Conversations with Emma Klein

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Klein.

Hi Emma, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Emma Klein and I’m an artist based out of Nashville, TN. I grew up in a small town called Bel Air, Maryland. My family always spent a lot of time at the beach growing up and music was constantly playing. My Mom is a great piano player and singer and my Dad’s got a great voice and would play guitar for us all the time. My whole life I’ve known I want to be performing/writing/creating/singing. I started taking voice and piano lessons when I was six and did a lot of community theater.

I kept up lessons and musical theater all throughout high school and decided that I wanted to go to college somewhere that offered commercial music as a major. I attended Belmont from 2015 to 2018 and graduated with a degree in commercial music and songwriting. Right before graduating, I got the opportunity to audition for American Idol and made it through all the way to the top 40.

I missed my graduation for Hollywood Week… (10-year-old me would’ve been absolutely stoked about that!) On Idol, I met Bobby Bones, who was a mentor on the show at the time. He told me that he would love for me to play piano for him on his music/comedy tour if I got cut from Idol. I thought to myself, “yeah right, how am I supposed to get a hold of this guy if I get cut?”

Not a week after I got cut from Idol, I ran into Bobby Bones on a hike at Radnor Lake of all places. Within a few months, I was the opener on his tour all over the country… pretty insane! Within the year I signed my first publishing deal as a joint venture with Twelve6 Entertainment and Downtown Music Publishing. I’m currently still with Twelve6 Entertainment, but Downtown is sadly no longer a publishing company.

I’m grateful every day for all of the events and people in my life that have gotten me to where I am. I’ve always said that if I wasn’t an artist/writer, I’d want to be a therapist. Maybe one day I will be, but co-writing truly feels like a therapy session most of the time.

Sometimes, I’m less of the therapist and more of the client talking my co-writer’s ears off, but we take turns sharing stories, getting vulnerable, and finding new ways to write about all of it. I’m currently working on a new project that has gotten some growing attention on TikTok – I’m so excited for y’all to hear the whole thing soon!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
During my junior year of college, my family got rocked pretty hard by tragedy. My brother attempted suicide and now has a brain injury. He’s had to re-learn how to walk, talk, and basically just be. Years later, he really is doing incredible. It’s been amazing to watch how far he’s come.

My family means everything to me and that is more clear to me than ever before. Between the pandemic, regular growing pains, navigating a music career in music city, and the challenges my family has faced, I’ve struggled a good bit creatively and mentally. There have been weeks and months at a time where I’ve felt creatively drained and uninspired, but with those struggles, I’ve also had some amazing breakthrough moments.

I think every creative has periods of time where they struggle to feel inspired, but over the last few years, I’ve learned not to panic when that happens. Instead, I spend those periods of time listening more… listening to more music, reading more books, and trusting that I’ll find what I want to say eventually. Listening to and learning from other creatives is one of the most important things that any artist or creative person can do.

I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by co-writers, musicians, artists, and other creatives who have helped me find inspiration when I’m struggling. I strongly believe and am practicing every day to be better at removing comparison from my life and instead trying to work together as a collective to serve the songs, art, and content, we’re all creating.