Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Amber . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I started writing and playing when I was twelve. It started out as an escape and it was therapeutic for me. I knew that I wanted to do it forever but when it became serious for me at sixteen I don’t think I was ready to look at it like a career. I spent the next eight years treating it that way and it made me walk away from it for a while. Sometimes I wonder if I had eased into that on my own, then maybe I wouldn’t have needed to take that space.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was lucky enough to grow up in Nashville, TN and I spent my tween years cycling through different creative programs. When I went through one particular mentorship that offered me the opportunity to perform on a large stage, I caught the bug. It was electric and I wanted more. I started leaning into my musical community the only way I’d seen- by co-writing with everyone I could meet and playing lots of “writer’s rounds”. Each interaction led to the next, whether that was small or big. Small stages to medium stages, festivals, party bands and studios.

I’ve always been proud of what my writing evolved into and how it’s still evolving today. I spent a lot of time trying to sort my sound from others and I believe I achieved that. Although, I think my sound will always be changing! I want the people who are interested in what I’ve done so far to know that I won’t ever stop creating, even if it takes a little more time between releases.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

In my early days, I had it drilled into my head that I needed to be humble. Now don’t get me wrong, I think humility is extremely important but, the way this was taught to made me scared to tell anyone that I was an artist and made it extremely difficult to promote my work. I felt like (and sometimes still feel like) I couldn’t be proud of my work. I know there are thousands upon thousands of people out there doing exactly what we’re doing, but that doesn’t diminish it. There’s room for everyone at the table. No one is going to advocate for you, like you!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My most special moments have always been when someone tells me that they connected with something I created. Once, I visited a middle school in Illinois and the schools music director (one of my friends Tim Placher) had shown his class one of my songs. They all surprised me and sang it for me, it was so special. Multiple kids came up to me afterwards and told me how they loved the song and listened to it all the time. I was so surprised that these young kids were connecting to something that I felt was dark. I think music can be so healing. It heals me all of the time. If I can ever have even a small effect like that on someone then that’s enough to make me want to keep creating.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @theemilyamber

Image Credits
Adam Mac