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Emily West

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This article is about the country music artist. For the Texas folk heroine, see Emily D. West.
Emily West
Birth nameEmily Marie Nemmers[1]
Born (1981-07-09) July 9, 1981 (age 43)[2]
OriginWaterloo, Iowa, United States
Genres
OccupationSinger-songwriter
InstrumentVocals
Years active2007 – present
LabelsCapitol Nashville (2007-2010)
Sony Masterworks (2014-present)
WebsiteEmily West Music

Emily Marie Nemmers (born July 9, 1981) is an American music artist, who performs and records under the name Emily West. Signed to Capitol Records Nashville, she debuted on Billboard's Hot Country Songs charts in early 2008 with the single "Rocks in Your Shoes". This song peaked at No. 39 early in the year, and is the first single from a self-titled EP. She entered the country charts a second time with "Blue Sky", a duet with Keith Urban, in 2010.

In 2012, West guest-starred in Body of Proof. In 2014, she competed on the 9th season of America's Got Talent, where she finished as the runner up to magician Mat Franco. Since her success on the show, West has toured extensively throughout the United States, first with her one-woman show and then with America's Got Talent Live: The All-Stars Tour!

Early life

West, the youngest of four children, was born in Waterloo, Iowa. In July 1994 her parents took her to Bird-On-Fire Recording Studio in West Union, Iowa where studio owner Doug Koempel worked with her producing four demos: "Sweet Dreams", "Piece Of My Heart", "Higher Love" and "Me And Bobby McGee." She moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2000 following her graduation from Waterloo West High School in hopes of achieving her goals of becoming a country music singer.[3] West soon signed a deal with a publishing company in Nashville, Warner-Chapell. West was then signed to Capitol Records Nashville when producer Mike Dungan listened to her demo tapes.[4] One of her first appearances was as a background vocalist on Chely Wright's 2005 album The Metropolitan Hotel.[5]

Career

2007-2012: Music and television

Capitol released a self-titled EP December 11, 2007 to the iTunes music store. In early 2008, West was featured in People magazine and completed a media tour for her debut single, "Rocks in Your Shoes".[6] "Rocks in Your Shoes" peaked in the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in early 2008. A second single, "That Kind of Happy" was released in April 2009 and failed to enter the chart.

West appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on September 25, 2009, winning $25,000. In January 2010, West released a duet with labelmate Keith Urban titled "Blue Sky." The song debuted at No. 53 on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of February 23, 2010. Roughstock gave the song 4½ stars out of 5, stating that "'Blue Sky' is already a contender for one of 2010's best singles."[7] It spent thirteen weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 38.

Emily appeared in the April 18, 2010 episode of Celebrity Apprentice, as the "music make-over" target for the women's team led by Cyndi Lauper. Lauper won the challenge and as a result West donated 100% of the first month of iTunes sales of her song "Blue Sky" to the Stonewall Community Foundation, Lauper's charity.

She appeared in the January 10, 2012 "Shades of Blue" episode on Body of Proof on ABC. She played a drug addict trying to make it in the music business. She sings her single "Head On" at the end of the episode.

2014-present: America's Got Talent

In 2014, West competed on the 9th season of America's Got Talent, advancing to the finals.[8] She finished in second place.

Shortly after the show ended, West signed a record deal with Sony Masterworks, and is set to release a two-track single on December 2, 2014;[9] and an album in 2015.[10]

On April 6, 2015, the first single, called "Bitter", off her upcoming album "All For You" was released, and the album was released in August 2015.[11]

Performances and results

Episode Theme Song choice Original artist Order Result
Audition Auditioner's Choice "Sea of Love" Phil Phillips N/A Advanced
Judgement Week N/A "You Got It" Roy Orbison N/A Advanced
Top 48 Quarterfinals "Chandelier" Sia 9 Advanced
Top 24 Semifinals, Part 1 "Who Wants to Live Forever" Queen 12 Advanced
Top 12 Top 12 "Nights in White Satin" The Moody Blues 10 Advanced
Finals Breakthrough Performance
Brand New Choice 		"Chandelier"
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" 		Sia
Roberta Flack 		3
12 		Runner-up

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart
positions
US US Heat
All for You 188 2

Extended plays

Title Album details Peak chart positions
US Country US Heat US Indie US Folk
Emily West — — — —
I Hate You, I Love You
  • Release date: December 29, 2011
  • Label: Emily West
 41 9 41 7
Rocket Science
  • Release date: June 24, 2014
  • Label: Yellow Brick Road Records
 — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Country US Bubbling
[12] 		CAN
2008 "Rocks in Your Shoes" 39 — — Emily West (EP)
2009 "That Kind of Happy" — — — —
2010 "Blue Sky" (with Keith Urban) 38 4 97
2012 "Cross My Heart" — — — GCB: Music from Season One
2014 "Made for the Radio" — — — —
"Wonderful Things" — — —
"Chandelier" — — — All for You
"Santa Baby" — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year Video Director
2008 "Rocks in Your Shoes" (road video)
"Rocks in Your Shoes" Stephen Shepherd
2009 "O Holy Night"
2010 "Blue Sky"

References

  1. ^ "Let's Do This Thing Lyrics". Lyrics.net. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
  2. ^ "Birthdays". Country Weekly. 17 (28): 58.
  3. ^ Neal, Chris (2008-04-21). "Who's New: Emily West". Country Weekly. 15 (8): 13.
  4. ^ "Emily West Biography". Capitol Records Nashville. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  5. ^ The Metropolitan Hotel (Media notes). Chely Wright. Dualtone Records. 2005. 80302-01200-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ "2 Music Geeks' Podcast 13: Lucky—Featuring Emily West". www.2musicgeeks.com. Retrieved 2008-05-12.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ Emily West (Featuring Keith Urban) – "Blue Sky" Archived 2010-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, By: Matt Bjorke, Last Updated: March 23, 2010, Roughstock
  8. ^ Simmer, Alan. "West through to Talent finals", Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, September 11, 2014
  9. ^ Thompson, Gayle (November 10, 2014). "Emily West Signs New Record Deal, Plans Digital Release". The Boot. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  10. ^ Betts, Stephen L. (October 30, 2014). "Emily West Inks Label Deal for New Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  11. ^ Betts, Stephen (April 6, 2015). "Hear Emily West's Empowering New Single 'Bitter'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 962. ISBN 0-89820-188-8.
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