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Saturday, 31 May, 2008 0:00 AM
Emily West: A Fresh Face on the
Country Music Scene
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com
Emily
West performs at the Downtown Hoedown on Saturday afternoon.
DETROIT --
Emily West is a new country artist from Nashville. She performed
for her very first time at the Downtown Hoedown last May. West was
born in Waterloo, Iowa and is the youngest of four children. She
moved to Nashville in 2000. West signed a deal with the Warner-Chapell
publishing. Her idol was Patsy Cline as she was growing up.
“I started
singing because of Patsy Cline,” West said. “There was
something about her voice that I really, as an 8-year-old, connected
with. She’s singing about cheating and heartache but I was
like, oh my gosh, I want to sing like her. Just til that day, I
am still such a fan. I love her, I think she’s awesome.”
In 2004, West
signed with Capitol Records Nashville for her first recording
contract.
“It was
awesome. Here I was 21 or 22 at the time. It was my dream come true,
getting signed to a major label. And Capitol of all the labels is
the best out there. I was just looking forward to making my record.
Little did I know, it was going to take four years for it to come
out. It was totally worth the wait. I’m really excited about
the record that I made. It’s going to be out in the fall.”
Emily West
had to wait four years for her first record to come out. It was
a struggle that she has worked to overcome.
“I was
really struggling to find what songs I was going to put on this
10-song record,” West said. “I was really, really frustrated.
I was extremely worried if I was even going to have a record out.
I was at my mom’s house balling to her. Mom, my record’s
never going to come out. She was like ‘Well, you better put
your big girl panties on and deal with it because music is just
tough.’
Her new single
that is currently being played on the radio is “Rocks In Your
Shoes.”
“It’s
kind of like my big girl panties song. You can make a choice in
life. You can either deal with it or you can let it just eat you
alive. This is a tough world. You gotta just keep on walkin’.
Don’t let it get you down. Ironically enough, it’s my
first single. It’s really getting a great reaction from the
fans that love that song. I have a record out cuz I did get my big
girl panties on.”
“’Rocks
In Your Shoes’, I got that title from my great grandfather,”
said West. “Apparently, he used to put rocks in his shoes
before he went to go plow the fields because it was for his tendons.
He felt so guilty about getting drunk the night before. My mom told
me the story and I left it. I ran with it.”
Her debut album
will be coming out this fall. It will be a self-titled record.
“It’s
a very personal record. I feel like when my life started to suck,
that’s when the real truth came out. Good music started to
come out. I’m kind of one of these writers that I can’t
really write when I’m happy. People get their lives in big
wrecks because they think creatively. Although, I totally want to
be happy in life. I just can’t write songs when I’m
happy. Finally, when stuff really personal and kinda tragic started
to happen, the truth kind of came out and me and my co-writers just
sat down. I need to write about this.”
“The whole
record is a really, really fun record. It’s also serious.
I’m just proud of it. It was a part of my life that’s
kind of a journal. I think a lot of young women and girls and a
lot of young guys can identify with the message I have to say throughout
the record. It’s gonna be interesting to see what everyone
is gonna think about it.”
There will be
a total of 10 songs on her new record. West herself wrote seven
of the tracks.
“It’s
gonna be a self-titled record unless I get a wild hair and just
wanna call it big girl panties. I think it’s just gonna be
called Emily West though.”
Emily West performed
for her very first time at the Downtown Hoedown on Saturday afternoon.
“The people
performing are heroes that I’ve looked up to. I’m a
huge fan of Little Big Town, Chris Cagle who is now my label mate
and Trisha Yearwood who’s been rocking my world for at least
a whole decade. I adore her, I think she’s amazing.”
This country
singer has some big plans for the future. She looks forward to meeting
her fans and playing more concerts.
“I hope
the country fans embrace me like they have for so many artists.
I hope they understand that I’m the real deal. I want to connect
with them. I hope the future brings a lot of new friends my way
musically. Just have a great time and not take life too seriously.
I just wanna be a country/western and rock and roll singer.”
Emily West
will return to the area with a performance at the Meijer Taylor
Summerfest on Saturday, July 12th.
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com
New
country artist Emily West performs on the Upper Stage.
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com
West's
record company released a self-titled EP December 11, 2007 to the
iTunes music store.
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