“Julie Ann” — sometimes titled “Julie Ann Come On Home” — is a bluegrass song written by Pete Goble and Leroy Drumm, one of the most prolific songwriting teams the music has known. It was introduced on record by Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver in the mid-1980s.
The lyric is a tender plea to a restless sweetheart. The singer tells Julie Ann to dress up and enjoy herself, to have her fun — but asks, gently and a little anxiously, that she not leave him for good, and that when the night is over she come on home. That mix of generosity and quiet fear of loss gave the song an affecting warmth.
Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, the band Lawson founded in the late 1970s, was known for its immaculate harmony singing, and “Julie Ann” gave that gift a strong vehicle. The song has remained a favorite among bluegrass musicians drawn to the band’s smooth, tightly arranged style.
