Julie Byrne's last album, Not Even Happiness, was my first encounter with her. Read a blurb and listened to it on a whim and it really clicked with me. If I remember correctly, the album came out in the fall of 2017. I looked her up and saw her tour was hitting SF in early 2018, so I just made it a point to try to make the gig and pick up the record there. The show finally arrived, she was the middle act on a three band bill. She was as good as I hoped she would be. After her set, I watched a bit of the headliner (I can't remember who it was) but wasn't really feeling it, so I wandered out to the merch table and Julie was there with her own stuff. Told her I really enjoyed her set and paid for the record. I think since it was just the two of us there, we started talking about the album and stuff she liked to do in SF. Told her the album came to at the perfect time and I'd been playing the shit out of it. We chatted for about 10 minutes, she's super nice. She signed the album for me and I went on my way.
That's my Julie Byrne story, nothing too crazy, just a pleasant interaction with a cool human. Anyways, 5 years and change after that show, she's got a new album out called The Greater Wings. It's really fucking good. It's simultaneously sad and hopeful (I read the record was borne from tragedy). Stylistically, it feels like a giant step from the last album, and that one is pretty great. Check it out on her Bandcamp page, or wherever you consume your music.