Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Merrell.
Emily, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always loved beauty and creativity. As a child, I spent a lot of time crafting, drawing, making music, reading, thumbing through Family Circle Magazine dreaming of creating beautiful events, and stretching my imagination. Music emerged as my most accessible medium, and I focused most of my teen years developing those skills before heading to college to major in Jazz Studies. After completing my Master’s Degree, I moved to Utah and began to build a career and community here. Now I’m pleased to make most of my living booking and performing in a wedding band all over the Intermountain West. I also teach at Utah Valley University, and at my private home studio, EM Vocal Studio. It’s a deep honor to be part of the creative development of others. I write and record my own original music (my third album was released late in 2022). And I host an art/creativity podcast called “Artifice” where I interview all sorts of artists about their creative development, art identities, and more. Episode 200 is out this month!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oof. Well of course there have been struggles! At this point, I’m completely estranged from my family, but a childhood full of severe verbal and emotional abuse has probably been the root of most of my struggles. Although, lately I believe that deep loneliness also helped me develop my creativity, and is part of the reason creativity feels so precious to me. I’m still learning to quiet those discouraging voices in my mind, replacing them with better ones. Certainly, being a woman in an extremely male dominated field has also proven tricky. I enjoy building my own non-patriarchal models of leadership and diplomacy. 15 years into my career, I can see the power of trusting my own instinct around these things, and using my personal strengths, rather than strategies I’d seen modelled in the past. Finally, capitalism tends to undervalue the arts, so I’ve found I’ve needed to employ a lot of creativity to build a sustainable financial ecosystem for myself. Especially in a post-COVID world, I’m deeply aware that nothing is truly stable, but I’ve been really lucky here in lots of ways.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a vocalist, I’m very flexible (I can make nearly song or genre sound natural in my voice), I learn music extremely quickly, and I’m a great bandleader. As a teacher, I specialize in helping my students explore what lights them up. I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all teaching. I focus on the individuality of each student. As long as we’re learning, we’re succeeding! As a songwriter, I love to create giant worlds for my music. I always write concept records, and love designing a lot of wonderful visual media and other interactive components to bring the music to life. As a podcast host, I’m great at helping my guests connect dots they hadn’t connected before, and looking for the hidden gems the artist might take for granted in their own life or skill set. In general, I’m nothing if not earnest! I love always having lots of projects to obsess over. And I love to work hard. In addition to my professional/paid projects, I love to cook and bake, to design my indoor and outdoor spaces, and to find creativity in even the most admin-y of admin tasks.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
The easiest way to support me is to consume the things I create. They’re made with such care! If you want to go the extra mile, drop me a line. I’m very easy to reach, and love talking with any well-intentioned humans. If I’m the right fit for a project you have in mind, let’s talk about it!
Contact Info:
- Website: emilymerrellmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilymerrellmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilymerrellmusic
- Linkedin: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DOOY9QBKYyNFqDJX6Xosa?si=1ebce4dc08c44481
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmilyMerrellMusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5nPwxYh3PUl7LaB5xQlhT7?si=0YuFX1f2RZC0kYCmYA0bKA
