Raised in Texas on a musical diet of Antonio Carlos Jobim, James Taylor, and '60s radio, Boston's Emily Elbert fell in love with guitar when she was 15. Three years later, she released her first album of original music. Now at 22, Emily has played over 350 shows internationally, from Alaska to Memphis, Austin to New York City, and Scotland, Puerto Rico, Saint-Barthélemy and Peru. Glamour Magazine recently named her one of the "Top Ten College Women" of 2010, and her second album, Proof, was released in September. It features Emily at her best, with strong melodies, straight-to-the-heart vocals, and intricate guitar work.
In the past few years, Emily has opened for artists as diverse as Richie Havens, G-Love & Special Sauce, Jorge Drexler, Janis Ian, Kaki King, Patty Larkin, and Kate Voegele. Fans from around the globe have watched her YouTube videos in droves, including over 300,000 views of her version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." The Boston Folk Festival notes: "Emily is among the most glowing of the upcoming generation of American singer-songwriters, if 'upcoming' even applies to this phenom any longer."
A year after moving to the Northeast to study at Boston's Berklee College of Music, where she was awarded a four-year, full-tuition scholarship, Boston's WUMB radio station selected her as the 2008 Best New Artist of the Year. This fall, she placed among the top five in the Mountain Stage/NewSong competition in New York City. Coming up in 2011, Emily will embark on a solo acoustic tour of Scotland, Italy, and Spain, return to the Caribbean for a two-week performance stint in Saint-Barthélemy, record a new, full-band EP in Boston, and relocate to Athens, Greece to complete her Berklee studies in the fall.
