The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit proudly presents an... Exhibiting the works of Award Winning Sculptor Mixed Media News Sad& Friday, Saturday & Sunday August 28, 29 & 30 12 Noon - 5:00 p.m. 6' Reviews. On The Record Julie Silver hopes she's getting close to her first gold record. The singer/composer, who's just released her fourth CD, has always focused on a Jewish audience but is moving in the direction of a more secular career. Interested in music since she was a little girl, Silver grew up leading songfests, went on to write contempo- rary Jewish music and is celebrating the release of her fourth album, Beyond Tomorrow. Odfirf veut& eivAset Artist's Studio is located at 3819 LaPlaya, Orchard Lake, MI Orchard Lake Road to Pontiac Trail go West 1/2 Mile to Light at Old Orchard Trail Go Right 2 Miles to LaPlaya Free Valet Parking-Refreshments For more information please call (248) 683-4364. • Otowie • 4.5ei,44 Stid ,•! 74,14ethwait Secoted 91444 1998 Tax Deductible Proceeds go to the JCC 8/21 1998 88 Detroit Jewish News There have been some detours along the way — working as a radio DJ, for one — but the guitarist-vocal- ist generally remains straightforward about the career she pursues. With her most recent recording, Silver is taking on issues. "The most important difference between this particular CD and my other three is that I'm trying very hard to tackle issues that are very specific and personal and at the same time universal," said Silver, 31. "This is not an album of holiday songs for chil- dren. "'Cut Me Down,' for example, is about being invested in the lives of other people, whether truthful or not, how uninvested we are in our own lives and how hurtful words can be." Each song represents part of Silver and captures a different time of her life. Silver considers her career direction as the coming together of two differ- ent and early paths — experiences at a summer camp in New England and participation in NFTY (National Fed- eration of Temple Youth). "I went to camp from the time I was 8 years old until I was practically an adult," the performer recalled. "I learned how to be a song leader, explored music and became much more confident as a guitar player. "At that time, in the '70s, there was some great music coming out of Israel and our country, great contemporary Jewish music, such as the songs of Debbie Friedman. "As I grew older, I became a leader in the youth move- ment and appreci- ated the communi- ty that music creat- ed in very impor- tant parts of my life." Although start- ing out playing by ear, she began to take private lessons in guitar and piano and has been taking voice lessons over the past five years. "For me, school was something that just happened while I was studying, enjoying and learning music to become a better performer," said Sil- ver, whose first jobs were-teaching music at her hometown temple and leading singing at weekend youth con- claves. While working at a synagogue in Lexington, Mass., a co-worker suggest- ed she write songs about services and holidays, and she found that she could compose quickly and teach the songs to her students. "Evidently, I developed a name for myself, and [I] never wanted for work throughout college," Silver said. "While I was a Spanish and economics major at Clark University in Massa- chusetts, I also performed at coffee-