Emily Jones

Hailing from the San Francisco Bay area, now settled in the gorgeous Endless Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, USA, I was raised on a healthy diet of Chicago-style rhythm & blues, classic rock, classical composers, opera, bluegrass, jazz, heavy/thrash metal, world, folk, honky tonk…
There was always music in my home and it was and obviously still is a very important part of my life.
My father, a talented percussionist, was my first music teacher and it is from his teachings and example that has gave me a solid foundation in rhythm and music composition. Our common love and need for creating music is a special bond that we share.

I’ve always been a singer and I’ve always written my own songs from the melodies swirling around in my head, ever since I was a little girl sitting at a piano plunking out my own melodies have I done this. I sang in the bath, I sang in the shower, my family used to sit outside the door and listen to me. I still sing in the shower.

My love for string instruments began when I discovered my mother’s zither that she kept in her magic trunk when I was 9 years old. I played that zither for hours amazed by the sounds it produced. Growing up listening to acoustic music further grabbed my ear and peaked my interest, my mother especially loves the acoustic guitar so I heard much folk and cultural acoustic guitar music, which today inspires my own acoustic compositions.

Though music is a central part of my life and always has been, I never had any idea I would eventually do anything with it on my own. It’s rather like turning breathing into an art form for me, which amazes me.
I’m an artistic person by nature and had at one time focused my artistic ability on canvases, paper, and through a camera lens. Also through dance, I have always loved to dance and still do.
Throughout my art studies and creation I was performing with choirs and studying voice because I loved to sing, but it hadn’t dawned on me to actually create and share my own music until years later in 2003.

I had been frustrated with my artwork not really feeling that was the direction I needed to go in. I enjoy drawing and painting but I didn’t feel like I could express myself in the way I needed to through a canvas or paper.
For as long as I can remember I have been plagued with music in my head, my own music that I hear, see, and dream. Since I didn’t know what to do with it I just believed I was nuts, not making the connection that perhaps I should be focusing in that direction.
When I finally woke up and saw that I was on the wrong artistic path I felt a freedom of expression that I hadn’t felt before, and felt a satisfaction in creation that I didn’t feel through a paintbrush. I am still haunted and plagued by my own music that I hear and see, but at least I am now able to harness that music and do something with it.

So basically… music chose me.

Though music education has been a lifelong study, after I realized what my craft was I completely immersed myslef into guitar, bass, piano, music theory, songwriting, and hand-drumming. My excitement in creating music and now having the tools to do that is exhilarating. In addition, I’ve studied production and recording, mixing and mastering so that I could have complete autonomy with my music.
I have a never-ending thirst for more inventive & creative ways to express a thought musically and I expermiment all over the map. Writing music is akin to exploring a universe in my mind. I never grow tired of it and I especially enjoy writing with other musicians who think similarly.

I find the whole process of songwriting relaxing, exhilarating, satisfying, and empowering. I never stick to a standard or follow any particular formula, I find that process boring and predictable. I prefer instead to create how I see the music and hear the music in my own head, yanked completely from within my own internal universe. I love harmonies and playing instruments off of one another, I think my years of performing in choirs and visiting symphonies has something to do with that.

My particular love is for lyrics. I love to write lyrics that I find interesting to sing. My muses/inspirations are many and could be anything from a conversation, to a billboard, or even the back of a shampoo bottle (the lyrics to Rose Adonis were inspired by Herbal Essences Shampoo). I’m also highly influenced by my environment and my own emotions, as I think all musicians are.
The acoustic guitar is central to my compositions, though it isn’t always featured in my music. I write everything on an acoustic first. World music is particularly influencial, as is rock and blues.

When I’m not writing/recording/performing, I enjoy being outside as much as possible spending time with my super best friend, Keith (who is also a musician), our two amazing children, close family and good friends. My family and friends enjoy music as much as I do and it’s wonderful to have that enrichment in our lives. It is a gift to be able to share music with my children as my parents did and still do with me.
I also love to watch horror movies, paint large canvases (still), tribal bellydance, photography, stargazing, attending live shows, reading (anything and everything, especially nerdy science books on Botany and Chemistry, Stephen King, and Poe), and a good cuppa coffee.

My two very most favorite bands are Anthrax and Tool, and I greatly admire amazingly talented female artists such as Joni Mitchell, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Tori Amos, and my favorite: Linda Ronstadt. I have been a fan of Linda’s since I was a small child and have sang along with her to her records for as long as I can remember. It is Linda’s voice that I first remember hearing as a child that sparked that flame that spoke to me saying, “You are meant to sing!”