Published: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 4:36 PM CDT
On Friday, Oct. 27, singer/songwriter Vicky Emerson will perform a free concert at 1 p.m.
at the Village at White Pine, 921 22nd Ave. NE, Menomonie.
An Elmwood native, Emerson s music reflects her hometown charm.
It was the constant presence of music while growing up in the small town that ultimately led to her career choice. She listened to the Beach Boys (her dad s favorite), Anne Murrary (her mom s favorite) and The Smurf Album (her favorite). I remember receiving my first boom box for Christmas and I was ecstatic, said Emerson.
I sat in my room listening to all kinds of music, but Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were my favorites at the time. I also remember a secret yearning, as I learned to play their songs on my piano, that I wanted to see my picture on a cassette tape that contained my music.
Emerson attended college at UW-River Falls, where she continued her training on the piano and other instruments, including the flute, organ, saxophone, trumpet, oboe and marimba.
It was in college where she began writing music in a more formal way. She found it more stimulating and more rewarding than performing at piano recitals or concerts. She began listening to Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Dave Matthews and Sarah McLachlan, and was intrigued by the art of songwriting and the power a three-minute story can have over one s emotions.
Immediately after graduating with a music degree in 1998, Emerson attended St. Mary s University in St. Paul, Minn.
and earned a master s degree in arts administration which she felt she needed just in case, as her father put it. Then, she did what any accomplished musician would do and accepted a job at a construction company as an accounting administrator. Though the business experience proved invaluable, Emerson quickly discovered that life behind a desk was not nearly as rewarding to her as life behind a piano.
In 2000, she left the construction company and started writing songs for Moment of Clarity, her first original piano solo CD.
My whole life changed for the better when I found my focus and began to accept who I was as a person, and that I AM a musician, said Emerson. It was an excellent test for me and I quickly chose to be a musician first.
It was at that time that Emerson moved to Chicago for a year, marketing her CD while playing piano at Nordstrom s. Besides providing her with a well-stocked shoe closet, the job proved to be an excellent opportunity for her to learn about song structure. She studied and played popular music from every decade for her fans.
In Chicago, Emerson released another piano solo album, A Winter Moment, a collection of original and traditional holiday music, which has gone on to sell thousands of copies on her own self-started record label, Triad Entertainment. She also began to write her first vocal songs.
In 2002, Emerson moved back to Minnesota and began working as a fund raiser for the Minnesota Opera.
During the nights, she took voice lessons, played open mics and wrote and recorded demos. On weekends, she packed up her keyboard and traveled across the Midwest, playing and promoting her CDs, including her critically-acclaimed and most powerful piano solo album, Dream With Me, which she recorded during that time.
In October of 2003, Emerson performed her first full-fledged vocal/piano show, an audition for G.
L. Berg Entertainment. This concert was a turning point, and Emerson officially emerged as a singer/songwriter.
Finding a huge leap of faith that she could entertain audiences with her songs, Emerson signed with the agency shortly afterwards.
In 2004, Emerson s enthusiasm, dedication and a personal sadness manifested themselves in a breakout EP Hold On, a six-song collection of deeply emotional songs that reflected the sad and introspective period of her life.
Working through that difficult time, Emerson traveled to Austin, Texas, where one of her songs was nominated in a contest held by the Austin Songwriters Group.
There, she fell in love with the city and its people. Later, she won a scholarship to the Old Number 9 Songwriting Workshop, hosted by Lloyd Maines and Terri Hendrix.
This was a life-changing weekend for me, said Emerson.
Hearing Maines and Hendrix play and receiving an enthusiastic response to her own tunes turned out to be the shot in the arm she needed before returning to Minneapolis to begin working on her new album.
The trips to Austin shaped Emerson s career, her songwriting style and her lifestyle. Emerson returned to Minnesota energized, focused and with a new-found confidence in her ability to write and perform music.
From then on, each of Emerson s live shows (no two the same) became a love fest between the entertainer and her audience. Emerson incorporated humor, stopped using a set list and reveled in the freedom to tune into different audiences and play what they wanted to hear.
She has now added another milestone to her resume.
She co-produced her new CD, Reach, with Mathew Freed. Emerson has great praise for guitar player Dean Magraw and other Minneapolis musicians whose talents are also featured on the album.
This year, Emerson is touring nationally to promote Reach.
While touring may seem like a grind to some and too much time away from home, for Emerson, it is the perfect fit.
I LOVE touring, she said. I don t mind being in a car.
I listen to music, sing, write songs, daydream about cowboys (ha!) and write material for the shows. It s a completely freeing experience to pick up and leave your comfort zone.
Meeting people from all over the country and playing for them seem to suit her just fine.
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