Emily Shirley – Survivors (Spotify)

Artist shared few words with Nagamag behind this song inspiration:

"I wrote this song during the Texas Freeze last year, when so many people were stuck in their homes, without heat or power, for days. I had a song due for my songwriting group that week, & the subject was something I can't remember, but all I could write about in that moment was what I—& the people around me—were experiencing. This fall I went into the studio with Brian Douglas Phillips in hopes of capturing the song with a live studio feel. I think we accomplished that."

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Emily Shirley’s brand of thoughtful songwriter pop/rock is as finely tuned and brightly colored as the graphic design projects she works on for her day gig. Her latest release, DuoTone, is a genre-bending hybrid of indie-pop melodies woven over thoughtful, grounded lyrics. It represents the full, vibrant sonic image of a writer who has come into her own in the Austin, Texas scene.

A Connecticut native, Emily was steeped in church choir, musical theater, and Debbie Gibson at a young age. Classically trained on piano and a veteran of high school and college semi-pro acapella choirs, she found her place as a vocalist and writer when she joined the Boston based band Amun Ra as the lead singer, touring their soulful pop songwriting with breakbeats and electronica to clubs across the Northeast. They released 2 full length albums in her 6 years with them.

In 2006, Emily moved to Austin, Texas and realigned her musical existence. Starting over in a new city without a band as well as juggling her graphic design business and being a mom, “I had to carve out my solo space and find a way to let music work with my lifestyle,” she notes. She fell in love with the piano again and began writing and gigging; she released her EP Tiny Truths in 2010, produced by Daniel Barrett (Ruthie Foster, Susan Gibson). Reviewsic described the EP’s sound as “executed with the same old-meets-new-quirkiness of Feist.” In 2013 she found her band again, joining Austin favorite The Belle Sounds on piano, synth, and vocals. She's toured Texas and the West Coast with The Belle Sounds, performing in esteemed venues like Strange Brew in Austin and The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.

Most recently, Emily released a series of singles that culminated in the release of her 2015 EP DuoTone, now available as a limited edition disc. Featuring songs produced by Mark Hallman (Carole King, Ani DiFranco) and Daniel Barrett, DuoTone displays Emily's ability to illuminate scenes and landscapes through sound. "Suffering Soul" has a sonic palette that drops the listener in the middle of the desert, parched and desperate, searching for salvation. “Starstruck” brings a swinging piano and brassy horns to themes of nostalgia for more innocent artistic times, and hints to her list of musical influences like Nellie McKay and Rufus Wainwright. Emily Shirley’s artistic point of view and skillful sonic experimentation make for a varied and stirring repertoire. “My formative years are still happening,” she jokes when describing her musical life, the honest response of a musician and creator always on the lookout for the next spark.