2014 has been an amazing year for Emma Lane of Hilton and 2015 shows promise of being even better.
The 20-something graduate of Hilton High School and unsigned Nashville recording artist is swiftly making a name for herself in the country/rock music industry.
Emma performs and writes her own songs and is receiving national and international radio airplay (98.9 The BUZZ, 92.5 The BEE and stations in the UK and Australia) as well as recognition from the music/recording industry. She received the 2014 IMC (Indie Music Channel) Country Recording of the Year and was nominated for the 2014 IMC Female Country Act of the Year, the IMC Country Song of the Year, the IMEA (International Music and Entertainment Association) Country Song of the Year and the IMEA Country Female Artist of the Year.
Her new single, “A Little Bit of Somethin,” which will be released November 11, was co-written with BMI award-winning songwriter Kristy Jackson of Fever Pitch Music. Jackson has written songs for the likes of country music great Reba McEntire (CURB Records, etc.).
Emma said Jackson contacted her by email after hearing one of Lane’s recordings. “We need to work together,” Jackson said, “you sound like Ann Wilson of Heart.”
“When she found out I wrote the songs,” Emma says, “she was even more impressed.”
Emma says she’s a huge fan of Reba McEntire and that she and songwriter Kristy Jackson really connected. Jackson told Emma the song they worked on together didn’t need a tremendous amount of re-working.
“It was really cool to have a songwriter – and an award winner – tell me we didn’t have to correct much,” Emma says.
Also among Emma’s favorite performers is Shania Twain – the country music star who Emma says turned her on to country music.
The past two years have been especially eventful for Emma.
It was in March 2013 that Emma was the featured songwriter of the month for FRETTIE – a national songwriting community – exposure which brought her much attention. She played dozens of shows in the Rochester area alone that year. She continued to play numerous shows early this year both in Rochester and along the East coast and was featured again by FRETTIE this past August in its new online Journal.
Social media has played a huge role in the continuing progress of her career, Emma says. Her debut EP, “Noise from the Basement,” was recorded in Nashville after guitarist/songwriter Mike Goncalves of the rock band Hip Kitty discovered her music on Twitter.
Following the release of the EP, Emma’s first single, “At the Crossroads,” debuted at number eight on Indie Music Channel’s Top Ten and spent four weeks at number one and more than 23 weeks in the top five. The song also got airplay locally on 98.9 The BUZZ just a week after its release.
Described by those in the music industry as a “prolific songwriter,” Emma says she’s been writing music and playing guitar since she was 11 years old.
“I write like crazy,” she says of her muse. “It keeps me up at night.”
It’s likely her musical talent is at least in part genetic – both her mother and her father are musicians. Her dad is a member of a local cover band (Inside Out) and her mom is a singer who has performed with her dad’s band.
Emma says it was natural for her to “gravitate towards music. I have been incredibly supported by my parents,” she says and adds they also help keep her humble.
She has played and sung with her dad’s band; in fact, her own musical career really began to take off after a Thanksgiving Eve performance with her dad’s band in 2012 which ended up on YouTube. “In 2013 I did 50 shows,” she says, “it caught on like wildfire. Emma also participated in the SXSW Conference/Festival in Austin, Texas earlier this year.
“I’m excited things are starting to roll,” she says of her career and hints that some very exciting opportunities appear to be on the way in 2015. “I want to get signed (by a record label) so I can record and write and get that stuff out,” she says.
