Emily Elbert

Emily Elbert
Emily Elbert in Plymouth, Massachusetts (Denise Maccaferri photography)
Background information
Birth name	Emily Caroline Elbert
Born	(1988-12-21) December 21, 1988 Dallas, Texas
Genres	Folk, soul, jazz, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, Musician
Instrument(s)	Voice, Guitar
Years active	2006–present
Website	www.emilyelbert.com

Emily Elbert (born December 21, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Los Angeles, California. She has independently released four albums: Bright Side (2006), Proof (2010), and Alive, In Love (2011), and Evolve (2013), as well as singles, "Letting Go" and "Here and Now" (2016) and "True Power" (2017). Her fifth alubum, We Who Believe in Freedom is expected in fall of 2018.

As a freelance musician, Emily was a member of Esperanza Spalding's experimental jazz and theater project from 2015-2016. The band toured internationally and recorded one album, Emily's D+Evolution. Elbert has also contributed vocals or guitar to projects led by Mike Gordon of Phish, Dweezil Zappa, and Leni Stern, and co-wrote Bruno Major's viral hit "Easily".

Biography

Elbert grew up in the Dallas, Texas area. She spent her childhood playing piano and listening to music by artists like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stevie Wonder, and James Taylor. As a teenager, inspired by Jimi Hendrix, she began playing guitar and singing. She recorded her first album Bright Side while in high school, paid for by local gigs and crowd-funding, and began touring the U.S. independently. At 18, Elbert was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music. While there, she continued to tour nationally and internationally, and released two more independent albums, Proof, and Alive, In Love, both of which were also crowd-funded. In 2010, Glamour magazine named Elbert one of their Top 10 College Women of the Year. In 2013, Elbert released Evolve, an EP recorded at Brooklyn, New York's Mason Jar Music.

Since then, Elbert released several singles: "Letting Go" (2016), "Here and Now" (2016) and "True Power" (2017), a protest song about Donald Trump, benefitting the American Civil Liberties Union. On her website, Elbert writes about "True Power": "My love for rhythm, harmony, and story sharing is woven in with my compassion for the Earth and its people. Songs can be powerful tools used in their defense... As a young, queer, woman, an environmentalist, and someone who believes in equality and human rights for people of all races, faiths, and cultural backgrounds, I can’t sit back and be a silent witness to injustice. ...Donald Trump may have bought and bullied his way into the presidency, but true power is in the hands of the people when they come together. That’s what this song is about."

Elbert's fifth album, social justice-focused We Who Believe in Freedom, is expected in fall 2018.

Events and touring

Elbert has performed more than a thousand shows across the U.S. and in more than 35 countries, and has opened for G. Love & Special Sauce, Victor Wooten, Leon Russell, Emily King, Kaki King, The Wood Brothers, Tuck & Patti, Richie Havens, Jorge Drexler, Nneka, Crystal Bowersox, Big Thief, Bruno Major, Robben Ford, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Joan Osborne, Livingston Taylor, and Ben Taylor. She has also performed on numerous television and radio programs and led workshops for students in the U.S. and Asia.

Discography

• Bright Side (2006)
• Proof (2010)
• Alive, in Love (2011)
• Evolve (2013)
• Letting Go / Here and Now (2016)
• True Power (2017)

External links

• Official Website