Julian Velard, a NYC native turned Angeleno who spent a year in St. Louis, returns to Blue Strawberry armed with a collection of original songs and a dose of snark.
For two
decades, Julian has turned heads as an all-around entertainer and
creative force in the worlds of music and comedy. His technical versatility and
one-of-a-kind aesthetic has made him ubiquitous across media - a piano man
turned renaissance man, from the stage to the screen to the smartphone.
Loyal
listeners and fans hold Velard as one of the best-kept secrets in the arts. In
the mid-’00s, he posted a batch of demos to Myspace that led to a major label
bidding war and a stint as a London-based pop star. His albums and live shows
drew rave reviews from The Guardian and Time Out. Before long, he
returned to his native New York, becoming a regular on The Howard Stern Show
and NPR’s Ask Me Another, an artist-in-residence at The Public Theater,
and a singer-songwriter with a cult following in (of all places) The
Netherlands. His one-man musical Please Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man earned
rave reviews, with Broadway World hailing it among the best shows of 2020.
Velard’s
uncanny fluidity as a performer has made a mark in the worlds of commercial
media and event planning. His unique vision and storytelling chops have powered
virtual and in-person events for YouTube, Yelp, Twilio, The Whitney Museum and
others. His songwriting, production skills, and distinctive baritone have
caught ears in ads for Google, Coca-Cola, Buzzfeed, Wix, Audible and Aldi
Supermarkets. And he’s seen songs and videos go viral thanks to coverage from
Mashable, The A.V. Club and even the New York Knicks.
