soulful, artistic, organic,literate
Email Artist | see Website
Member since: 2009-12-31
Home: Boston, MA, US
Frequently Tours: MA , TX , CA , KS , OK, South America
# of Members: 1
Sound Equipment: Available if needed
Main Instrument: Vocals, Guitar
Other Instruments:
Genre: contemporary acoustic;soulful, jazzy folk/rock
Style: Groovy Varied
Content: love, nature, challenges
Rating: G - PG
* “Emily is a brilliant talent and a phenomenal musician." Chris Darling, WMPG Radio, Portland,ME
* “A terrific guitar player, Ms. Elbert is a gifted songwriter as well.” Dallas Morning News
* “Just beautiful!" John Mayer
* “She just exhales soul from her mouth and her fingertips.”
Bio
Raised in Texas on a musical diet of Antonio Carlos Jobim, James Taylor, and 60’s radio, Emily Elbert fell in love with playing guitar when she was 15. Her self-taught approach to learning guitar combined with formal training in jazz and classical vocals and piano. In high school, she leaped from school talent shows and church coffee houses to winning state and national awards for singing and songwriting. She recorded her debut CD of original songs, Bright Side, in 2006. Berklee College of Music awarded her a four-year, full-tuition scholarship and she then moved to Boston, where she continues to maintain a musical career.
At 21, Emily has performed over 300 shows, from Texas to New York City, Alaska to Memphis, and Scotland to Puerto Rico and Peru. She’s toured with G Love & Special Sauce, Kaki King, and was a featured artist at the North American Folk Music Alliance in 2008. She has opened for luminaries as diverse as Richie Havens, Patty Larkin, Sara Hickman, Jonathan Edwards, Marcia Ball, Ben Taylor, Ruthie Foster, Jimmy LaFave, Brooks Williams, Kate Voegele, and many more.
Along with her original music, Emily performs songs from legends like The Beatles, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Willie Nelson. She also likes to shake things up for her listeners by playing her own acoustic arrangements of songs from rockers like The Allman Brothers, Michale Jackson, and Jimi Hendrix.
Awards range from being named Local Rookie of the Year by The Dallas Morning News in 2006, chosen by the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Foundation to sing at ten Grammy events in 2007, to being selected as Boston WUMB radio’s Best New Artist of the Year in 2008. Elbert recently won Scotland’s Burnsong International Songwriting Contest and participated in a week-long songwriters’ retreat and performed for Scottish Parliament and the BBC. She is currently recording her second studio album, to be released in spring, 2010. Emily is touring throughout the east coast and the southwest this year. She also looks for opportunities to perform in Europe and Latin America.