Adventures in Dreamland

I am back from another writing trip to NYC. Equally as inspiring. Came back with 2 complete songs and at least 4 solid starts. More writing with Nicole Atkins (am loving how that one is shaping up), Dan Bryk (such a talent and sweetheart too), Matt Keating (we wrote a great ode to my hermit tendencies called “Reckless Recluse”), Benjamin Cartel (of Kaiser Cartel) and Bob Held. The best part about these collaborations is I learn something totally new from everyone. Every songwriter has their tricks, their own box of chords and generally no two are alike, so when you combine the 2 thought processes things get interesting.

I still find it difficult, however, to share in writing lyrics with another person. Everyone has a way of saying things that is so unique and personal to them that it’s sometimes hard to meet in the middle at a place that is still totally honest and inspired. I can’t write just for the sake of it, I need a spark to happen somewhere. So I am finding more success in starting words alone and then perhaps inviting another person in if I’m stuck. Lately it’s been pouring out when I’m alone, which is really fantastic. Ask any songwriter and they will tell you when it happens they don’t take it for granted! When an idea knocks you gotta answer the door or it’ll be gone!

As an extra special treat I got to hang out with 2 friends and talented singers Emily Braden & Janelle Monique. Went to a blues club and convinced Emily to get up and sing with the house band. Amazing.

Of course, I was so busy I didn’t take ANY photos. What kind of photographer am I?

My talented and always supportive friend Paul came over last week to do a homemade music video with me. I had written a song the previous week one afternoon and made a quick demo which came out alright, so we decided to make a lil movie on the fly. I got the Canon T1i recently, which is actually mainly a D-SLR for shooting photos, but it has HD video as well. For curious tech nerds out there Paul brought over his EF 24-70 f/2.8 lens. We shot everything in the afternoon mostly in my place and walking around the neighbourhood. Coop was very excited about his starring role.

Recorded the audio on my trusty Zoom H4n (if you write songs, you should have this it’s so great!) and then we edited it in iMovie. Really only took a couple of days.

Just an honest little moving snapshot of what’s going on these days. I’m a writing machine!

Enjoy friends! Please spread the word, keep listening and I’ll keep making music!

Have a wonderously magical 2010!

Emma-Lee
xoxo

Just announced!

I will be playing a show in Toronto (for once) at the Rivoli on Saturday, February 13th 2010! Bring a date, or bring your lonesome soul and we’ll warm your heart from the cold winter. It’ll be full band and we’ll be trying out a bunch of new tunes!

Joining the night is the very talented Barzin! I think this song & video are just beautiful.

Check it out and mark your calendars!

Emma-Lee
xo

Eeep! The time to blog is hard to find but I come with good reason today!

I just returned from a near week-long trip to NYC, a truly delightful city that I have visited twice in the past but never had the pleasure of spending more than a couple days in. Well, this time I think I fell in love for good. There’s just something going on there, a feeling…makes you all buzzy inside. Or was that the tequila cocktails?

At any rate…the point of the trip was to get some co-writing for my new album done with some new collaborators and it ended up being rather productive! Three new songs with 3 different writers! The first was with a fave artist of mine, Nicole Atkins - I was introduced to her years ago, can’t remember how but I do remember being totally won over upon seeing her Letterman performance (dig below). Super talented lady and also extremely kind. I had a feeling we would work well together and she certainly didn’t let me down! The tune we wrote is called “Backseat Heroine” and I’m sure you’ll be hearing it at my next show!

Following that I wrote with a songwriter named Noel Cohen - really love the music we’ve come up with, now I just need to give it a good story! Lyrics are still the most time consuming process for not only me, but seemingly most other writers I talk to. I find it natural and easy to write music and melodies but the words are so critical - I catch snags all the time - but that’s where the crafty hard-work comes in! It’s not as easy as it looks…but it’s fun.

The last person I wrote with was a fella named Richard Julian whom I was introduced to through one of my managers. He’s put out a bunch of albums and they’re all really, really fantastic. My fave song of his is “If You Stay” (dig below) - look him up on iTunes! We started writing a tune called “Good Time Friend”, it’s pretty much done except the verse lyrics. The chorus is so much fun to sing!

I can’t wait to unveil all these new tunes plus the ones I’ve been writing on my own. I’m toying with the idea of a Toronto show in February to do just that! I’m really excited about the direction things are going in. If I could sum it up I would say it’s sorta like Burt Bacharach and The Beatles score a Tarantino film as performed by Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry. The upright bass is likely to be replaced almost exclusively by electric. I think I want to find a killer female multi-instrumentalist, someone who can play keys, sing and maybe do some percussion too. So, if you’re reading this and that’s you get in touch!

In very exciting news - an unreleased song called “Shot in the Dark” that I co-wrote and recorded with my dear friend Karen Kosowski is going to be featured in a new HBO mini-series come Jan/Feb! It’s during a kissing scene! So cool - I always wanted to hear one of my songs play while people made out! More details when I know the air date!

Aight…back to work on…everything. Thanks for reading!

Emma-Lee
xo

Not a bad way to spend a weekend. Lots to sort through. Lots of laughs, little bit of crying.

Where does the time go? Disappears.

Recent happenings: co-writing with Peter Katz, Karen Kosowski, Rebecca Everett, JC Smith, Janine Stoll. All good things! The somewhat forced inspiration of co-writing has only benefited my solo writing - my creative brain getting sharper by the day and more excited at the prospect of making a new album! I’ve been living with the songs from Never Just a Dream for quite some time, so I’m ready to close that chapter, though I’m sure to some of you fine folk it’s brand new. Well don’t worry, plenty of time to absorb it…a new album will take some time for sure! I’m not totally sure where things will go from here, sound-wise…but I’ve been listening to lots of Burt Bacharach tunes and Bobbie Gentry…and this woman is my new hero, you can count on me covering this ditty at a show near you:

Took a weekend trip down to play a couple of shows in the US of A. One in Rochester at Boulder Coffee, which was a charming venue with loads of character and potential to be a serious destination for touring acoustic acts…actually, it’s big enough for bands. Anyhoo - kudos to them for creating a wonderful vibe for peeps like me.

I like the freedom of solo acoustic shows, they’re growing on me more and more (don’t worry dear band you won’t be getting pink slips anytime soon). But it’s nice to be able to debut brand new tunes and experiment a bit more. If you ever stop into this place and wish to buy me a birthday present…I think this monstrous heart installation is pretty sweet.

After Rochester, and after talking myself out of a speeding ticket near Geneseo (can’t mess with the Canadian gal charm) I went to Buffalo to play my first ever house concert. It was pretty fun! Usually house concerts are held indoors, but these peeps had a backyard hootenanny complete with s’mores. That’s my 2nd gig in a month where I got to eat s’mores. Can’t get much better than that!

Other random happenings: got to see The Swell Season in a room of about 30 people for an industry showcase that I was invited to through a chance meeting with a nice lady from NYC who was a music supervisor at the Canadian Music Cafe gig I did. It was great!

Other than that…let’s see, I got back into raw veganism 4 days ago and am feeling great so far! Hope I can make it a couple months! Bought an old bike that I plan on riding along the water tomorrow if it doesn’t rain. Getting a new tattoo tomorrow evening.

That’s all I got in me to write at the mo…now, stop reading and go do something amazing with your day!

Emma-Lee
xoxo

Hi hello howdy,

So, we decided to have a remix contest for my song “Until We Meet Again” and received an overwhelming 47 entries!!! It was so much fun listening to everyone’s interpretation of my song.

My peeps and I are still making our final decision for who the winner will be, but I thought I would let you know you can have a little listen to the entries over on SalaciousSound.com, the website kind enough to host this contest for us. Tell me your top picks!

For me personally - my faves came from:
- No Big Deal
- Jordane G.
- Curtis Wang
- James Merrifield
- Gabriel Maga
- Timo Rozendal
- Kikhausen & Spied

So even if you don’t win, I wanted to post my personal faves so those people know! Excellent work all! Good luck!

Emma-Lee
xoxo

So…it’s been awhile since a blog I know! I’ve been a busy lil bee. I’ve been travelin’ around Amsterdam, attending various summer weddings, snapping lots of photos of fab musicians (check out my Flickr page!), playing all kinds of festivals, moving into a new place - it’s been a hectic summer but a grand one!

Have some more shows in and around Canada (and maybe one or 2 in the USA) come fall. One that I’m really excited for is a showcase during the Toronto International Film Fest where I get to showcase my tunes to tv & film music supervisors from all over the world! You can see what the Canadian Music Cafe is all about here. I’ll be posting more shows on my official site soon, so stay tuned and do come out!

Last Sunday I went to the Honey Jam show, which is an annual event here in Toronto with all female performers. A friend of mine named Shugamai Grace Johnson let me know that she was choreographing a dance routine that would be performed at the event and that she had chosen my song “Flow” for the dance! I was quite honoured but more than anything EXCITED to watch some fine ladies dance to my song! It was a bit of a surreal experience, more surreal than when I perform the song myself…because it’s me and I guess that isn’t so strange, but seeing the passion from these girls dancing to a song that I wrote almost 4 years ago when I drowning in heartbreak…was kinda neat. I got a clip of most of the routine, unfortunately my camera decided not to focus for the first few seconds but…voila!

And how about another video clip for good measure? We finally got the footage from my CBC TV performance! Take a gander below and please share the link with your friends!

Bye for now,
Emma-Lee
xoxo

I don’t know if this is only a Canadian thing, but I’ve been informed that my album is available for listen in your en-route entertainment when you fly! My friend Dennis took some photos as proof. Observe:

Pretty neat-o if I do say so myself. Yep. Neato.