The title for this feature was aptly named because it’s exactly how Emily Ann Roberts described herself when I first sat with her for this interview. If you have had the pleasure of meeting Emily Ann Roberts, or follow her on social media, then you will know she is a country girl at heart and is a force to be reckoned with.
You may have first seen Emily on the show, The Voice, as a member of Blake Shelton’s team. While she didn’t take home the title in 2015, knocked all of her performances out of the park. Since then, she has had more than 19 million music streams and was named one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s Best Acts of CMA Fest.
Emily grew up on Smoky Mountain bluegrass music along with legends in country music like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Miranda Lambert, and Cody Johnson. While on tour, she has opened for artists Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Sara Evans, David Nail, Josh Turner, Scotty McCreery, and Ricky Skaggs.
Her first full-length studio album “You Can’t Hide Country” launched on September 22, 2023 and she celebrated with an album release party with Alex Miller in Knoxville, Tennessee on September 21, 2023. The album includes her released singles “The Building”, “Infinity”, “He Set Her Off” and “A Whole Lotta Little”, which already shows that she can master everything from fun toe-tappers to serious ballads to revenge songs. The whole album is a celebration of her country music roots.
Rob: Let’s talk about your YouTube Channel, you post more than just music videos there don’t you?
Emily: Yes! Today was an “all my favorite things” day because I started the day crocheting and then I made my mama a birthday cake because her birthday is on Monday and we’re celebrating this weekend. So yes, those are like my fun creative outlets when I don’t want to think about music.
Rob: So is music, not a fun creative outlet?
Emily: (laughs) No, it is a fun creative outlet, but sometimes I just want silence so I crochet or cook. It’s a good little break.
Rob: I saw you in September, here at the Opry. It was the first time I saw you perform. And I would be lying if I didn’t say that I had your songs on repeat while I was driving or working. Your song “Wild” is one of my favorite songs but can you tell me a little more about your song, “Chickens” and how that came to be?
Emily: I got married about two and a half years ago and I always like to tell people that it is a love song called “Chickens” because chickens put themselves to sleep when the sun goes down and so do newly married people. I was writing songs with Trent Willman and Paul Overstreet and he brought up the fact I had just gotten married and how around here everyone goes to bed with chickens and that kind of evolved into us writing the song, “Chickens”.
Rob: Is “Chickens” and the other singles you released on this album?
Emily: Yes. So the past singles are “A Whole Lot of Little”, “The Building”, “He Set Her Off” and “Infinity” and they all are on the album. Then we’ve got a whole slew of new songs that I’m really excited about. It’s got songs from my entire journey as an artist. I’ve been in Nashville for eight years now and I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot in that time. Now I’m in this new phase of life where I’m married and then of course, I’ve got my sassy storytelling songs. I really feel like it’s a great representation of who I am.
Rob: Which is your favorite song to perform?
Emily: I love singing “The Building”, which probably wouldn’t be what people would think I would pick because I love fun songs too. But I feel like that song especially really gets people’s attention and I know my whole heart is in that song. I feel like it’s one of those songs that kind of takes people out of the moment that they’re in and transports them somewhere else. That is the beauty of songwriting and music is it really can transport us to a different time in our lives and bring back memories that we have forgotten. I feel like that song is one of those for me.
Rob: Who are your biggest influences? Do you come from a singing family?
Emily: (laughs) I wish I came from a singing family, but no, my mom and dad never sang. My mom would sing me lullabies, but she would never say she’s a singer. My older sister, she’ll sing but you don’t want to hear it and I’m not saying that in a hateful way, that’s what she would say.
My grandmother used to sing in the choir, but she passed away when I was young. What I can say is that I come from a family of music lovers, they played a lot of great music for me and I was heavily influenced by the artists that my dad would play for me.
Some of my biggest influences are Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, and Patty Loveless, those would be my top three. Alison Krauss was a huge influence as well for me. Then as I got older, I got into Miranda Lambert and more into the mainstream country. At my core, I always go back to those traditional songs, the ones I was raised on.
Rob: That’s awesome. If you could open or perform with anyone, who would it be?
Emily: Hands down, Dolly Parton. I love her so much. I just think she’s adorable and she’s just so cute. I have looked up to her my whole life and from every aspect of the way that she delivers a song, how she writes, and her songwriting is so incredible. If you listen to Dolly’s songs, it’s so diverse, she’s done a little bit of everything and done it so well over her career.
Rob: Do you consider yourself a role model in country music?
Emily: Gosh, I don’t know if I would say a role model in country music but I do know that I’m a role model to young girls. I’ve had enough young girls come to my concerts to make me realize that I have to be very careful with what I say and what I do. I always want to be somebody that is a good influence on young girls, because I remember growing up looking up to so many people. We’re all human, we’re all going to mess up and do things that we shouldn’t but, I try really hard to be very careful with that responsibility as being somebody that other folks look up to and want to be a good influence.
To learn more about Emily follow her on social media and go to emilyannroberts.com. Photo credits to Summer Simmons and John Shearer.
