I left the band in 1992, because I thought I needed to get off the road and have a life. In Nashville, I had great experiences singing in the clubs with exceptional players like Jim Ferguson, Gary Weaver, Bob Mater, and Jeff Steinberg (who used to arrange for the GMO, Maynard Ferguson, Count Basie). Then there’s Rickey Woodard. I met Rickey in Tokyo when I was there with the GMO and he was there with Ray Charles. I ran into him again in Los Angeles and we kept in touch. When I moved back to Nashville, I had a month-long gig at a club downtown. Rickey was in town visiting his family so I told him, “I don’t have any money but I’ll give you half of what I’m making.” There was no reason for him to say yes, but he did. And we had the best month. That was back when I used to wear the black sequined cat suit… Of course, when [Woodard] walks in, everybody ‘gets into something.’ There are no flies on the guys in the room anyway, but Rickey raises the level on anybody’s gig. I was in a bar in LA with him once and one of the waiters came over to him and said, “I see a lot of talented folks in here but you are truly gifted.” And we weren’t even playing there!

I rejoined the band in 1994. Both times I came out, I thought I’d be here for a year because I had other goals, one of which was law school. Since 6th grade, I was going to be a lawyer like my Uncle J.L.—but I sure loved to sing. All through ’94 and ‘95, I was studying for the LSAT. Then I was offered the road manager position. That’s why I stayed. I was road manager for 5 years the first time—’95 to 2000—and then again from April ‘04 to July ‘05. From the beginning of my tenure with the GMO, I was interested in management because sewing sequins on my dress and keeping polish on my nails wasn’t enough. I’ve always been a worker bee.

You have five albums as a leader. Tell me about your albums.
I made my first record [I'll Take Romance] in 1998. It’s all standards, except for ‘Two Afternoons in December.’ My second album [THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL] has eight standards and seven originals. In Nashville, being a songwriter is expected, but I found that on a nostalgia gig, being a writer can be a liability–people want to hear what they know. But thanks to the support of Glenn
Miller Productions and the programming of Larry O’Brien (my champion) and the deft arrangements of Tom McDonough, my original songs have been brought to the Miller-going public.

Through the years, my parents were always my primary encouragers: “We have great dreams!” When I asked my mother, “Should I just do a big band record with nothing but popular standards?” she whipped back “Heavens, no! Give people a chance to know who you are. You have curly hair and you’re creative, now go!” Their providing me with the means to record independently let me be me. A record label would never have approved ‘Halloween Birthday,’ ‘Good Things To Eat,’ or ‘Cookie Woman Blues.’

Mom was right, by the way–the Miller audiences have embraced me just the way I am. They even quote my lyrics, which is a huge thrill. In Iowa, a man came up and said his favorite was “buttercups in autumn” ['The Way You Make Me Feel']. A lady told me she drove 100 miles to hear ‘The Irises.’ Another lady said, “My son has all your records on his iPod and I try to sing that ’sausage gravy’ song ['If I Spoke French'].” A lot of the folks say their favorite is ‘Two Afternoons in December,’ or they tell me their own stories after hearing My First Love. In North Carolina, I heard “We love Jane Monheit and Diana Krall, but you’re our favorite singer.” The first time I sold a record at a gig, I sat in my hotel room and felt so gratified that someone was going to put it in a machine and listen to it. .

My originals have received some nice airplay, all over the country. The Upper Room with Joe Kelly on WVOF 88.5FM out of Fairfield, CT, has spun ‘The Pirate,’ ‘Only Because It’s You,’ ‘Halloween Birthday,’ and ‘They Can’t Drive You Crazy if You Don’t Get in The Car.’ They’re the only radio station ever mentioned on Prince’s website, by the way. WMOT, Nashville’s Jazz89, has given a lot of play to ‘If I Spoke French,’ ‘Boyfriends,’ ‘My First Love,’ ‘They Can’t Drive You Crazy if You Don’t Get in the Car,’ and several others. I’m especially grateful to cable television’s MUSIC CHOICE: SINGERS AND SWING. They’ve been good to me for years now, featuring my originals as well as the standards. People at the gigs often tell me that they hear me on MUSIC CHOICE, and my parents once heard me between Bing Crosby and Judy Garland–great dreams come true!

A DJ recently wrote, “On Julia’s new record [MOONSHINE IN NASHVILLE], the highlights are ‘At Last’ and ‘Halloween Birthday.’ I wrote ‘Birthday’ for my niece who was having her 21st birthday while I was working on a ‘Gatsby gig’—so it has a bit of a ‘20s vibe.

A ‘Gatsby gig?’
Yes, I did a gig at the Milky Way Farms, built by the Mars family in Tennessee. They had a benefit for literacy that was Gatsby themed. They did the whole thing with gambling and speakeasy, and I was the music. Nothing but ’20s songs. When we recorded ‘Halloween Birthday,’ the [musicians] said, “Where did you get that old song?” which was a compliment. Some of them thought I wrote ‘I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket,’ which was also a compliment. And speaking of deft arrangements, Tony Migliore has not only co-produced all of my recordings but also arranged all of my originals and many of the standards on the records. He’s the freshest!

What are a few of your favorite Miller tunes (vocal or non)?
I love ‘I Know Why.’ “Why have I the feeling stars are on my ceiling? I know why and so do you.” Now that’s a line right there. I like ‘The Jersey Bounce,’ ‘Tail End Charlie,’ ‘Boulder Buff’—I love hearing the boys swing, and those solos and the good drummer. ‘Fools Rush In,’ ‘Story of a Starry Night,’ ‘Yesterday’s Gardenias,’ and ‘Stairway to the Stars’ are favorites, too.

And, of course, one of my favorite Miller moments: we were playing some joint—seems like in New York state—and it was almost like an indoor sports kind of place, like a gym or something. There was a tarp on the floor and the lights were too bright—it was not a glamorous gig. And I remember Larry with his horn playing ‘Danny Boy’ and holding that note, turning this way and that, and I thought, “Here we are in the middle of nowhere with a dang tarp on the floor and you can’t get any better than this!” It brought tears to people’s eyes.

Tell us some memorable experiences you’ve had while on the road with the GMO.
There I was in Reykjavik, where everyone has blond hair and cheekbones, and a couple of gorgeous gals came over and said, “We love your dress!” I, being ‘Miss Queen Showbiz’ in my thousand-dollar dress said, “Oh, thank you. I got it in New York.” Then I offered to one of them condescendingly from the mountaintop, “I love your dress,” and she gave back breathily, “Thank you, I got it in Paris.”

Cape Cod Melody Tent. This was when I first joined the band, so I was in my early 30’s. It was a daytime gig. They have a round, rotating stage, so you have to pick the aisle that’s gonna be in the right place when you make your entrance. An usher was escorting me, and she was definitely in the World War II age group. I was all painted and decked out and she looked me right in the face just as my intro commenced and asked, “Were you with the original band?”

There I was at Liberty Park in a flowery strapless dress I got on sale at SAKS in Manhattan. I can’t remember if it was Larry or Dick Gerhart, but the bandleader had announced me as being from Nashville. I was over by the fence with the Statue of Liberty behind me. Folks were taking pix, I was signing autographs, and this couple with thick European accents approached timidly and asked, “Are you Julia Rich from Nashville?” I told them I was, and they said, “Are you a hillbilly?” as if they were meeting the three-headed lady at the fair. And I said, “Yes I am, and if I could just get used to wearing these dang shoes…” as I strode away!