest musical memories, her writing process, the poetry of romantic mystics and her awe of nature.
