Julia Truesdell brought smiles to the faces of those staying at home on Monday afternoon with her original song, “We’re all at home.” The homeschooled eighth grader posted a video recording of the song on her YouTube music channel. With catchy lyrics such as “we’re all at home, no place that we can go, but you can be assured, everyone feels the same, cooped up inside, going insane,” and a ukulele accompaniment, her tune had already garnered over 250 views on YouTube as of 8:30 p.m. Monday night.

In a phone interview with her and her mom, Lisa, Julia said she’s been playing the ukulele since she was 9 and has also played the clarinet since fifth grade. In fact, you may have seen the mother-daughter duo during last summer’s Art Walk and the Holiday Tea at The Ledges with Lisa on flute and Julia on clarinet. While Julia is homeschooled with her brother Miles, she is also part of the Wiscasset Middle High School band and jazz band.

When asked what prompted her to compose the song, she said: “I like to write originals and I had seen some other people composing songs about this quarantine and coronavirus and I thought it would be kind of fun if I did one of my own.” She said she might compose other originals during the quarantine. As for how their family is dealing with staying at home, Lisa said they’ve been trying to get outside. “Every day, we go out and play with the dog ... We’ve  also done some online dinners with people we can’t see in person right now. That’s been really encouraging.”

As for the rest of us, tune into Julia’s “We’re all at home” on YouTube for a tune that should brighten your mood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9qV90VqhLo&t=0s