Influenced by some of the best elements of the So-Cal Sound, native California singer, songwriter, and keyboard artist, Julia Free has taken her experiences in traveling the world and created her own seductive style spiced with some lilting rhythms. Raised in the southern California seaside community of Manhattan Beach, Free’s gift for singing was already apparent at age three when she put her own spin on some well-known nursery rhymes. Those nursery rhymes were just a stepping stone into Free’s adolescent years, when she began creating and singing some of her own songs while cruising on her skateboard along the neighborhood boardwalk. By her late teens Free’s Los Angeles band, Free Enterprize, had become a popular local opener for top rock and roll bands like Santana, Taj Mahal, and Bob Welch. While with Free Enterprize, a progressive indie rock group, the band put out two CDs. The CD “Voo Doo in the City,” with its main single by the same name, became a favorite among Los Angeles KROQ listeners and secured the band’s place in the So-Cal music scene. The band also put out another CD “Cake Walk.” Free says her earliest musical influences came from the music her sisters and parents listened to, such as the Mamas and the Papas and Fleetwood Mac. She also loved the songs of Rosemary Clooney and Ella Fitzgerald, which ignited her passionate for good lyric writing. She added to those influences in a major way by moving in another direction. Free took some time away from LA to study art and French, first in Quebec and then in Paris, France, but her love for music followed her no matter where her life took her. In Paris, Free sought out other artists, honing her craft and learning about music and musicians from other cultures and musical styles. She was also inspired by the spirit of Americans like Josephine Baker, who found their “voice” in the Parisian clubs. It was no surprise then that it was in Europe that Free began playing solo on the Paris Café scene in the popular Marais section of the city. After three years in Paris, Free returned to Los Angeles and produced her first solo CD “Strange Case of Euphoria,” drawing from the musical influences she experienced and came to love overseas. Free seamlessly blends a myriad of musical styles into one powerful collection, from the torchy atmosphere that oozes from the track Boo Hoo, which Free equates with a contemporary Peggy Lee sound, to the pop drenched Girl I Knew. “Strange Case of Euphoria,” was a culmination of Free’s early nursery rhymes and her later eclectic European sounds. More importantly, it’s a reflection of Free’s view of how life can best be lived, as she says in her own words, “I really loved my childhood and growing up by the sea. Your childhood really influences so much of your life and whether it’s good or bad really does matter over the years. Mine was definitely very good. So how do I describe my music? It’s children’s music for adults.”