EMMA STEVENS
Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Country-Pop
Location: Surrey, England
Discography: Heart of Hand EP (2012) Dreaming Trees EP (2013) Underwater EP (2013) Sunflower EP (2013) Enchanted (2013) Waves (2014) Waves-Deluxe (2015)
Record Label: Independent
Website: http://emmastevensmusic.com
Our next showcase artist is the lovely and very talented Emma Stevens. Life has been something of a whirlwind for Emma recently, “Make My Day” was playlisted on BBC Radio 2, she performed live and acoustic on Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, performed at CarFest (North & South), and released singles “Never Gonna Change”, “Gold Rush”, “So Stop the World” and “The Star That Guides You Home”. Not forgetting taking to the air to perform in an aeroplane, a 12-hour buskathon for Children In Need and a joint headline UK tour with Blair Dunlop. And there’s no let-up in 2016 either with Emma taking to the seas to support Train, Rachel Platten & Shaggy on the“Sail Across the Sun” cruise to Jamaica, rapidly followed by two performances at this year’s Country to Country Festival at the O2 London. Also having returned from a writing trip to Nashville earlier in 2015, Emma has also been busy writing new material for her third studio album.
Emma began her musical journey when she was bought her first guitar at the age of 3, after being enchanted by her Mum’s playing. With Emma always singing and constantly wanting to join in and play too, her parents soon realised music would play a definitive role in her destiny.
She began taking lessons in cello and piano, became a member of the Surrey Youth Orchestra and went on to attend the Academy of Contemporary music studying Guitar and Performance. After graduating from ACM, Emma began playing for artists and bands, including fiN., H- Boogie, and Ronit, this led her to touring worldwide with bands such as The Kooks, Mona, Feeder and Incubus. No stranger to the stage, Emma would often perform at arena style venues with crowds of 20,000 a night!
As well as performing live, Emma was busy writing songs working with established artists and songwriters all over the world, frequently making trips to LA, Nashville and Europe. An early hit was a song called “Wowowow” for Korean boy band SHINee selling 100,000 copies in its first week of release, hitting the number 1 spot.
When Emma lost her Mum to cancer in 2012, she dealt with it in the only way she knew how – through her music and songwriting. The result, Sunflower, is a track that has touched the hearts of countless fans. The song first appeared on the fourth and final EP completing the set released between 2012 and 2013, each with unique and beautiful artwork designed by her Mum. The artwork, when assembled, also formed the cover of her 2013 debut album Enchanted, which reached no.1 on the Amazon Movers and Shakers CD chart and top 5 in the iTunes Singer-Songwriter chart.
A talented multi-instrumentalist, as well as providing the vocals for all the songs, Emma played guitar, banjo, mandolin, piano, cello and ukulele on the album!
BBC Radio 2 have been strong supporters of Emma’s music since first headlining the BBC Introducing Stage at “The Festival in a Day at Hyde Park” playing to an audience of over 40,000, with four consecutive play-listed singles, “A Place Called You” , “Once”, “Riptide” and “Make My Day” and live sessions on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show, The Clare Balding Show and with the late Sir Terry Wogan on Weekend Wogan.
In 2014, Emma embarked on her first national headline tour, performing most of the tracks from 'Enchanted' and the early EPs.
Later that year, her second album, Waves (another collaboration with producer and co-writer, Pete Woodroffe) was released, which she went on to tour in the spring of 2015.
A much extended, deluxe edition of the album with 8 bonus tracks, new artwork and an expanded booklet was released in the summer of 2015.