Back in June, I had the pleasure of seeing Julie Odell twice in just five days — first opening for Okkervil River at The Grey Eagle, then for Valley Maker at AyurPrana Listening Room. Though the New Orleans–transplant has called Asheville home for about three years, she still feels like a fresh face in the local scene. Lately, though, she’s been steadily winning over audiences — and after experiencing those uniquely stunning sets, it’s easy to understand why.
On July 30, Odell released “Orioles Eating Oranges,” her first new music since her 2022 solo debut Autumn Eve. The song is a beautifully nostalgic folk tune, radiating a warmth that perfectly matches its subject matter.
I reached out to Odell for a little insight into the track, and here’s what she shared:
Orioles Eating Oranges is about watching a family unit happily functioning.
I had gone with my daughter to Indiana to visit my sister and her family right before the start of the world shutting down and ended up staying for nearly four months. They are farmers with wide open fields and the landscape was so different from what I was used to in New Orleans. Their house is like a science and art museum and since they live in the middle of their farmland it feels very protected so the kids were running around outside all day long every day. It was the first time I had seen kids freely playing from sun up to sundown since I was a kid myself.
The whole household was a well oiled machine and everyone worked together so effortlessly. We all had our jobs to do every day to keep each other fed and rested and supported. It was so nice to experience a happy family ecosystem and gave me so much hope and peace. There were huge empty grain bins at the farm that I would go in and work on songs. The acoustics were like a cathedral in there.
I had the door propped open and saw a flash of fluorescent orange. Had never seen that color in nature before. Felt like my eyes couldn’t even understand the color it was so vivid. Turns out it was an oriole and my sister had put out some oranges to attract them. Truly a spectacle to see a bright orange bird eating a bright, juicy orange in the sunlight. In the background of all of this were my nieces and nephew playing alongside my daughter and everything felt okay for once.
This song is really just about cultivating and preserving happy childhood memories and stepping back to see a rare glimpse into a family ecosystem that is thriving.
Recording:
When I left Indiana the world was still in lockdown. New Orleans was quiet. My best friend Tif “Teddy” Lamson had been engineering at Marigny Studios and had full access to all the gear. I had a small batch of songs so she offered to record them. We collaborated while navigating this new Covid world and since everything was shut down we were able to zoom in and take our time. It was just a project to pass the time with no deadlines or pressure. No band, no plan, just two best buds making art in a bubble.
