Julie Reed is the creator of TucsonMama.com and co-publishes (with Mike McKisson of TucsonVelo.com) TucsonInStyle.com. She describes herself as a "terrible but enthusiastic" singer. She's also an occasional Tucson Weekly contributor.
What was the first concert you ever saw?
Rick Springfield at the Concord (Calif.) Pavilion. I bought a souvenir baseball shirt, of course.
What are you listening to these days?
I obsess over songs rather than entire albums, (and) lately, a lot of cover songs and mash-ups: String Theory's "Space Police"; Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams' lovely version of "Wild Horses"; Ben Folds' "Twin Falls"; Elliott Smith's "Thirteen"; and all the Johnny Cash/Rick Rubin stuff.
What was the first album you owned?
I begged my parents to get me Tony Orlando and Dawn's album when I was 5. The first thing I bought with my own money was the 45 of "Undercover Angel" by Alan O'Day.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone seem to love, but you just don't get?
Prog-rock.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
Springsteen in the late 1970s, circa Darkness on the Edge of Town, in a small, sweaty club in Jersey.
Musically speaking, what is your favorite guilty pleasure?
The heart loves what it loves. Disco, one-hit wonders, sentimental '70s pop—I feel no shame.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
Chris Von Sneidern should lead a sing-along of Bread's "Everything I Own." He does it better than David Gates himself.
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
Yo La Tengo, American Music Club, Richard Buckner. I can't pick one. They entered my life when I was particularly receptive to music, and these felt, still feel, so beautifully, painfully significant and rich—great depth in the writing, and such intimacy in the music.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Five is the best I can do, sorry: Buckner, Devotion + Doubt and Since; Pixies, Come on Pilgrim; Dire Straits, Making Movies; Palace Music, Viva Last Blues.
