Nestled within downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia, sits Clementine Café where on Friday, February 20th, Dropping Julia performed a beautiful and fun show. Fronted by Emily Kresky, Dropping Julia is a project exploring Kresky’s relationships and life experiences. Kresky is accompanied by Alex Bragg on bass & guitar, Kai Gibson on drums, Bobby Gregg on tenor and bari saxophone, and Sebastian Nikischer on keyboards and bass.
The show started with their song “Dude”, a single from their 2020 album In My Sleep. This set the tone for their set; a gentle and hopeful tune exploring how the singer navigates making connections with men, and the different interactions between the two. Nikischer showed off his skills on the keyboard, while Kresky’s voice serenaded the restaurant. The band then moved onto “Biggest Fan”, from their new EP of the same name. The song was a nice preview for their upcoming concert with Albemarle High School’s Jazz Band at the end of March. They followed up with a sassy tune called “Emily” and then an Amy Winehouse inspired song, “Blind Together”.
To follow up, they spectacularly covered “F*** Me Pumps” by Amy Winehouse. After “Don’t Take Me Down” and “Can’t Leave, Can’t Stay”, we went to my personal favorite of the night, “De vez en Cuando”. The song was submitted for the 2026 Tiny Desk contest, and features Kresky singing the verses in Spanish with an English chorus. This generated her unofficial title for the song, Spanglish.
A cover of Carol King’s “It’s too Late” came up next, and Bragg showed off his pipes by singing with Kresky. Then came “Waiting Game”, “Hanging by a Thread” and “Bitches”. To end their first set was a cover of “Girl From Ipanema”, a very upbeat version of the classic that can also be listened to on Biggest Fan, which included a drum solo by Gibson.
Opening their second set was “In the Clear”, and we saw Bragg pull out the guitar and pass the bass to Nikischer. A quasi disco sounding track, we got to see Gregg really go for it on sax, this was one of my other favorites of the night. Bragg got to show off his guitar chops with a solo in the next song, “Secret”; a calmer, almost whimsical track very reminiscent of the sound of Sammy Raye & The Friends.
Check out some audio samples from this show!
“Better Off” followed and then “What to Say”, and a darker sounding tune, “In My Sleep”. “Another Fool” was next, a slower yet heavier song with a very strong chorus. “Mako”, a bit of a darker tune, paved the way for “December” which gave us a look into Kresky’s home in New Jersey. “Stranger” told the story of a night out in New York City Kresky had as a teenager. The final cover of the night was of “Fly Me to the Moon”, which had a very ethereal sounding beginning before it picked up about a minute into their version. To close out the show they ended with “Moody Eyes” the favorite for most of the band members to play-a groovy bassline and a fun drumbeat demonstrated this perfectly.
I got to speak with Emily Kresky after the show, and ask her a few questions about the band. I first asked what she would want people to know about the band if they had never heard of Dropping Julia before. Kresky replied, “We bring a lot of sass and like to have fun, so if you’re into that you should come and see us”.
Having already known Moody Eyes was one of their favorites to play, I had to know what others they also enjoy. De vez en Cuando was the verdict here, having been her first time writing a song in Spanish. She elaborated saying “it was really fun to see what [the rest of the band] did with it once I brought the melody and the lyrics to them.” Knowing their favorite originals, I made sure to also ask about their favorite covers they perform. She responded that their cover of “Girl from Ipanema”, was easily her favorite because of Amy Winehouse’s cover of the same song.
Additionally, while they didn’t have enough time to do Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”, it is one of her other favorite covers. I lastly had to check in with other upcoming events for the band outside of the Albemarle High School Jazz concert. I learned that Dropping Julia will be performing on The Rivanna Roots Series and Porch Fest this coming summer.
Dropping Julia released their latest EP, Biggest Fan, this past summer, and recently submitted “De vez en Cuando” to the 2026 Tiny Desk contest. You can hear them perform with Albemarle High School’s Jazz Band for the “Swing into Spring” Benefit Concert on March 29th at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets can be found here.
Set 1
Dude
Biggest Fan
Emily
Blind Together
F*** Me Pumps
Don’t Take me Down
Can’t Leave, Can’t Stay
De vez en Cuando
It’s too Late
Waiting Game
Hanging by a Thread
Bitches
Girl from Impanema
Set 2
In the Clear
Secret
Better Off
What to Say
In My Sleep
Another Fool
Fairy Tales
December
Stranger
Fly Me to The Moon
Moody Eyes
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