EM

At age 4, little Emily was taken by her grandparents to experience a dazzling concert by Britney Spears. Eight years later at age 12, she found herself at Westlake Recording studio in Los Angeles with producer Andy Ditaranto (of Disney fame) singing on the exact microphone in Studio C that Britney had recorded hits on. Over the next several years, Em worked on scores of songs with producers and engineers including Tony Papa (Willie Nelson, James Brown, “Weird Al” Yankovic). Though her father, a very conservative physician (now deceased), pushed her to pursue a traditional college education, her mother – once a jewelry designer who gave up her art for marriage - instilled in Em not to follow in her footsteps in that way but to go for her dreams with all the passion she had inside her. Em and Ditaranto worked together for six years until his passing in 2014 which left Em stranded, unfinished and unsure of herself.

Then a connection with Chris Young resulted in several songs leading to a breakthrough composition entitled “Grace.” This inspired a sojourn and sabbatical to Woodstock in upstate New York where Em’s songs began to take on a more mature sound and sense of purpose, recalling the voices of strong women from before Em’s time in the `50s, `60s and `70s. “Woodstock proved to be a very magical place,” Em marvels. “We’d ask for something and the next day…it would manifest. I’ve been writing since I was 16 but I never had an experience like that - a time that was my college.” Em also made key performances at World Café Live’s “Love Fest” in the “Philly Rising” series (2017-18) and was elected twice to perform at Durango Songwriter’s Expo.

Already preparing even more music, Em has been working with former Motown songwriter/producer Michael B. Sutton (Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson). Together, they’ve penned a song called “Sleepwalking.” “That song is a plea to stop seeing and treating each other as an inferior race or culture,” Em explains. “We are all souls. We must remember our faith and history that happened before us to provide understanding. And in that understanding, rest in a reality that unites us, never separates us.” Em has also found a collaborator she considers to be her artistic soulmate: Gregor Stobie who resides in Glasgow, Scotland and is in the same mid-`20s age range as Em. “We’re on the same wavelength,” Em enthuses. “We do international calls and are so connected. I can say something totally abstract and he will completely understand it - totally get it! It’s like he can go inside my mind and we totally read each other.”

Right now, it’s all about Dear Life, an aural musical out of body experience that truly feels cinematic in scope. “I’m really feeling that analogy,” Em co-signs. “Dear Life is an album-oriented project. I love putting cinema and music together. Interwoven they tell a story.”

“Anytime I am writing and anytime I am in the booth recording, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this is the destiny of what I was put here on Earth to do,” Em concludes. “My mission is to help people heal and feel connected - closer to God and their truth.”

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