band

Julie July

Singer and songwriter

The face and name of the band. Julie July’s powerful vocals captivate audiences, and her raw talent for lyrical storytelling is helping shine a spotlight on the British folk-rock music scene again.

Julie July’s love affair with folk-rock music began back in 1996 when she attended her first-ever folk festival, ‘Fairport’s Cropredy Convention’.

She spent her time in a field in a small village in Oxfordshire transfixed by the music, the performers and the songs. On Saturday night, Julie won a prize in the charity raffle – a guitar signed by every act at the festival.

It was at this very moment that Julie’s folk-rock journey started to progress. When she got home, Julie started learning to play “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?”, followed by “The Sea”, “Farewell-Farewell” and “Solo”. She was hooked. Like so many other artists, Julie had fallen in love with the romantic and haunting songs of Sandy Denny.

Little did she know, some 25 years later she would be performing Sandy Denny’s songs to audiences at festivals and theatres across the country.

Sandy Denny inspired Julie to tell her own stories and write her own songs, which is what you can hear in Julie July Band’s Lady of the First Light.

We’ve been performing for over 7 years now and the journey has been awesome. I’ve made so many friends and played with some highly talented musicians. After completing our first original folk-rock album, Lady of the First Light, and with another album on the way, I feel like the band is at the start of an exciting adventure.

Steve Rezillo

Lead guitarist

Having supported the likes of Thin Lizzy and Aztec Camera, Steve Rezillo’s unbelievable talents on the guitar and in the studio are essential to creating the band’s authentic folk-rock sound.

Steve spent his early years playing the piano and violin, making a debut public performance in Birmingham Town Hall with the Birmingham Schools' Youth Orchestra.

However, the guitar soon became his instrument of choice, paving the way for an extraordinary music career.

Over the years, Steve played in many bands and shared the stage with acts like Thin Lizzy and Aztec Camera. In 2003, he turned professional as a solo guitarist and singer, touring the pub circuit.

Steve now splits his musical interests between the Julie July Band and a Fleetwood Mac tribute show, Fleetwood Machine. He has a particular interest in writing and recording and has produced both Julie July Band’s albums.

Caley Groves

Acoustic guitarist

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Caley was born into a family with folk rock at its heart; his father, Steve, playing with legendary purveyors of Australiana and folk, The Bushwackers. Although formally educated in jazz and popular music Caley considers his father – guitarist, singer and songwriter – to be his greatest teacher.

He began his music career in folk, rock, punk, and indie in the early 2000's touring Australia and New Zealand with ‘Heartfelt Self’, ‘Manmade Lake’ and ‘Colditz Glider’ and recording 4 original EP's. Alongside these projects Caley continued playing folk, country, fingerstyle, swing and jazz with his father, which eventually led to them co-founding vintage jazz band ‘Duck Musique’, playing at festivals and venues all over Australia. He's also composed and played on sessions for film and television.

Since moving to England in 2014, Caley's been busy playing jazz, swing and gypsy jazz. He was rhythm guitarist for gypsy jazz/blues guitar virtuoso Remi Harris, plays regularly with violin maestros Ben Holder and Billy Thompson, and is a member of world/jazz/gypsy group ‘Dynamo Quartet.’

"I'm really excited to be working on JJB’s new Album ‘Wonderland’ in the studio and joining the live line up for their 2022 tour; they're such talented musicians and inspired songwriters"

Listen to Caley

Dik Cadbury

Bass guitarist

Dik Cadbury is Julie July Band’s bass guitarist and the heartbeat of the group. His love of music and knowledge of the instrument is integral to the band's powerful sound.

Dik started his musical career as the only boy in the school choir at the age of 5, before taking up the violin when he was 9. However, his attempts to learn classical guitar were derailed when he discovered The Beatles a few years later.

As school bands developed, he moved from guitar to drums and finally bass.

He also played the first violin in the Reading Youth Orchestra, trained as a countertenor, and chose his universities by the cathedral to sing a wealth of church music on offer.

He joined his first ‘folk-jug’ band, Totem, when he arrived in Norwich before moving to Cheltenham and switching allegiances to the progressive folk-rock band, Decameron.

When they disbanded in 1976, he opened Millstream Recording Studios and was also recruited by ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett on bass to form his first touring band. They recorded two albums: “Spectral Mornings” and “Defector” before disbanding in 1980.

In the years that followed, Dik continued to perform and help form several bands, including a retro 60s band, The Teenage Idols, The Mighty Quintet with Mike D’Abo (Manfred Mann), and international party band, Top Catz.

Dik now joins Decameron’s Johnny Coppin for an annual Christmas show, “All on a Winter’s Night”, alongside Paul Burgess. He also has a band The Connection, with D’Abo guitarist Steve Degutis, playing rock, pop, soul, blues and reggae standards.

During his career, Dik has recorded two solo albums, “About Time” and “Winds of Change” and a Duo album “C-H” (Cadbury-Hicks) with former Hackett vocalist Pete Hicks.

Visit http://dikcadbury.com for more details.

Mick Candler

Drummer

As the drummer of Julie July Band, Mick provides the pulse and lays the foundations for the other band members to be creative. He’s previously supported music royalty like Pink Floyd and Jimmy Cliff.

Mick Candler began playing drums in the local beat groups of his home city of York in the 1960s, supporting leading music luminaries Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Jimmy Cliff and Procol Harum. He joined The Roll Movement, a four piece group led by Cliff Wade,( who later became a composer of hit songs for Tina Turner and Pat Benatar) before flying off to Mexico with acid-pop band Angel Pavement.

Mick has an extensive list of album and TV credits for drums and percussion performing in bands including Decameron, Phil Beer, Johnny Coppin, Steve Knightly, and Magna Carta. In recent years, he has recorded two critically acclaimed albums with slide guitarist Kevin Brown and is a current member of his band “The Shackdusters”.

Ever since I first heard Sandy Denny with Fairport Convention on the John Peel Show in 1969, I have loved her songs and folk-rock as a genre. So, I am honoured and excited to be performing with Julie July and her wonderful band.

Dik Cadbury and I are old friends, having worked together on numerous projects. I am really pleased we have reunited once again.

With musicians of this calibre, there is no room for showboating. Hopefully, my minimalist style of pocket playing will be discrete and provide a solid foundation to support Julie’s incredible voice.

Carol Lee Sampson

Keyboard

Carol Lee Sampson joined the band at the end of 2019, adding melodic keyboards and backing vocals to the mix. During her career, she’s played in front of thousands of people and featured on local radio stations.

Jersey-born Carol Lee Sampson is a recent addition to the band, adding vital melodic keyboards and backing vocals into the mix.

A gifted singer/songwriter herself, Carol has played in a variety of venues, ranging from 4,000 capacity filled Christian conferences, local venues, and dementia units and care homes.

In recent years, she’s recorded three solo albums and has helped raise a significant amount of money for Cancer Research and St Richards Hospice through her Christmas charity EPs.

Many of her songs have been played on BBC H&W. Carol has twice been featured as “Introducing’s Artist of the Week” too.

She’s also had the pleasure of providing vocals on Gordon Gilltrap’s 2015 album, “Peace Will Fall”.

Visit https://carolleesampson.co.uk for more details.

I feel really privileged and excited to be part of this project with Julie July Band, playing these great songs alongside such lovely and talented people!

Reviews

The words that matter most

The reviews are in. See what fans and critics say about Julie July Band’s live performances and folk-rock albums. You can find more glowing reviews on the Music page.

“The Julie July Band have emerged from Sandy Denny’s long shadow with a fine, attention-demanding studio album, Lady Of The First Light. Eleven folk-rock tracks, shared writing duties, excellent musicianship and top notch production values make for a very persuasive collection of original songs. Both lyrically and musically these folks know how to create an atmosphere and they’re clearly gifted storytellers. These songs should sound wonderful on stage, and one of them might just turn out to be a stone cold festival showstopper. There aren’t that many bands out there with wholly original material sounding quite as good as this. You might want to check them out”

Marcus

“The Julie July Band have emerged from Sandy Denny’s long shadow with a fine attention-demanding studio album, Lady Of The First Light. Eleven folk-rock tracks, shared writing duties, excellent musicianship and top notch production values make for a very persuasive collection of original songs. Both lyrically and musically these folks know how to create an atmosphere and they’re clearly gifted storytellers. These songs should sound wonderful on stage, and one of them might just turn out to be a stone cold festival showstopper. There aren’t that many bands out there with wholly original material sounding quite as good as this. You might want to check them out.”

Marcus

“Went to the gig @ Birmingham Kitchen Garden Café last night and really enjoyed the set. Great musicianship and arrangements from the band and Julie’s superb vocal interpretations of Sandy Denny’s songbook really do justice to what is outstanding material. A couple of original songs of their own were also performed and fitted into the set very well indeed. Thanks for an evening of great live music and placing an outstanding musical legacy right where it should be, alive and well and being performed for people to enjoy. A rare opportunity not to be missed!”

Garry

"Superb night well done Julie and the band. The album is a great achievement, all round the artistry and musical ability on show was excellent. You should all be very proud of your collective works and I must also say the two performances prior to your set were superb. Chris Hutchinson…WOW. Thank you for a great night's live and truly entertaining evening…the album's on in the car now."

Stu

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Meet the band

Julie July

Singer and songwriter

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Steve Rezillo

Lead guitarist

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Caley Groves

Acoustic guitarist

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Dik Cadbury

Bass guitarist

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Mick Candler

Drummer

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Ever since I first heard Sandy Denny with Fairport Convention on the John Peel Show in 1969, I have loved her songs and folk-rock as a genre. So, I am honoured and excited to be performing with Julie July and her wonderful band.

Dik Cadbury and I are old friends, having worked together on numerous projects. I am really pleased we have reunited once again.

With musicians of this calibre, there is no room for showboating. Hopefully, my minimalist style of pocket playing will be discrete and provide a solid foundation to support Julie’s incredible voice.

Carol Lee Sampson

Keyboard

Read more

I feel really privileged and excited to be part of this project with Julie July Band, playing these great songs alongside such lovely and talented people!

The words that matter most