I first came to her music late, during the mid-nineties, and was introduced to it by way of her song Make It Home, which had made it onto some Christmas compilations. I mistakenly thought this song was representative of her sound. But when I listened some of her records, what I heard was something that rocked a lot harder, but was much less accessible. I caught her set at SXSW in 2004, where she showed up wearing a wool suit. The suit did not suit for a warm, muggy night in Austin. And neither did her sound, which was still too sharp and harsh. I hope that she is "radio ready" now; she certainly wasn't that night. I just felt like her strength, as a vulnerable vocalist, were wasted on the arrangements she and her band were playing. She is an artist I wanted to like, but who has disappointed me, time after time. I admit I haven't listened to all of her music, but if she has more songs that reflect a softer side, then those are the ones that could get her somewhere, because that is what she does best.

I think I'll put on some classical

You are an internet based publication and that kind of courtesy would be respectful to your readers.

Blake Babies, then solo and now...all that should ever matter to musicians is making good, then better, music. And regard those who appreciate it with warmth and gratitude. Not everyone can come off as 'cool' when encountering a favorite artist.

Melissa

Houston,TX

... there was really only ever one Gen X "It" Girl... and it wasn't Juliana or Uma or Winona or Courtney or either of the Deal sisters or, God forbid, Liz Phair... it was Ms. Parker Posey. And so shall it ever be.

Juliana *is* awesome...

I'm a writer (at the moment) and a failed filmmaker, just a year younger than Juliana Hatfield, and the kind of questions she's pondering really hit home with me. Not that I have ever had any success - but I'm curious to know what that's like! And I'm inspired to read of someone else who just won't stop because - for me - the urge rto write and the stories don't. And it's great - on a day when I am feeling like an idiot for not pursuing something more worldly, something more in my control, something with some money and recognition, no matter how slight, guaranteed at the end of the day - to hear that someone else feels the same way about their thing as me.

I'm glad she's still out there. I think I'll buy the book and I may buy the album, although I haven't bought any of them for at least ten years. But Hey Babe is truly one of the finest albums of the eighties, and the Blake Babies Earwig EP is also beautiful.

The interview itself is interesting, if brief. But was it necessary for Lauerman to denigrate both the scene and the artist? Her comments are neither accurate nor fair.

Specifically: That two-hour alternative-music showcase mostly featured a smattering of bad pre-grunge, indie-band videos -- gloomy guitar pop for college kids craving authenticity.

Fact: 120 Minutes was on from 1986-2000, and 2001-2003. When Blake Babies debuted on it, it was half a decade old. And it did not feature "bad pre-grunge" -- it featured bands such as Husker Du, the Cure, World Party, Julian Cope, the Church, Blur, New Order, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robyn Hitchcock, Bjork, Madness, the Replacements, the Ramones, Radiohead, and more. In other words, it provided an essential introduction to a form of rock that at that time wasn't particularly prevalent on the radio, most of which had its roots in various non-mainstream movements such as punk, ska, and new wave. In B and C markets like the one I grew up in, it was the only major media outlet featuring such music. Second, it's clear that Lauerman is unfamiliar with and dismissive of the scene, but she isn't much more generous to her subject. Hatfield wasn't any more of an "it girl" than Justine Frischmann, Bjork, Courtney Love, Natalie Merchant, Liz Phair, or Tanya Donnelly -- they all made a lot of money and got a lot of recognition in the 90s, with or without cute gimmicks.

Hatfield was and is a somewhat unique and reedy female voice, who is determined to continue a left-of-mainstream career despite the challenges of doing so. Why isn't that the story we get? Instead we meet Hatfield, looking cute, playing with crayons and bubblegum and apparently wielding indie popo to take the artistically-bankrupt indie world by semi-storm. That story is an insult to both Hatfield and the environment in which her career was and is made.

It was one of the best things to ever air on MTV, and that was back when it actually played music videos.

And isn't Kerry Lauerman a guy?

That remark about "bad pre-grunge, indie-band videos" — it's an affectation that marks those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s.

Nerdy, insecure teenagers used to use it to loudly and clearly indicate to all within listening range that they "knew better" about something that someone else, more nerdier than themselves, might have (mistakenly) thought was cool.

As in: "That's like something that happened in a REALLY BAD Brady Bunch episode!" — telling everyone that they KNOW ALL ABOUT IT . . . but never actually LIKED it (even though they obsessively watched every single episode when they were 6.) The more obscure and local the reference the better: "That's like a REALLY BAD ad for Mel Farr Superstar!"

It's a Gen X thing . . . the kids don't use it very much today.

I have no idea what radio-ready means or is supposed to mean. Juliana has plenty of songs in her back catalog that would sound fine on the radio - it's the programmers who lack vision (or good hearing), not her music that fell short.

In any event, I am so glad to see Juliana get this coverage in Salon. She's been all over lately - The Tonight Show, reviews of her CD in major papers. I think Juliana must have decided to take one last shot at it, and hired a really good publicist to boot. If so, good for her. Juliana's always had artisic integrity - and even better, something interesting to say.

If I can sort of put in a plug, btw, Juliana has been blogging about her songs on MySpace in recent months. For big Juliana fans, used to her cloak of privacy, this recent openness from her has been almost like, well, perestroika. I hope good things come from it.