Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos

Interview Recap

Rick Cornell introduces Juliet Simmons Dinallo from Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos and their debut CD, No Regrets.

Rick asks what it was like to finally hold a physical copy of the Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos CD for the first time. Juliet says it was bit surreal because they’d been working on the CD for so long. Juliet says that the artwork on the Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos CD was very special to her because a friend did it. The artwork is a tribute to her father because there’s a song on the CD about her father.

Rick asks Juliet about how the songs came together. Rick notes that Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos’ debut CD features 8 songs written by Juliet and one that is a co-write. Juliet says they were written over a period of 3 years. One of the songs was written by her husband, Michael Dinallo. Juliet started writing with other people early on, but she eventually moved on to writing on her own because at first she didn’t think she could write songs on her own.

Rick asks Juliet to say a little bit about her music background. She talks about high school bands and “doing Rush covers.” Juliet said she went to Berklee College of Music (sp) and graduated in 1993. She says she didn’t do much music immediately after that. But then in 2002 Juliet started doing covers of americana songs which led her to writing americana songs.

Juliet sets up “No Regrets,” the title track from the debut album from Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos. Juliet says that this song is about a couple of people who were dear to her and that she needed to say good-bye to.

[Rick plays “No Regrets” from Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos.]

Juliet says that every time she listens to that song she realizes how intimate and personal that song is.

Juliet and Rick discuss the many positive reviews that No Regrets from Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos is getting, including Stuart Monroe (sp), and Steve Morse.

Juliet runs through the album’s line-up. She says she uses a pool of lonesome men and women. Michael Dinallo and Ducky Carlisle were the producers and sound engineers. Michael Dinallo also played guitar on the album as well as wrote one song and co-wrote another. Juliet runs through the other musicians that appear on the album.

Rick asks Juliet to talk about the band name. She says it just hit her naturally and that she was worried about it being too long, but decided to go with it.

Juliet sets up “Learn To Love Again.” She says “there were a lot of tears on the paper when I wrote this one” and that it is her husband’s favorite song.

[Rick plays “Learn To Love Again” from No Regrets by Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos.]

Rick asks Juliet if she were to include one cover song on the CD, what would it have been? She says there’s a Charlie Rich song from back in the Stax record days called “You Can Have Her.” She says it will probably be on the next record. She says he starts in lower registers then jumps up an octave in the chorus.

Juliet sets up “September Day.” She says that song is very personal and overwhelming because it’s about post-Katrina New Orleans.

[Rick plays “September Day” from No Regrets by Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos.]

Rick asks Juliet about the accordion and fiddle in “September Day.” She says they tried different keys and tried different guitar parts. Juliet gives credit to Amber for introducing the idea of accordion and fiddle in the song.

Juliet recommends some under-the-radar artists in Boston, including Jess Tardy, Tim Garen, Dennis Brennan. Juliet also is a big Patti Griffin fan.