Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Hackett.
Hi Emily, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story is a bit of a winding road. In semi-short, I came to Nashville to attend Belmont University. Nashville was never on my radar as a place I wanted or needed to go to, and that’s likely due to the fact that I didn’t grow up on country, but when I discovered I could study songwriting in college, it just made the most sense to me. I wanted to be in the music world, in whatever capacity, which is what lead me towards the business side of things once I saw how big the pool of talent was here. I got scared. Took internships at publishing companies (Carnival Music, which I adored) and record labels (Warner and Big Machine) which showed me a lot about the industry and gave me amazing opportunities to see the public relations field with major artists. It wasn’t until I took my first real job after school, helping release Amy Grant’s record, that I remembered how much I wanted to be on the creative side. Amy’s response to an on-camera interview I attended helped in that realization. It was very full-circle getting to thank her for that earlier this year when we shared a stage together. When I finally took the leap into artistry shortly after that job, I had some doors open for me right away, which I took as a sign I had made the right choice, but I was still highly impressionable and distrusting of my own gut in terms of the artistry itself. I discovered what I wanted to say along the way as I dipped a toe into Americana as a three-piece touring unit, then Country as a trailblazing pop-country independent CMT-crowned woman of country and then finally into the giant spectrum of pop music, which really just comes right back to the singer-songwriter I always remained.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think I received criticism well, so I took “no” pretty hard at times, especially in the sense of building a team around me. I also had people really wanting to support me when I had no one and I was too scared to really let them fully in. I still struggle with both, as choosing to be a creative as a living is also choosing a daily battle with your ego. The thing I have grown most in is connecting–through my writing and my performance. Not to be jaded, but that has become more and more challenging as well though, with the algorithms not understanding what I’m after because they take a lot of information from a wedding song single I released in 2014 –one I have been just as grateful for as I have been frustrated! At the end of the day though, its the connection that matters most in what we do, and every time I see a message or hear a story about how my music — any of it — has meant something to someone, I am succeeding.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a singer-songwriter who just released her first full length record in June titled “Must Be Present To Win.” I worked on this project with my producer-writer husband, Mikey Reaves, over the course of about three years, just before and after having my first child. It was a roller-coaster and a true mountain, but its some of the greatest work I’ve done and I’m so proud of it. Its authentic and raw and real and unapologetic. I hope it reaches those who need it most, as we all desperately clamor for peace of mind and heart and understanding of what it means to be here and now. I especially send my love to the mothers. I learned and continue to learn so much about myself as an artist and human as I figure out how to raise one. It’s like looking in a fun-house mirror and I’d go crazy doing it alone. I went a little crazy anyway, and sometimes that’s part of it. It’s okay–you aren’t alone.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I honestly have no idea. I think anyone who thinks they do has either got their hands dirty in deals or is really savvy on the tech front. I’m an analog girl, myself, still mostly writing with pen and paper and a guitar, so I just stick to what I know and hope the robots don’t steal the last of what I feel I can bring to the table. I do think because of AI though, people are really loving hearing the raw human heart and sound more and more which is refreshing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://emilyhackett.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ms_emilyhackett/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilyhackettmusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ms_emilyhackett
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/missemilyhackett
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4dTcd3R8sIuVhoOlqgqr0V
