Citizens’ Advocate, June 15, 2007
Elbert Making Her Mark with Musical Style
by Jane Moore
Looking for some excellent music this summer? Check out Emily Elbert, a homegrown Coppell talent who is making waves in the music world at the tender age of 18.
It’s easy to be impressed with the facts on Elbert, which include winning several singing/songwriting contests, professional performances at many venues and festivals, and a full tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. But to really understand, one must hear her music – an intoxicating blend of vocals and acoustic guitar that has elements of soul, folk, jazz, rock, pop and international music. She said people have compared her style to Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, and Jack Johnson.
“It’s always evolving,” Elbert said of her music, which is available on her CD, “Bright Side,” for sale online at cdbaby.com.
People who know music are keeping their eyes (and ears) on Elbert, including organizers of the Old Settlers Music Festival in Dripping Springs, where she won the Youth Talent Competition this spring.
“She’s stupendous,” said Jean Spivey, co-president of the Old Settlers festival. “That girl is going places – she’s got the look, she’s got the voice, and she can play the guitar…this girl is something special.”
Elbert has lived in Coppell since first grade, where she attended Town Center Elementary. During those years, she took classical piano – her musical foundation. Family also had an influence, her grandmother taught piano and her dad, Roland Elbert, is a professional pianist.
“I always heard him playing and practicing,” said Emily. “Whether directly or not, I’ve inherited that.”
In eighth grade, Emily took a choir class on a fluke when the class she wanted wasn’t available. “I’d always wanted to sing but I was afraid to do it in front of people,” she said.
She also took a couple of guitar lessons that year, then quit and started experimenting on individual style. “After that I just did it on my own,” she said. “I realized I really, really enjoyed it.”
She continued choir through high school as a member of the CHS Madrigal Singers and Vivace show choir. Although music was her focus, she kept up her grades and her relationships with teachers, she said. As she began performing professionally, her mom, Jennifer Elbert, helped her juggle the world of school with finding gigs and getting auditions.
“My mom has made it possible to be a high school student and a musician,” she said.
Things really took off for Elbert in 2006 when she performed at various clubs and coffeehouses and recorded “Bright Side” in tyler at the private studio of Bob Gentry, who had worked with her dad. During summer programs at both the University of North Texas and Berklee School of Music, she studied performance arts, and won Berklee’s Performing Songwriter Contest. She was one of the top three winners at Texas Music Project’s “Texas 10 Under 20” in Dallas and performed on WFAA’s “Good Morning Texas.” By December, when she performed a second audition at Berklee, she had persuaded the college to offer her a full tuition scholarship.
Elbert graduated from CHS a few weeks ago, and her summer plans include attending the Alaska Midnight Sun Song Camp in Palmer, Alaska, and performing at several Texas venues, including opening for Sara Hickman in August at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston.
“Right now the idea of touring is very appealing to me,” said Elbert, who enjoys meeting people who want to listen and seeing new places.” “At some point I’d like to get together a solid band.”
the Internet and Web sites like MySpace have opened p new avenues in the music business and Elbert can connect with other musicians and fans and even track who is listening to her music. Surprisingly, there are many listeners in Mexico and a growing number in Venezuela.
“It’s such an evolving business – music and communication in general,” she said. “I’ve really been able to see it as more of an art form.”
Elbert said her ability to write songs is basically the best way she knows to express herself. “It just makes sense with me to take the way I see things and the way that I feel and put it in that format,” she said.
Sample songs from “Bright Side” are online at cdbaby.com. Search for Emily Elbert. For a list of upcoming shows, search her name at myspace.com.
But hurry – summer is passing fast.
