That was the case when it came to "Edward of Morton," the work that led to her USA Songwriting Competition crown. It is quite a gory story, Smith said, one about a man who was a servant to the wife of the Earl of Morton. The earl's wife tried to seduce Edward and when he declined, she got him into trouble with the earl.
Eventually, the situation led to Edward's execution. "I don't consciously try to make the songs fresher for a modern audience," Smith said. "[But] I'm sure the way I arrange the songs musically have modern references as you can't help but be influenced by the time you live in.
The story of the song, though, is the most important thing to me." Smith has an arranger's pedigree. She started piano lessons when she was 7, but swapped that instrument for the piano accordion when she was 14.
She later was a member of her local pipe band - yup, they have those in Scotland - as well as a snare drummer. It wasn't until her late teens when Smith became interested in singing. She loved songs from musicals and pop music, but said Smith had no real outlet to sing the kind of songs that interested her.
Then she heard Irish band Dervish and Cathy Jordan, the group's singer. "I immediately became hooked on traditional song," Smith said. "It was something I felt I could perform comfortably and it seemed to come naturally to me.
" So Smith ditched her plans to enroll in art school. At the last minute, she heard about the Scottish music program at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, did a late audition and was accepted. She was on her way.
Within Scotland, there are many different aspects to traditional music. They are both sung in Scots and Gaelic, two different languages. The traditional songs Smith sings are in Scots.
Within these two types there are big ballads, usually either very long or heavy in subject matter, Smith said, laments, love songs and work songs. Instrumentally, Scottish folk music runs the gamut from reels and jigs to waltzes and marches. One instrumental type unique to Scotland is called a strathspey, a dance tune in 4/4 time.
Smith said during the last few years she's branched out a bit, still writing songs keeping with the Scottish tradition but also contemporary songs. Her third album "Too Long Away," produced by Smith and her husband Jamie McClennan, who plays fiddle and guitar in her band, contains five traditional songs and five Smith originals. And in addition to the basics - vocals, piano and accordion - the new album's instrumental line-up includes guitar, fiddle, banjo and drums.
Smith said that's a change from her previous albums which were more based around instruments commonly found on traditional records, like flute and whistle. "It's the first album that I've felt completely in control of," Smith said. But just because "Too Long Away" differs instrumentally from her previous albums doesn't mean Smith is moving away from traditional folk.
She said in Scotland, traditional music is thriving and not at risk of being lost. Folk music was and forever will be the music of the people, Smith said. "The themes and stories found in traditional songs are still as relevant to today's society as they were hundreds of years ago," she said.
"People still fall in and out of love, die, steal, fight and strive for a better life. All in all, human nature is the same." People may have their perceptions of folk music.
But Smith said her own brand of traditional tunes might change minds. "I think that there is a stereotype associated with folk music that it's all woolen jumpers and old men smoking popes, at least in Scotland, which is not really the case," she said. "I often find that if we can persuade people who think they don't like folk music to actually come along to a gig they are pleasantly surprised.
" Reach staff writer Jordan Bartel at 410-857-7862 or jordan.bartel@carrollcounty times.com.
If you go ...
What: Scottish folksters The Emily Smith Band, kicking off the 2007-08 Common Ground of the Hill music concerts series When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Where: Carroll Arts Center, 91 W.
Main St., Westminster Cost: 17 for adults, 15 for seniors 65 and older, children 12 and younger and students with ID. Information: Call 410-857-2771 or go to www.
common groundonthehill.
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