Denmark Festival of Voice: Julia Anwar and the Soul Excuse a family affair as band performs for the first time

Music is a family affair for the soul-jazz band Julia Anwar and the Soul Excuse. Consisting of frontwoman Julia Anwar on lead vocals and guitar, her husband Mark McHenry on drums, brother Kane Anwar on percussion, father Johan Anwar on bass and odd-men-out Adam Cook on keyboard, and David Rastrick on brass, the Festival of Voice will mark the first time the band has performed together. As well as referencing their musical style, the “Soul Excuse” moniker is Anwar’s tongue-in-cheek reference to wanting to play with her family and admired musician Cook. “My dad’s always played in in cover bands, so I was always kind of going along to his gigs and watching him,” she said. “We’ve always been a musical family and this year I thought it would be a great reason to gather everyone together and put on a real show. “It’s a good excuse to have a big band and play more upbeat kind of dancing numbers and get to play beautiful songs in a much more uplifting kind of fast pace.” Anwar, who works as a voice teacher via Independent Music School services, said she had recently come back to performing after taking a 20-year break from gigging ,with a solo gig at last year’s Festival of Voice marking her return to the stage. She said she was encouraged by how much her students, whose ranks include the members of The Jig Is Up, enjoyed it. “It’s always really exciting to see my students on stage and getting the privilege of working with them and hearing these amazing voices and to get them out in public and have them performing in front of real audiences rather than just their fellow students is really satisfying to see,” she said. Julia Anwar and the Soul Excuse will play at Denmark Civic Centre at 7.30pm on June 1. The Denmark Festival of Voice showcases the different ways a voice can be used ith more than 380 artists performing in 56 acts over the three-day festival. Information on the festival is available on its website.